Promotion places decided in SLKPA lower leagues

Second played first in Division One, as New Eltham New Boys hosted Falconwood Club, with the league leaders looking to seal the championship, after securing promotion last week. 

The match opened with a break and dish from Falconwood’s Ian Stringer, but a few tight frames followed, with New Stars holding a, 3-2 lead after the first set. 

However, Falconwood won seven of the next eight frames to take an unassailable, 9-4 lead. 

New Stars won the last two frames of the evening, but by then not only had the match gone but Falconwood had also amassed enough points to secure top spot in the division.

Falconwood’s Akar Necati finished the night with an unbeaten hat-trick. 

New Stars are now 21 points ahead of Fox & Hounds in fourth and have guaranteed promotion to the top division however, they still have a fight on their hands for second place with Bellegrove A. 

Straight out the traps were Bellegrove, winning the first three frames, before Eltham Terrace Rack Pack got one on the board.  

Bellegrove Captain, John Skuza grabbed frame five to give his team a first set lead, 4-1. 

Rack Pack fought back in the second set, taking it, 3-2 making the overall score, 6-4 in Bellegrove’s favour. 

Bellegrove put their foot on the gas in the final set, whitewashing it, 5-0 for an, 11-4 triumph. 

There was some light at the end of the tunnel for Rack Pack, with Adam Watts performing a break and dish, but it was an excellent all-round team performance from Bellegrove, with three unbeaten players; Pete Moult on a hat-trick, backed up by Petrina Pearce and Skuza on two frame wins. 

Bellegrove have also secured promotion, but they are now just one point behind New Stars however, Bellegrove meet league leaders Falconwood in the last game, whereas New Stars face their sister side and current bottom team New Eltham New Boys. 

Rack Pack must fight it out with New Boys and Fox & Hounds, who played each other this week, to see who will occupy the two relegation spots. 

It was a hard-fought match that Fox eventually won, 8-7 to lift themselves out of the relegation zone, but only by one point over Rack Pack.

It could be a straight battle between Rack Pack and Fox to see who avoids relegation, as they play each other in the final game and Rack Pack are six points ahead of New Boys. 

Duke of Northumberland celebrated their promotion from Division Two last week by securing the title this week, with a 10-5 triumph over Happy Hustlers. 

It was a good match, played in great spirit that saw a close first set which the Duke nicked, 3-2. 

After Hustlers levelled the score at, 3-3 the Duke pulled ahead, winning the next four frames to open up a, 7-3 lead. 

The final set was another close affair, which the Duke won by the odd frame, 3-2.

Duke’s Paul Clements, Phil Tworek and Dave Avery all ended with unbeaten hat-tricks. 

This result has put them 27 points clear of Bellegrove Flyers in second, who recorded a massive, 13-2 triumph over Bexleyheath Working Men’s Club. 

It was a great team performance, with Jason Brunton, Mark Porter and Keith Smith all scoring three out of three and they were backed up by Callum Brunton and Alan Boltwood on two frame wins out of three played. 

This has put Flyers 17 points ahead of Academicals and secured their promotion to Division One as well. 

The other game in this division between Farmhouse and Academicals finished, 10-5 to Academicals, increasing their lead over their opponents to 24 points. 

The Premier Division still has a few more weeks to play with everything still to play for and the situation at the bottom of the table is really hotting up, after the bottom two faced each other this week. 

Bears hosted Rugrats and it was Bears who blasted out of the blocks quicker, whitewashing the first set, 5-0. 

Rugrats fought back, winning the first four frames of the second set, but Paul Cobbold won frame ten to prevent the set whitewash, giving Bears a, 6-4 lead going into the final set. 

Jeff Bailey and Dean James won the first two frames of the last set, giving Bears their second victory of the season. 

Steve Gibson and Aaron Shephard won the next two frames to tie the set and bring the Rugrats back to within two. 

Cobbold won his third frame of the night to give Bears the, 9-6 triumph. 

Despite losing, Rugrats do go up one place, overtaking Eltham Terrace Nuthouse, who didn’t have a game this week. 

This leaves Bears still on the bottom, but they are only three points behind Nuthouse and eight points behind Rugrats and safety. 

Not only did the bottom two play each other, but so did the top two, as Hotshots travelled to Sharks. 

As expected, it was another close game that Hotshots edged, 8-7 to go nine points ahead of their opponents in the table. 

The next two teams in the table, Pickwick and Bull Tavern also played each other, with Pickwick increasing their lead to four points, after a, 9-6 triumph. 

Paul Dawson and Jamie Davis got Pickwick off to a great start, winning the opening two frames. 

Jamie White pulled one back for Bull, but Martin Storey took the set for Pickwick, before Jack Noble brought Bull back to within one at, 3-2. 

The next set swung to and fro, with Shane O’Reilly performing a break and dish in frame eight and White eventually taking the set decider to tie the match at five all. 

Tony Gear won frame eleven to give Bull the lead for the first time in the game however, Pickwick took the last four frames to win the match. 

Pickwick fed off the Bull’s mistakes to win the match and none more so than Martin Storey and Paul Slater, who were unbeaten on three and two frame wins respectively. 

Pickwick have now hit 100 points and Bull should do the same in the next league match, but they were lucky to hold onto fourth, as The Cocked Hats in fifth were heavily beaten, 11-4 by Bellegrove in sixth. 

A better performance was needed by Bellegrove after last week’s, 12-3 dismal showing and they quickly forgot about that, recording their biggest win of the season.

Tony Halpin and Dec Kelly both scored three out of three and a great clearance by Dan Heinink, which included two doubles, all contributed to the great score line for Bellegrove. 

Cocked Hats are now five points behind Bull but only one point ahead of Bellegrove, who are nine points ahead of Rugrats. 

Congratulations to all the teams that have won things so far and good luck to all those still fighting.  

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 always looking at potential sponsors and any interested parties can also contact Paul Gafa.