The last week of the South London & Kent Pool Alliance league season and there was lots to be decided, including all of the prize winning and relegation positions in the Premier Division. 

The top two, Allstars and Hotshots played each other, with Hotshots having to close a twelve-point gap in order to steal the championship away from their opponents.

But the task proved too much as Allstars got their revenge for the defeat earlier in the season, with an, 8-7 win this week. 

With just twelve points separating fourth from tenth, the race for Premier Division survival was the closest I’ve ever seen. 

Apart from the top two the only other team that was mathematically safe was third placed, Eltham Terrace Club A and they got off to a poor start against Sharks in seventh. 

Sharks won the first three frames, but Paul Shrimpton prevented the whitewash, before Arif Salih made it, 4-1 to Sharks. 

By the end of the second set it was, 7-3 with Sharks only needing one for victory, but Terrace won the first four frames of the last set to tie the match at seven all. 

Terrace looked to their Captain, Ron Brown to bring home the victory, but it was Eno Idiong who won the final frame decider to give Sharks the, 8-7 win and improve their chances of staying in the top division after their first season there.

Idiong and Sharks Captain, Rahat Munim both won two frames for Sharks, but Terrace’s Paul Shrimpton went one better with an unbeaten hat-trick. 

There were just three points between Rugrats in eighth and Hustlers in sixth, so it was all to play for this week, with the winners doing their chances of survival the world of good. 

The first three frames went to Hustlers and they looked like they were in cruise control, but Rugrats had other ideas and brought it back to, 3-2. 

Hustlers made it, 4-2 but Rugrats were fighting for their lives and won three frames in a row to go, 5-4 ahead, before Hustlers took the final frame of the set to tie the match at five all. 

It looked like Rugrats hard work would pay off, when they took the first two frames of the final set, but Hustlers won the last three frames for a narrow, 8-7 triumph, with George Covington winning the decider against his former team mate, Steve Gibson. 

Given how tight the match was, it was no surprise that there was only one unbeaten player, Hustlers’ Steve Dixon, who won all three of his frames.

Hustlers live to fight another day in the top division, but Rugrats finish four points behind Sharks to occupy the relegation play-off place and have to see how the teams below them do to find out where they will finally finish. 

Second from bottom were Pickwick and they played hosts to New Eltham, who were chasing fourth place and the end of season prize money. 

Pickwick were poor but New Eltham continued their good form from last week and just like last week took a, 7-2 lead. 

Last week’s curse returned to haunt them again this week and they found it difficult to push themselves past the winning post and onto a big victory however, they did get past the post and eventually ran out, 9-6 victors. 

That obviously wasn’t enough for Pickwick and they find themselves relegated from the winter season Premier Division for the first time in their history, but New Eltham will have to wait and see if it was enough to pinch fourth. 

Dave Pile did his best to keep Pickwick in the division by winning half of his team’s frames. 

Following on from last week, James Couch and Peter Whyte were unbeaten again this week, with Couch on a hat-trick and Whyte a brace. 

The last game in the division was an Eltham Terrace derby, with fourth placed, Rovers playing hosts to bottom team Nuthouse, and you would have thought the places were reversed, as Nuthouse won the first four frames, with Ryan Francis preventing the whitewash. 

This sparked a Rovers revival and the first four frames of the second set were shared, which included a break and dish from Francis, but Shane O’Reilly won the set decider to give Nuthouse a, 7-3 lead. 

Rovers brought it back to, 7-5 with the first two frames of the last set, but Alex Biggs took frame thirteen to give Nuthouse the much-needed victory. 

Given the other results, Nuthouse needed both of the last two frames to avoid automatic relegation and live to fight it out in the relegation play-off, but Rovers took one of those frames to hold onto fourth by one point, and Nuthouse the other, giving them the, 9-6 triumph, but it was bitter sweet, as they joined Pickwick in being relegated to Division One. 

Rovers will have Francis to thank for their fourth-place finish, as he won all three of his frames to go with his break and dish. 

O’Reilly also scored a hat-trick for Nuthouse, with Alex Biggs unbeaten too, on two frame wins. 

