With just two weeks of the South London & Kent Pool Alliance Elite League summer season remaining, Hotshots have been crowned champions, without even playing a game this week.
They were due to play bottom of the table and recently relegated Falconwood Club, but they couldn’t field a side, giving Hotshots maximum points and handing them the title in the process.
Apart from the first couple of weeks, Hotshots have been at the top for the rest of the season and have only lost one of their twelve matches, so are deserved winners.
With just eight points left to play for, they are now nine points ahead of their nearest rivals, Foxy Meatballs who had to share the points this week with Eltham Terrace Nuthouse.
Fourth placed Nuthouse went, 2-0 up but Meatballs equalised, and Shane O’Reilly won the deciding frame against Adam Hewson.
O’Reilly won two on the trot to make it, 4-2 but George Covington and Paul Donohoe levelled the scores once again.
Danny Kent nudged Nuthouse into the lead overall, sending the set into another final frame decider.
It wasn’t Hewson’s night, as he lost another deciding frame, this time against Trevor Biggs, giving Nuthouse a, 2-0 & 6-4 advantage.
Hewson made amends beating Trevor’s son Alex in frame eleven and his team mates went on to win the other four frames in the last set to share the points, after Nuthouse won, 2-1 in sets but Meatballs scored more frames, 9-6.
It was a very close game, which resulted in their only being one unbeaten player, Meatballs’ Paul Donohoe, who won all three of his frames.
Nuthouse are still five points behind Meatballs, with Bull Tavern sandwiched between them in third, just one point behind Meatballs after this week’s victory.
This week they played fifth placed Pickwick and it was a topsy-turvy affair.
The first two sets were both won, 4-1 with the first going to the Bull and Pickwick fighting back to level the score at, 1-1 & 5-5.
The fightback must have taken it out of Pickwick, as Bull whitewashed the last set, making the final score, 2-1 & 10-5.
The Bull’s shot selection was a mixture of pure talent and good fortune, with Pickwick getting very little rub of the green, but that’s the way it goes when you’re scrapping for points to stay in the division.
Again, there was only one unbeaten player in this match, with Adam Coppen scoring a hat-trick.
Pickwick are now just one point ahead of the relegation zone, after Sharks did their chances of survival the world of good by gaining maximum points against the team below them, Eltham Terrace Club A.
Sharks helped to send Terrace closer to relegation by winning the first three frames to take the first set.
Dan Vowles prevented the whitewash, but Arif Salih won the fifth frame to give Sharks a, 4-1 first set lead.
The first two frames of the second set were shared, but Sharks won the next two for the second set, before Barry Barham pulled one back for Terrace.
It was, 7-3 going into the final set and Rahat Munim secured the bonus point for his side, winning frame eleven.
The last set then followed the same pattern as the second, with Terrace winning the second and last frames of the set and Sharks taking the third and fourth, to make the final score, 3-0 & 10-5.
Munim and Vu Son were the inspiration behind Sharks’ valuable victory, both scoring unbeaten hat-tricks.
Terrace are now six points away from safety and relegation for the first time, with just eight left to play for, so their final match of the season against Pickwick could be a straight battle for top flight survival.
Pickwick have an even tougher run in, as not only do they have to play Terrace but also Sharks and points will be at a premium for all three teams to see who will be joining Falconwood in Tier Two next season.
The most likely team to replace any of the relegated teams are Rugrats, who are now eleven points clear at the top of SLKPA Tier Two West, but as they have one more week to play than the top division, they are still one point away from the title.
This week they were emphatic against the bottom team, Sea the Angles, winning, 3-0 & 14-1.
Rugrats won the opening six frames, with Danny Campbell preventing the second set whitewash, and that was by default, as Ashley Hewson potted the black and cue ball in the same visit.
Hewson would become the only Rugrats’ player to lose a frame as they went on to win the remaining eight frames, to reiterate the five places and 29 points difference between the two teams.
Hewson did win his other two frames, but team mates, Dafydd Ruffell, Scott Shephard, Steve Gibson and Josh Page all won their three frames.
Crayford A lead the chasing pack and this week they had a good, 2-1 & 9-6 victory over their nearest rivals, Eltham Terrace Rack Pack Rovers.
Crayford did the damage in the first set, winning it, 4-1 with Dean Rider preventing the whitewash for Rack Pack Rovers.
Jeff Bailey and Gary Heath extended Crayford’s lead to, 6-1 with the first two frames of the second set, but Tony Frost and Rider levelled the set at, 2-2 before Shane Burnett won the deciding frame to put Crayford up by two sets to nil and seven frames to three.
