Dover Deal and District Bar Billiards League Match Reports

Group 1

There was a bit of a scare for the Chantry 'A' team this week as they looked to finish top of group 1. They knew that nothing short of a win would guarantee their position as their nearest rivals the Alma 'A' were just 3 points behind, but they were facing tough opposition away to the Plough & Harrow in Bridge. And it did not start well for the visitors as both Paddy Maher and Keith Symes won their legs. However, John Fullager steadied the ship for the Canterbury outfit by winning the next singles leg and partnering first Roger Standen then Mick Nichol to take the lead in the match and leaving Roger and Mick to ensure maximum win bonus points by beating Keith and Paddy.

It was just as well the Chantry won their match as the Alma 'A' entertained the Alma 'B' team and came away with a 5-1 win. The last match of the evening involved two couples that are also couples - Chris and Gill Saville for the 'A' side v Dave and Sheila Howarth for the 'B'. And it was the Howarths who were to get the only leg win for the 'B's as Chris was unlucky to get an unlikely rebound to black peg towards the end of the leg. This fixture also saw Rick Cowdrey come out of 'retirement' and play his first league bar billiards for some 20 years.

Brickmakers 'B's Dave Carter has had a good couple run in the last two fixtures. Last time out he beat Paddy Maher of Plough & Harrow from Bridge (his first win of the season), this week was John Higgens from the Magnet 'A' team. These are two very good players, so Dave has played exceptionally well to beat them. His leg was just the one won by his team though, as they were beat 5-1.

Alma ‘A’                      5     Alma ‘B’                      1

Brickmakers 'A'           1      Greyhound 'B’              5

Magnet ‘A’                   5     Brickmakers Arms ‘B’  1

Plough&Harrow,Bridge  2     Chantry 'A’                  4    

 Group 2

The Chantry 'B' made sure that they were not to be outdone by their 'A' team, and they also finished top of their group. Although they had a bye this week and did not play, they had already done enough to ensure they could not be overtaken.

The Royal Oak claimed second place thanks to a splendid 5-1 win away to Tilmanstones Plough & Harrow, although Richard Cousens and Ken Keen cannot claim the lowest aggregate score of the season with 1470.

The Magnet 'B' have had some tough matches in the season and this weeks was no exception. The stats show that their most successful player is Rob Robertson, and this week he went on add to his win tally by beating Dave Carliell in the Greyhound 'A' v Magnet 'B' fixture in Sandwich. The match ended 5-1 to the home side, but the Deal team can count themselves unlucky not to have at least one more and Dave Carliell and Dave Mackworth won their leg against Chris Gent and Rob Robertson by just 10 points - the smallest winning margin in bar billiards!

Four of the legs in the high scoring fixture between the Lion and Fitzwalter Arms were won with scores exceeding 4500. Pick of the singles was Nev Potts' 4600 (closely followed by Roger Oldfield with 4570), and the pairs top score was the 5760 of Steve Lake and Roger Oldfield, although also worthy of note is Nigel Scott played extremely well to beat Tim Hayes.

Greyhound 'A'                5          Magnet 'B'                     1         

Lion                              3          Fitzwalter Arms             3