In division one, the Chantry Club moved clear at the top with a convincing 6-0 win against the Greyhound B.  John Fullager opened with a break in his game of 7060, and Mick Nichol scored over 10000 in his win, although Kevin Kay was fortunate to beat Daniel Jackson 3820-3790.  The doubles were all straightforward for the Chantry.

The Plough & Harrow from Bridge could only manage a 3-3 at home to the Royal Oak Nonnington, having led 2-0.  Baz Symes scored 7060 to win the first leg, and Ian Dennett beat Darryl Brown 4460-3230 for the lead.  The Royal Oak won the next 3 legs, the final one being a narrow 5340-5260 victory for Alan Smith & Stuart Richardson over Paddy Meher and Ian Dennett.  The Plough saved the valuable draw with the last game.

The Lion from Ash continued their impressive recent form with a 6-0 win at the Magnet in Deal.  With the table seemingly unforgiving the games were low scoring – Terry Laslett’s win over Lin Callanan for the 3-0 was by a narrow 1130-1050.  Wack Sampson elected to play all three doubles and was rewarded with three straight wins.

In division 2, the leaders the Greyhound A hosted an important match against second placed Plough & Harrow Tilmanstone and took the honours with a 4-2 win.  Ann Keen (4920) gave the early lead to the visitors before Gareth Butcher (4860) and Alan Farra (6570) swung the tie.  The first two doubles also went the way of the Greyhound before Ann Keen & Brian Carpenter narrowly beat Christine & Alan Farra 2210-1930 to restore pride.

The Fitzwalter Arms moved back into second place with a 4-2 home win over the Brickmakers A.  Wins for Roger Oldfield and Steve Lake gave the Fitzwalter early advantage before Craig Lancaster pulled off a close win over Mark Graves 1750-1700.  The first doubles went the home side’s way before again the Brickies again narrowed the deficit with a win by a just 10 points, Alan Holmwood & Paul Garlinge besting Nigel Scott & Mark Graves 2410-2400.  The drama continued to the last as Steve Lake & Nigel Scott scraped to victory with a 2120-2040 win over Nick Corck & Paul Garlinge.

The Brickmakers B team drew at home to the Magnet B 3-3.  Steve Philpott (3510) gave the visitors the lead before Simon Hart and Simon Jones won their legs for a 2-1 to the Brickies.  The first two doubles went to the Magnet, including a competitive 3470-2950 win for Rob Robertson and Tanya Philpott against Simon Hart and Dave Carter.  The Brickies took the final leg and parity with a win for Simon Jones and Paul Dargan.

World Championships

The annual British Isles Open, also known as the Bar Billiards World Championships, was held in Jersey on the 9-10th November, and 10 players from our league competed.  The rules are Jersey rules, which means every shot is off the spot - all this gives a very useful home advantage to the Channel Islanders.

Three of our players reached round three - two of our main hopes Chris Saville and John Mitchell were joined by Craig Carlson.  Chris had staked his intentions earlier, when in the first round he defeated England 's number 2 ranked player, Keith Sheard from Oxfordshire, with a score exceeding 7000.  In round two he romped through with a score of over 10000.  However, in round three Chris lost the toss and watched his opponent from Brighton hit a break of 5500 in 9 minutes.  This left the extremely difficult task of beating that in just 7 minutes on difficult Jersey tables.

John Mitchell, quarter-finalist last year, progressed confidently through the early rounds, including a useful 6000 points win over Barry Holt in round two.  In round three however, he succumbed to defeat against twice world champion Steve Ahier from Jersey , as John's break of 1700 proved insufficient in his only real chance at the table.

Craig Carlson's opening break in his Jersey debut in round one of 3660 proved enough, and in round two he enjoyed a superb win over former world champion and England player Tony Walsh from Reading .  Round three proved a disappointment however as Craig lost to a Jerseyman 4300-3800, but had the chances to put the game beyond the reach of his opponent.

Another of our main home hopes, Alan Farra, reached round two.  A tricky first round tie was successfully negotiated before Alan unluckily lost his second round match 4600-4000, one of the highest losing scores of the tournament.  Sheila Howarth also reached round two, her victory over a Jerseyman in round one being one of the most noteworthy performances from the Dover & Deal players.  Former local player Di Wellburn, now playing in Medway, also reached the second round.

There were first round exits for Dave Howarth, Daniel Jackson, Dave Carliell, Matt Brown and Chris Gent.

There is a secondary "Plate" competition for all first round losers, and this saw a terrific performance from Daniel Jackson, who reached the last 16.  In round two Daniel enjoyed a 6500-4500 win over Janet Burns from Reading in a great game, and Daniel notched another score in excess of 5000 in the third round beating England player Paul Yeo.  Unfortunately the fourth round tie was a scrappy affair in which Dan was chasing throughout with balls hidden all over the table, and the last Dover & Deal player in action was eliminated, but with great credit.

Chris Gent reached round three, and Dave Carliell progressed to the second round of the Plate.

The main competition was eventually won by Terry Race from Brighton who beat Nigel Ryall from Jersey , and the Plate was won by Sue Mariner, also from Brighton who beat Jerseyman James Jearne.