Dean James secured the bonus point, winning his only frame in frame eleven, but Rack Pack Rovers won the next two, before Gary Mason sent the last set into a deciding frame.
Burnett couldn’t repeat his second set feat, allowing Frost to take the final frame to give his side a point.
This defeat leaves Rack Pack Rovers two points behind their opponents, but it could have been worse, as Bellegrove A suffered a shock, 2-1 & 9-6 defeat to second from bottom Academicals.
This leaves Bellegrove two points behind Rack Pack Rovers however, they should escape the relegation dogfight, as they are eleven points ahead of their opponents.
Sea the Angles will definitely finish in the bottom two, as they are 17 points away from safety, but they are only six points behind Academicals and they play each other in the penultimate match, so they could finish in the relegation play-off spot instead.
The other team that look likely to join the Elite League are New Eltham New Stars, who currently sit top of SLKPA Tier Two East by seven points, after they beat third placed Duke of Northumberland this week.
New Stars took a, 2-0 lead but Duke pulled it back to two all, only for Steve Pearce to win the deciding frame for New Stars, giving them a, 3-2 first set lead.
They went on to win the next three frames to take the second set and extend their lead to, 6-2 however, Duke won the last two frames of the set to come back to within striking distance at, 6-4.
The first two frames of the last set were shared, but Sam Pearce secured the bonus point and Matt Prince, with his only frame, gave New Stars maximum points.
Duke’s Phil Tworek won the final frame, making the overall score, 3-0 & 9-6.
Duke would have hoped for, at least a point, after losing each set, 3-2 but with Gary Dixon, Ben Worden and Sam Pearce all going unbeaten on two frame wins for New Stars, it was always going to be difficult for Duke.
Sandwiched between New Stars and Duke are Rose Inn, and they have gone four points ahead of Duke, after a fantastic victory over bottom side Rugrats Guardians.
Guardians did themselves no favours by only having four players, but Rose Inn had a great start winning the first four frames, with Ross Webster preventing the first set whitewash for Guardians.
Rose won frame six with a bye, but Webster was on top form and tied the set with a break and dish.
The next two frames were shared, giving four-man Guardians the opportunity to steal a point, but Lewis Hearn had other ideas and was successful in giving Rose the second set and a, 7-3 overall lead.
Dean Greany-Parr gave Rose the bonus point with frame eleven and that quickly became, 9-3 with the third set bye.
This time Martin Hart prevented the set whitewash, winning frame thirteen, but Rose went on to win the last two frames to take maximum points in an emphatic, 3-0 & 11-4 triumph.
Both Greany-Parr and Leighton Aston scored unbeaten hat-tricks, although they each had the Guardians misfortune of only having four players to thank for one of their victories.
With the battle between Duke and Rose for the promotion play-off spot so close, it makes the final game of the season between the two very interesting.
Guardians are only four points away from Fox & Hounds above them and eight behind Just Bellegrove, who now hold the safe spot, after they beat Fox & Hounds, 3-0 & 10-5 leapfrogging them in the process.
New Eltham New Boys have secured promotion from Tier Three at the first time of asking with a superb, 3-0 & 13-2 annihilation of Bexleyheath Working Man’s Club.
Lynn Maher-Bulbul prevented the first set whitewash and husband Serhat Bulbul did the same in the second set, but there were no heroics in the final set, as New Boys got the whitewash they were looking for.
It was a wonderful team performance from New Boys, as Billy Russell, Michael Barnes and Mike Peka all scored hat-tricks, with Peka’s including a magnificent seven ball clearance, and they were supported by Greg Fothergill and Melissa Barnes, who both won two of their three frames.
New Boys have really earned their promotion, after losing only one match all season, and it was fitting to clinch it in such style against the fourth placed team, to go 20 points ahead of them.
They are also odds on for the title, as they are now eleven points ahead of Greyhound in second place, who didn’t play this week, so have a game in hand, and they play each other in the last game of the season.
The other team that look likely to earn promotion are Royal Oak, who are now two points behind Greyhound, although they have a game in hand, after they beat bottom team, Real Hustlers, 2-1 & 9-6.
Real Hustlers are condemned to the wooden spoon, after winning just one match all season to leave them an unassailable nine points behind Bexleyheath.
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 or secretary@slkpa.com with any queries.
The league is looking at potential sponsors; any interested parties can also contact Paul Gafa.
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