The league season for the first and second divisions in the South London & Kent Pool Alliance has now finished and Bellegrove Social Club have won Division One just a year after taking the second division title.

Last season they secured the title by winning nine of their ten games but this season they went more than one better and have been unbeaten in all fourteen games played this season.

This week they play CSC Mr’s & miss Q’s, who had been second to Bellegrove most of the season but have fallen away in recent weeks. Bellegrove looked to be running away with it, after taking a, 4-1 lead in the first set and they went on to take the first two frames of the second but Lee Bushell, Natalie Barnes and James Coomber brought CSC back into the game, giving them the set and reducing the deficit to, 6-4.

Bushell closed the gap even further with the first frame of the last set but Dave Jandu won his third frame of the night to leave Bellegrove only needing one frame for victory.

They had to wait until the penultimate frame to achieve this and they went on to win the last frame as well for an overall, 9-6 triumph.

This win gave them a sixteen point lead at the top of the table but the battle for the other automatic promotion place and play-off place beneath them was much closer.

Unfortunately this loss meant that CSC finished in fourth after occupying the promotion places for most of the season, so it was between Eltham Terrace Rack Pack and Glenmore Arms to see who would definitely join Bellegrove in the Premier Division next season.

There was only two points between the teams before this week, with Glenmore Arms in pole position and they scored a, 9-6 victory over Royal Oak Addicks this week.

Rack Pack had to score more than eleven to wrestle the automatic promotion place off Glenmore.

They did win the match against Foots Cray Social Club but could only manage a, 10-5 triumph, leaving them a point short and having to face the play-off, where they are likely to meet another Eltham Terrace team, either Rovers or Nuthouse.

The setback wasn’t for the want of trying though, as the whole team played well, with Graham Levingbird winning his only frame, Jamie Walkey and Ernie Wellhausen both scoring two out of three but Tony Frost went one better with an unbeaten hat-trick.

The final game in the division was a straight battle to avoid the relegation play-off between North Heath Social Club and Bellegrove A, with North Heath having to make up five points on their opponents.

They gave themselves an uphill struggle after losing the first set, 4-1 but they fought back well and ended up winning the game by 8 frames to 7, although it wasn’t enough to leapfrog their opponents and out of the relegation play-off.

They will play Rose Inn, who have finished third in SLKPA Division Two, after they failed o overcome an eleven point gap between them and Fox & Hounds in second.

Saying that they were playing the already crowned champions and unbeaten, Sharks so it was going to be a tough ask.

However it looked like the impossible was on the cards, as Rose won the first three frames but they could only manage one more frame out of the next twelve, as Sharks showed why they are 28 points clear at the top of the table, with an, 11-4 victory.

Despite the false start it was a great end of the season for Sharks with Kevin Dempsey, Arif Salih, Chris Mackenzie and Jeff La Porte all winning two of their three frames but Eno Idiong went one better taking all three of his frames.

Even though they didn’t play this week, Fox & Hounds have held on to second place by seven points and have earned automatic promotion at the first attempt, along with the unbeaten Sharks.

Elsewhere in the division, Bellegrove Flyers end the season on high with a 12-3 triumph over bottom team, Greyhound Elite, meaning they only missed the promotion play-off by three points.

Richard Marsh was man of the match, winning all three of his frames and he was supported by Keith Smith and Paul Dawson, both scoring an unbeaten brace.

Academicals also finished on a high, picking up their fourth win of the season against, Plumstead Radical Club.

The damage was done in the first set, as they raced to a, 4-1 lead and they went on to take the second set, 3-2 to go into the final set, 7-3 up, needing just one more frame for victory.

Gary Mason duly obliged in frame eleven with his second of two unbeaten frame wins and the team continued to take the set, 3-2 for an overall, 10-5 triumph.

Along with Mason, Chris Bracey also scored two out of two but man of the match goes to Aaron Forrester who overcame his nerves to win all three of his frames against female opposition.

That's it for league action in divisions one and two, who now turn their attentions to the all new League Cup, well done to all who finished in the prizes.

The SLKPA Premier Division still has four games to go after this week and it is still all to play for at both ends of the table.

The bottom two, Falconwood Social and Crayford Social Club Rugrats look set for the drop after, 11-4 defeats this week, leaving them 9 and 22 points, respectively away from safety.

Rugrats are really struggling at the bottom and they didn’t help themselves by only taking four players to league leaders, Eltham Terrace Club A, however they fought really hard with Terrace narrowly taking the first two sets, 3-2 for an overall, 6-4 lead.

The struggle must have took it’s toll as Terrace went on to whitewash the final set, 5-0 to finish 11-4 winners.

Terrace finished with three unbeaten players; Mark Eldridge, winning the two he played as well as earning a bye; Paul Shrimpton also earned a bye and he won the only frame he played but Shane Hutley played two and won two, which included an excellent clearance in frame nine.

The match between Falconwood Social and Pickwick was similar, as Pickwick took a, 6-1 lead but were pegged back to 6-4 by the end of the second set.

However the fightback was all for nothing as Pickwick whitewashed the final set to finish, 11-4 winners.

Mark Brinkley and Billy Levingbird top scored with unbeaten hat-tricks for Pickwick with Martin Storey also unbeaten with two frame wins.

As I mentioned earlier it is likely that Rack Pack will play either Eltham Terrace Rovers or Eltham Terrace Nuthouse in the play-off and the two battled it out this week to try and avoid it.

There were only two points between the teams with Nuthouse the owners of the play-off spot before this week.

Nuthouse got off to the better start, winning the first set, 4-1 but Rovers matched that score in the second set to tie the match at five all.

Aaron Shephard, Jon Syta and Shane O’Reilly won the first three frames of the final set to give Nuthouse the victory, before Darren Porter and Chris Hobbis pulled two back for Rovers, making the final score, 8-7 in Nuthouse’s favour.

Kevin England was the only unbeaten player for Rovers, winning his only frame but Porter, Hobbis and Dean Rider all won two of their three frames.

Despite the victory Nuthouse only had two unbeaten players, Aaron Shephard and Louis Wilbourne, both scoring two out of two.

This result has reduced the gap between the two teams to just one point, so it will be a real dogfight to see which one will avoid the play-off, which has had even more spice added by being drawn together in the next round of the cup.

Hustlers A have increased the gap between them in second and Falconwood Club in third to seven points after beating them by 10 frames to 5.

This match was quite possibly the quickest in SLKPA history, as there was seven clearances from the break between the two sides, four break and dishes and three dishes from dry breaks.

Two of the break and dishes came from Falconwood’s Dean James and Declan Kelly, asFalconwood hung in there and James was joined by Barry Barham in winning two out of three frames.

This result leaves Hustlers fourteen points behind Eltham Terrace at the top and Falconwood are far from comfortable with Pickwick breathing down their necks, just one point behind.

Behind the top four are Hotshots and Bellegrove in fifth and sixth respectively and they played each other this week.

There were just five points between the teams and that closeness was apparent in this match, as it went right down to the wire and at seven all Tony Halpin held his nerve to win the final frame decider and his third of the night, to give Bellegrove the victory by 8 frames to 7.

Tony Stork was also unbeaten for Bellegrove, winning both his frames, including a brilliant break and dish.

For more information on the SLKPA including league tables visit our website at www.slkpa.com or contact our Secretary, Paul Gafa on 07443 456662 with any queries.

The league is looking at potential sponsors; any interested parties can also contact Paul Gafa.