Before this week Rose Inn were riding high, six points clear at the top of the South London & Kent Pool Alliance first division, but nearest rivals Crayford Arms changed all that this week. 

Crayford raced to a, 3-0 lead and that should have been four when Brett Crawley had two visits on the black but he inexplicably failed to pot it, allowing Rose Inn to pull one back. 

Frame five was pivotal, starting scrappy but Rose Inn’s Neil Mundy got himself on a clearance only to rattle the black, leaving Ian Stringer to make it, 4-1. 

Rose didn’t really recover from that, losing both of the following sets by the same score to give Crayford an overall, 12-3 triumph. 

Akar Necati and Dave Selby produced great clearances in set three to score three out of three and they were joined by Stringer and Harry Lear on maximums. 

This result means that Crayford have replaced Rose Inn at the top of the table and have a three point lead over them. 

There are still two unbeaten sides in the first division, Academicals and New Eltham Club, who sit in third and fourth, having played one match less than the top two. 

New Eltham didn’t have a game this week but Academicals put in a solid performance to beat Fox & Hounds and go nine points behind Rose Inn and one point ahead of New Eltham Club. 

After going, 4-1 down Fox fought hard and came back to, 6-5 but Academicals won two on the bounce to secure the win, before the last two frames were shared, giving Academicals the, 9-6 victory. 

Tony Gear, Chris Bracey and Kevin England were all unbeaten with two frame wins for the victors, but Fox had Alan Dolan to thank for keeping them in the game, after winning half of his team’s frames. 

Eltham Terrace Rack Pack were six points behind their opponents, Bellegrove A before this week however, that was turned around, as Rack Pack racked up an, 11-4 triumph to leapfrog their opponents by one point. 

It was the Steves that did the damage for Rack Pack, with Steve Heather and Steve Unwin both unbeaten on three frame wins. 

CSC Sorry in Advance had nothing to apologise for this week, as they picked up their first win of the season, 9-6 against Just Bellegrove to join their opponents on 21 points. 

Fox & Hounds also have 21 points but occupy bottom spot, as they are still winless.

Rugrats have the honour of the wooden spoon in the SLKPA Premier Division, after they lost the basement battle against Sharks.

It all started well for Rugrats, winning the first set, 3-2 but Sharks whitewashed the second set, to take a,7-3 lead into the final set. 

Rugrats pulled one back, but Sharks won the next two to secure the win, before Rugrats took the last two frames to make the score a more respectable, 9-6. 

There was only one unbeaten player on the night, Vu Son who won both of his frames for Sharks. 

Sharks and Rugrats were on equal points before this week and this result has not only lifted Sharks off the bottom, but they have also gone above Eltham Terrace Rovers, who went down, 10-5 to top of the table, Allstars to join Rugrats without a win this season. 

On the other hand, Allstars have not lost yet and neither have Hotshots, who close the gap at the top to six points, after they beat New Eltham, by 11 frames to 4.

New Eltham were also unbeaten before tonight, but Hotshots raced into a, 3-0 lead, before Billy Levingbird, on his debut, pulled one back for New Eltham.

Unfortunately for New Eltham that didn’t spark a revival, as Hotshots went on to win eight of the next eleven frames. 

New Eltham felt that the score line didn’t reflect the game, as they missed quite a few easy balls, particularly in the first set and let a lot of chances slip after that. 

The one shining light for New Eltham was the debut of Levingbird, who played some wonderful pool and was unlucky not to get more than his one frame win in the first set. 

Hotshots had two shining lights, Danny Kelliher and Tony Wilson, who both scored hat-tricks. 

Even though this was their first loss, New Eltham drop from third to sixth place, with Eltham Terrace Club A replacing them, despite losing to Eltham Terrace Nuthouse.

The A team took an early, 3-2 lead in the first set, but Nuthouse did the damage in the second set, taking it, 4-1 to go, 6-4 up. 

The final set was won, 3-2 by the A team, but it wasn’t enough to stop Nuthouse from winning the match, 8-7 overall. 

Ron Brown won his only frame for the A team, but Nuthouse’s Danny Kent went one better with a brace. 

This victory was enough for Nuthouse to overtake New Eltham by one point, as did Hustlers, after they beat Pickwick, 9-6. 

It was a tight match, which Pickwick never led, and Hustlers just edged each set by the odd frame, 3-2. 

The difference between the two sides was probably Paul Donohoe’s dish from a dry break in frame seven, George Covington’s fantastic clearance in frame nine and Elliot Giles’ break and dish in the penultimate frame. 

Those extra three points were crucial, as Hustlers are now in fourth, just two points ahead of Pickwick in seventh. 

The top division is shaping up to be as competitive as ever, with only three points separating third from seventh. 

There were big wins all round in the SLKPA second division, with the biggest going to New Eltham Social Club, who closed the gap on Bexleyheath Working Mans Club to five points, after a, 12-3 triumph over Real Hustlers. 

New Eltham Social Club came flying out of the blocks, whitewashing the first set, 5-0 but Real Hustlers shocked them in the second, taking it, 3-2, with Gary Dixon ending his run of ten games unbeaten for the season.

This fired up the home side and they finished the match as they started, with a, 5-0 whitewash of the final set. 

The Goodens proved to be good’uns this week with George winning both of his frames and Harry scoring a hat-trick. 

Bexleyheath Working Mans Club hold onto their unbeaten record at the top of the table, with a, 10-5 triumph over Happy Hustlers, who are in third. 

New Eltham New Boys picked up their first win of the season, 11-4 to leave Lord Kitchener rooted to the bottom of the table 

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.