Hotshots & Sharks still on course for SLKPA double

Neither team had an easy draw in the Founders Cup, with both teams playing Premier Division rivals, as Bull Tavern in fourth travelled to league leaders Hotshots and sixth placed Bellegrove hosted Sharks. 

Bull Tavern took a two frame lead before Richard Chapman put one on the board for Hotshots. 

Naf Ayieko won frame four to give Bull the first set, before Danny Kelliher brought Hotshots back to within a frame. 

The tough nature of the match continued into the second set, with Tony Gear and Jordan O’Connor winning frames six and eight for Bull and Hotshots’ Tony Wilson frame seven to give Bull a, 5-3 lead. 

Then Ayieko made it two in a row for only the second time in the match, to give Bull a three frame advantage. 

Once again Kelliher was on hand to pull Hotshots back and reduce the deficit to, 6-4. 

Unusually Hotshots were behind going into the final set, but Chapman and Ryan Francis won the first two frames of the set to level the match at six all. 

O’Connor nudged Bull Tavern back into the lead however, Kelliher recorded his third frame win of the night to tie the match and send it into a final frame decider. 

It was down to Hotshots’ Neil Hall and Bull’s Ayieko to battle it out for their team’s place in the next round and it was Hall who held his nerve to put Hotshots ahead for the first time in the match, 8-7. 

This was a fantastic match that went right down to the wire and could quite easily have graced the final and ended with just one unbeaten player, the hat-trick hero, Kelliher. 

Sharks also had a tough time against Bellegrove in a match that was one frame away from going to the wire. 

After losing the first frame, Sharks came back with Paul Cook and Dean Passer winning the next two frames however, Barry Barham and Dec Kelly took the last two frames of the set, giving Bellegrove a, 3-2 advantage. 

Kelly made it two in a row with the first frame of the second set, but Sharks won the remaining four frames of the set to take a, 6-4 lead into the last set. 

Dan Heinink pulled it back to, 6-5 but Richie Mitchell restored Sharks’ two frame advantage, putting them on the hill. 

Bellegrove Captain, Barham brought them back to within one, but it was to no avail, as Rahat Munim won the next frame to give Sharks the, 8-6 triumph and their place in the semi-final. 

Again, this was a great match and a brilliant advert for the SLKPA, which also ended with just one unbeaten player, Sharks’ Passer, who won both of his frames. 

There was another all-Premier Division tie, as bottom team Bears hosted The Cocked Hats in fifth. 

Bears got off to a great start against The Cocked Hats, with Gary Heath winning the opening frame, but Nick Steadman and Steve Dixon won the next two frames to put Cocked Hats ahead. 

Gary Mason tied the match sending the first set into a deciding frame, which George Covington won to give Cocked Hats the, 3-2 advantage.

Cocked Hats went on to win the first three frames of the second set making it four in a row for them, giving them a four frame lead, 6-2. 

Dean James took frame nine to prevent the set whitewash, but that would be the Bears’ last frame of the evening, as Covington and Steadman won the next two frames to give Cocked Hats the, 8-3 victory. 

Cocked Hats had a little too much class for Bears, ending the match with three unbeaten players, as Dixon and Covington won both of their frames, but Steadman went one better with a hat-trick. 

A lower division team was guaranteed to be in the semi-final, as the top two from Division One faced each other, so it was a bit of a surprise when New Eltham New Stars beat Falconwood Club by such a convincing, 8-2 score line. 

So, the second team in the first division join the top two and fifth placed teams in the Premier Division in the semi-finals, which proves to be a mouth-watering prospect. 

The Silver Salver is a new competition this season for the teams who were knocked out in the opening two rounds of the Founders Cup, so there is a wide variety of teams left in the quarter-final stage of the tournament. 

There were two ties where Division Two sides were taking on top division teams, as the newly crowned second division champions, Duke of Northumberland went to Eltham Terrace Nuthouse and fellow Premier Division strugglers, Rugrats visited Academicals. 

In the first fixture there was literally a whole division between the two teams, as Nuthouse are second bottom in the Premier and Duke are top of the second division. 

Duke are riding high on confidence, having just won the Division Two title, whereas Nuthouse are struggling to avoid relegation, so this was always going to be an interesting tie. 

Eventually Nuthouse’s Premier Division quality came through, winning, 8-6 with Shane Hutley shining the brightest, taking all three of his frames and Scott Reeves was also unbeaten with two frame wins. 

Rugrats also came through their potential banana skin against Academicals, who were eleven places below them. 

Rugrats Premier Division class showed as they raced to a, 4-0 lead with Dean Williams taking the fifth frame to prevent the set whitewash. 

Gary Mason and Chris Bracey won the first two frames of the second set to bring Academicals back to within a frame however, Rugrats took the next four frames to win the match, 8-3. 

Rugrats’ Captain, Steve Gibson lead from the front, winning both of his frames and he was joined by Pat Firth on an unbeaten brace. 

There was an all first division game, which couldn’t have been closer, as fourth placed Fox & Hounds hosted Eltham Terrace Rack Pack in fifth, with just one point between them in the table. 

Rack Pack leapt out of the blocks with Tony Frost, Chris Parlett and Adam Watts winning the first three frames. 

Kerry Wyatt pulled one back for Fox in the battle of the captains against Stephen Unwin, but his son Chris restored Rack Pack’s lead to three frames, 4-1. 

Rack Pack went on to win two of the next three frames to open up a, 6-2 lead, but Wyatt and Clive Forrest took the last two frames of the set narrowing the score to, 6-4. 

However, Watts put Rack Pack on the hill with frame eleven and Andy Mounger sealed the victory for Rack Pack with the twelfth frame for an 8-4 final score. 

Kerry Wyatt did her best to pull her team through, winning both of her frames, but Rack Pack had Frost and Watts unbeaten on two and three frame wins respectively. 

The tie of the round came as the third placed team from Division One and the Premier Division, Bellegrove A and Pickwick faced each other. 

Bellegrove blasted out of the blocks, with Peter Moult and Stacy Redman winning the opening two frames. 

However, Pickwick fought back with Paul Dawson, Martin Storey and Mike Werbowy winning the next three frames to give them a, 3-2 first set lead. 

The topsy-turvy nature of the match continued into the second set, with Jack Taylor joining Moult and Redman to win the first three frames of the set, before Storey and Werbowy tied the match for Pickwick. 

Paul Gafa made it three in a row for Pickwick with frame eleven, to edge them into the lead, only for Joe Hills and Redman to win the next two frames and put Bellegrove on the hill. 

However, Pickwick had Storey and Werbowy’s consistency to thank for dragging them to an, 8-7 victory and a place in the Silver Salver semis. 

Werbowy and Storey were the inspiration behind Pickwick’s win, scoring crucial hat-tricks, with Bellegrove’s Redman also winning critical frames on his way to three out of three. 

So, this competition also has a first division team, in Rack Pack joining three top Division teams, Pickwick, Rugrats and Nuthouse in the semi-finals.    

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.