Report 22nd October 2002
In Division 1, The Plough & Harrow Bridge
extended their lead with a 5-1 win over the Magnet A. An excellent first
leg was won by Mike Callanan for the Magnet against Keith Symes by 6230-4790.
This, however, was proved to be the only joy for the visitors as the Plough
took all the next five points. Ian Dennett won his singles, and Baz
Symes notched a 4600 break while beating John Higgens. The first two
doubles were close games both edged by the Plough, but the vicissitudes of the
game were exposed for the Magnet team, 5-1 winners at the Greyhound last week.
A key meeting this week ended in stalemate as the
Alma A drew at home to the Chantry Club. Ted Batchelor won a close first
leg for the Alma against Kevin Kay 2740-2490, the game going to the final
ball. The Chantry team levelled the tie in emphatic fashion as John Fullager
opened with a break of 10250 against Chris Saville, the highest of the season
so far. Chris was unable to get the break back in what proved his only
visit to the table, as John finished with a total of 13940, also the highest
score of the season. Mick Nichol won his singles leg, and then teamed up
with Roger Standen to take the first doubles game and a 3-1 lead. A
crucial away win for the Canterbury team looked a possibility at this stage,
but Chris & Gill Saville started the fight back as they won the
penultimate leg, and lastly Tim Bourner & John Mitchell took a close final
leg 5830-4660 against John Fullager & Roger Standen to earn the draw.
The final match in division one saw the Royal
Oak earn their first win of the season, 4-2 at home to the bottom team,
the Greyhound B. Daniel Jackson gave the visitors from Sandwich the best
of starts with an excellent win over Alan Smith. A close second leg went
the way of the Royal Oak as Gary Clarke fought back from over 2000 points
behind with only a few minutes left to beat Craig Carlson 3670-3380.
Craig also spurned two chances to sink the ball down the 200 hole to win as
Gary's nerve held to take the leg. Stuart Richardson won his singles leg
and then teamed up with Gary Clarke in the first doubles to win and give
the Royal Oak a 3-1. Richard Cousens & Alan Smith enjoyed a
narrow victory in the next doubles game, but Matt Brown & Craig
Carlson gave the Greyhound a deserved second point in the final leg.
In division two it is already developing into a
two-horse race, as the top two both enjoyed emphatic victories. The
current leaders, the Greyhound A, beat the Butchers Arms 6-0. Alan Farra
maintained his 100% record in beating Doug Vickers 5010-2840, before Dave
Carliell narrowly shaded victory over Ruth Stevens. Gareth Butcher
scored 3980 in his win against Phil Court, followed by a 5540-1980 win for
Christine Farra & Alan Farra over Doug Vickers & Dennis from the
Butchers Arms and an unassailable lead. The final two legs followed in
similar fashion to give maximum points to the hosts.
The Fitzwalter Arms kept up the pressure on the
Greyhound as they travelled to Deal and beat the Brickmakers B 5-1. The
only point for the home team came in the first leg as Alan Holmwood, as
substitute for the B team, just beat Mark Graves 1790-1520. Roger
Oldfield hit 5030 to level the match at 1-1 and maintain his unbeaten singles
record, which was followed by a win for Steve Lake and a 2-1 to the Fitzwalter.
Nigel Scott played and won all three doubles, the first a narrow 2830-2470 win
over Simon Jones and Simon Hart. As the final two legs went their way,
the Fitzwalter Arms entertain the Greyhound A this week in what at this early
stage is looking a crucial confrontation.
The Plough & Harrow from Tilmanstone moved
into third place with an excellent 4.5-1.5 home win against the Brickmakers A.
As was the case in most games this week, the first leg went to the eventual
losers, as Nick Corck scored 3670 for his team's point. Stuart Pearcy
succumbed to his first defeat of the season, a superb 3350-1720 win for Ken
Keen. Bar Billiards is a game played over between 18 to 19 minutes, with
points available from 10 to 200 with each potted ball, with a red ball being
worth double. For this reason a draw is extremely rare and usually one
team will finish the three singles legs with a lead. However, Ann Keen
was in front in her leg 1940-1540 against Paul Garlinge with one ball
remaining - the red. Paul duly potted the red down the 200 hole to tie
the leg and retain parity at 1 1/2 points each. All three double legs
though were won by the Plough to take the match, the final leg another close one
as Brian Carpenter & Ann Keen just defeated Stuart Pearcy and Craig
Lancaster 2460-2320.
The final match saw a meeting of two Deal teams,
as the Alma B visited the Magnet B and came away with a 3.5-2.5 win, a result
which moves the Alma above the Magnet to fourth in the table. Dave
Howarth beat Ward Griffiths in the first leg, before the second occurrence of
a drawn game of the week, 1370-1370 between Tanya Philpott and Anne Cope.
The third singles leg went to the Alma as Bill Edwards defeated Rob Robertson
4230-1480. Steve & Tanya Philpott teamed up for a win in the first
doubles, but Bill Edwards and Harry Pearson extinguished hope of a come back
for the Magnet as they took the next leg. Rob Robertson & Steve
Philpott beat Shirley & Rick Cowdrey in the final leg for a point for the
Magnet, and ensured it was only the narrowest possible victory to the Alma, 3
1/2 to 2 1/2.