Pickwick finish bottom, with only four wins this season, two points above them are Nuthouse and two points above them are Rugrats in the relegation play-off spot, four points away from safety. 

At the top Hotshots finished thirteen points behind Allstars, despite there only being one victory difference between them, Eltham Terrace Club A are 24 points behind Hotshots and eleven points ahead of Rovers, who finish fourth despite winning less games than the three teams below them. 

Rose Inn were crowned SLKPA Division One champions last week, but everything was up for grabs behind them, with New Eltham Club, Crayford Arms and Eltham Terrace Rack Pack battling for promotion and CSC Sorry in Advance, Bellegrove A, Fox & Hounds and Just Bellegrove looking to avoid relegation. 

There was only eleven points between the bottom four so, it was going to be a real scrap, and bottom team, Just Bellegrove did just that against fourth placed, Rack Pack. 

But in the end Just Bellegrove’s, 8-7 triumph wasn’t enough to keep them in the division, and they remain bottom. 

Fox & Hounds occupied the relegation play-off spot and played CSC Sorry in Advance, who were two places and six points above them. 

CSC had the better start, winning the first three frames but Fox fought back with the father daughter partnership of Tom and Kerry Wyatt to end the set only, 3-2 behind. 

CSC made it, 4-2 but Fox weren’t lying down and tied the match at four all however, CSC ended the set stronger and took a, 6-4 lead into the final set. 

Frame eleven also went to CSC, which meant that they only needed one more frame to win, but the pressure was too much, and Fox tied the match again to send it into a final frame decider. 

Fittingly the two captains, Kerry Wyatt and Luke Matthews faced each other, with Wyatt securing the win, to give her side the, 8-7 victory and the chance of avoiding relegation. 

There was only one unbeaten player, CSC’s Steve King, with three frame wins. 

CSC despite losing, did enough to avoid relegation, but Fox were on equal points with Bellegrove A, so they had to equal or better Fox’s result to avoid the drop. 

They didn’t have it easy though, as they were playing Crayford Arms, who were looking to at least keep their promotion play-off spot but were also looking to steal the automatic promotion place from New Eltham Club. 

It looked as though Bellegrove wanted it more, as they raced to a, 4-0 lead, but Crayford won three on the bounce to bring it back to, 4-3. 

Bellegrove’s Dan Brown won frame eight with an outrageous fluke on the black to make it, 5-3 and this gave them the momentum to win the last two frames of the set, to take a surprising, 7-3 lead into the final set. 

Crayford maintained their focus and won the first three frames of the final set to bring it back to, 7-6 however, Peter Moult secured his hat-trick to give Bellegrove the victory and their Division One survival. 

The last frame went to Crayford, making the final score, 8-7 to put them one point ahead of New Eltham Club, which meant they had to be whitewashed by Academicals to miss out on the automatic promotion spot. 

New Eltham Club put in a solid performance, none more so than Dan Smith and Jamie Phillips, who both won all three of their frames to help their side to a, 9-6 victory and assure themselves Premier Division pool next season, alongside Rose Inn. 

It appeared to be lucky seven for the four teams that stay in Division One, as they all won seven of their sixteen matches, although there are 21 points difference between them.  

Crayford Arms now face Rugrats and the winners will play in the Premier Division next season, with Fox & Hounds playing New Eltham New Boys for a place in Division One. 

We had a really interesting situation in the League Cup, with one group game left, all teams in Group A could still qualify for the final against New Eltham Social Club. 

Happy Hustlers surprisingly sat top of the group after losing to New Eltham New Boys, but beat unbeaten Division Two champions, Bexleyheath Working Man’s Club. 

This meant that New Boys had to win, 9-6 against Bexleyheath to qualify, but Bexleyheath needed an, 11-4 win and if neither of those happened Happy Hustlers would stay top and progress through to the final. 

This created a tense atmosphere with some very anxious Happy Hustlers players in attendance, but they were more than happy with the outcome, as Bexleyheath missed out by just one frame, with a, 10-5 victory. 

The SLKPA league season is now done and dusted, with some cups and the play-offs left to be decided and finish off a very exciting and competitive season. 

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.