Blackheath Sports Club haul themselves off the bottom

Blackheath were so close to their first win of the season last week, but this week they travelled to Bears and made a great start with Joe Kane taking the first frame.

Shane Burnett levelled the match, before Alan Dolan and Mel Barnes took the next two frames to give Blackheath the first set. 

Blackheath took a, 3-2 lead into the second set and Glen Ward made that, 4-2, but Bears won the next three frames to nudge them into the lead for the first time in the match, 5-4. 

Dolan won his second frame of the night to tie the match at five all, then Gary Heath recorded an unbeaten brace and Burnett a hat-trick to put Bears on the hill, before Mason won them the match. 

Dean James made it four in a row for Bears, but Ward made it a personal two out of two to prevent the set whitewash and make the final score, 9-6. 

So, although Blackheath remain winless, they do go up one place in the table and are above New Eltham New Boys by two points, as they lost, 13-2 to Bellegrove Flyers. 

All the other teams around Blackheath from sixth to tenth have won three games now, as Academicals beat Bell Ya Later and go up one place to sixth, whereas Bell Ya Later stay in eighth. 

Fifth played sixth as Downham Tavern Terrors took on Eltham Terrace Rack Pack with only four points between them, so this game should have been close, and the first set was.

Mark Simnett and Tony Frost put Rack Pack two ahead, before Aaron Walker pulled one back. 

Then Chris Parlett won the set for Rack Pack and Charlie Mehmet brought it back to, 3-2. 

However, that’s as close as it got because Terrors whitewashed the last two sets, giving them eleven frames in a row and a, 12-3 triumph. 

It was a fantastic team performance with five unbeaten players, ranging from one frame win by David Read, to two frames from Tommy Bowden, Aaron Walker, and Kevin Dempsey, finishing with a hat-trick by Charlie Mehmet. 

Rack Pack drop to seventh, whilst Terrors stay in fifth within six points of the promotion places. 

The final game in this division was first versus second, as Duke of Northumberland hosted Cue-Ologists, with just two points between them and Duke got off to a fantastic start, with a first set whitewash. 

Duke’s dominance continued into the second set, winning the first three frames for an,8-0 lead and the win before the end of the second set. 

Cue-Ologists took the next frame, but the set ended, 9-1 before the Cue-ologists dug deep to take three frames in the final set, for the set and a final score of, 11-4 a massive margin considering how close the teams were in the table. 

Sam Kinsville and Dave Pearce ended the night with unbeaten hat-tricks for Duke. 

Bears and Flyers have now overtaken Cue-Ologists and are six points behind Duke at the top. 

This division appears to be split in half, with twelve points separating the top five teams and thirteen points the bottom five and eight points between fifth and sixth. 

It was a great week for Hurricanes Reborn, who went up three places to second in Division Two, after a massive win over bottom team, White Hart. 

White Hart didn’t help themselves by only turning up with four players, but Hurricanes took full advantage of their opportunities and whitewashed the first set, 5-0. 

Hurricanes took frame six, before White Hart won two on the bounce, bringing the score back to, 6-2. 

Arif Salih levelled the set and then the lack of players proved costly for White Hart, as the bye not only gave Hurricanes the set, but also the match before the start of the last set. 

The score was, 8-2 going into the last set and Hurricanes piled on the misery for White Hart by repeating the whitewash from the first set for a 13-2 final score.

It was a brilliant all-round team performance from all seven Hurricanes, with five of them unbeaten, as Charles and Phoebe French, Luke Knight and Kevin England all scored unbeaten braces, and Arif Salih continued his great form to make it a hat-trick of hat-tricks. 

White Hart remain winless at the bottom of the table, whereas Hurricanes are now nine points behind Eltham Terrace Tigers at the top. 

Tigers got back to winning ways with a comprehensive, 10-5 win over Sundridge Park Working Men’s Club. 

Tigers were too strong for Sundridge Park in the first set, winning four of the five frames, with only Dave Sparey scoring for the visitors. 

Sets two and three were much closer with Tigers winning both, 3-2.

Gary Smith and Danny Campbell both scored three out of three for Tigers.  

Sundridge Park stay in sixth, eleven points behind The Con Men, who drop from second as they didn’t have a game this week. 

Third placed, Goodfellows visited Farmhouse in fourth with three points between them, and after the first two frames were shared, Shahed Syed and Shelton D’Costa won the next two frames to give Goodfellows the first set. 

Goodfellows took a, 3-2 lead into the second set which soon became, 4-2 before John Denahy and Steve Jeffcoate won the next two frames to tie the match. 

Jay Smith tied the set and edged Goodfellows back into the lead however, Steve Carpenter took frame ten to give Farmhouse the set and go into the final set all square. 

Gurpal Cheema won his third frame of the night to put Goodfellows back in the lead however, Farmhouse won the last four frames to take the match, 9-6. 

With his hat-trick, Cheema was the only unbeaten player for Goodfellows, but Farmhouse had two, with John Denahy joining Cheema on three out of three and Jeffcoate won both of his frames. 

These two teams stay in third and fourth, but are on the same points, with Goodfellows ahead by one more win. 

Eighth placed Bexleyheath Raiders hosted Plough & Harrow in seventh, with just two points between them and Raiders, 9-6 victory meant they leapfrogged their opponents by one point. 

The battle for promotion out of this division is strong with twelve points between the top five teams. 

Just like the first division the top two played each other in the Premier Division, as Hotshots hosted Sharks and the league leaders got off to a great start, with Joe Kelly, Tony Gear, Ryan Francis, and Tony Wilson all winning before Derek Power prevented the set whitewash. 

The second set followed exactly the same pattern, with all the same players winning to give Hotshots the match before the start of the last set. 

Hotshots’ dominance continued into the last set, whitewashing it for a final score of 13-2. 

Derek Power was Sharks only winner and was unbeaten, winning both his frames, on the other hand Hotshots had four unbeaten players, with Kelly, Gear, Francis, and Wilson all scoring hat-tricks. 

Before this match Hotshots were twelve points clear, but they have extended this to 28 points, with Rugrats taking second after they recorded their own massive win this week. 

After beating Bellegrove A last week, Rugrats hosted their sister side, Bellegrove and it didn’t start well for them, with Dan Heinink, Sean Hennessy and Dan Foley winning the first three frames. 

Jimmy Maloney and Steve Gibson took the last two frames of the set to bring the score back to, 3-2. 

Unfortunately for Bellegrove that’s as close as they got, because Rugrats took all of the next ten frames, making it twelve in a row for a, 12-3 final score. 

Despite the large margin of victory, Rugrats only had two unbeaten players, Maloney, and Gibson, who both scored three frame wins. 

Bellegrove drop from fourth to sixth even though the two teams below them also lost this week. 

It was a good week for the teams at the bottom, apart from Eltham Terrace Nuthouse who didn’t have a game and dropped to the bottom of the table as a result. 

New Eltham New Stars were in equal fourth with Bellegrove and they hosted bottom of the table Bellegrove A this week, with the bottom team picking up their second victory of the season, 9-6 to lift themselves off the bottom by one point. 

Two places and seven points separated Pickwick and Falconwood Club, so it was always going to be a tight match, and this was proved with each set being won by the odd frame. 

The first two frames were shared, but Naftali Ayieko and Akar Necati won the next two frames to give Falconwood the first set. 

The second set swung one way then the other, going to a set deciding frame, which Paul Dawson won with a good long double on his last yellow to land on the black. 

All square at one set and five frames all going into the final set and Jamie White and Ian Stringer won the first two frames to put Falconwood on the hill at, 7-5. 

Paul Gafa and Louis Wilbourne took the next two frames to level the game once again, sending the match into a final frame decider, which Brett Crawley won to give Falconwood their third win of the season, 8-7. 

As this was an extremely tight match, there was only one unbeaten player, Falconwood’s Jamie White with three frame wins. 

The battle to avoid relegation from the top division is going to be tough, with only eleven points separating the bottom six teams.  

For more information on the SLKPA including league tables visit the website at www.slkpa.com or contact the 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.