Can the Jesters be 'Court'?
The Jet Wednesday league, 26th July, saw top of the table Court Jesters taking themselves away to PSL Aint Going Down and this comfortable win for the Jesters sees them still yet to lose a match this season. Whilst PSL were remained in touch with the Jesters at only 6-4 down after the first two sessions, the Jesters made no mistake with the final session by taking all 5 frames with Andy Bunton confirming the team win in the 12th. This win for the Jesters sees them extend their almost unassailable lead at the top of the table but, also sees the PSL team slip one ?place to 6th.

The featured YouTube Live-stream match saw Court At The Bar taking on the Court Kids, and it was the latter making a good start by taking the first session 3-2. However, At The Bar were having none of it by then forging ahead and taking the next 7 frames in a row with Michael Harrison securing the match in the 11th. Whilst Ryan Anderson and Joe Haywood took 2 further consolation frames late on for the Kids, this comfortable win for At The Bar sees them move further away from the bottom of the table but, also sees the Kids move up one place into 5th spot, despite their loss.

Another ‘all court’ clash saw Court Snapbacks take on Court Gimme A Break and with the latter holding on to 2nd spot in the table by a single point and the snapbacks in 3rd going into this match, a lot was at stake for both teams. Liam Ayres’s ‘break & dish’ certainly contributed to the first session win of 3-2 for the Snapbacks and, with achieving the same score-line in the second session too, Gimme A Break were still in touch with the match, just. Whilst Mick Thorpe for Gimme A Break then reduced the deficit to just the single frame in the 11th, the ‘Snapbacks’ lived up to their name by taking the remaining 4 frames in a row with Sean Hackett confirming the win in the 13th, seeing the two teams now swap places in the league table.

With only 3 matches left to play before the season’s end, the Postie Pats are running out of time in seeing themselves lift off the bottom of the table and, they did themselves no favours in this regard when hosting the Parkway team this week. Mid-table Parkway took a 3-1 lead at one point only for the Posties to level things at 3-3. With the score-line at 4-4 by the end of the 8th frame, it was difficult to see who would eventually see the match out however, Parkway then took the next two frames to take a reasonable lead going in to the final session. With Parkway repeating the same score-line of the previous two sessions of 3-2 and with John Roe securing them their win in the 14th, this leave them with no change in their 4th spot table position for Parkway but, it does however, leave the Postie’s with a mountain to climb.

             No 'Larking About' against the Posties

The Stanground Carpets & Flooring Thursday League, 27th July, saw Court Larking About take on the Court Posties and this was about as easy as it could possibly get for the Larking About team with a complete white-wash over the Posties. What contributed to this defeat for the Posties? Firstly, they did have their chances but failed to take all of them whilst Larking About on the other hand, didn’t waste their opportunities. Secondly, and like one or two other teams in this league, Larking About possess two or three players that have that innate ability to pull out a result from seemingly impossible positions and, on that note, a particular mention of youngster Luke Gilbert who made his PWR debut tonight with 3 very convincing frames won. His tremendous pedigree, already built up for someone so young through his Interleague and County experience, really shone through and massively contributed to the team win - definitely a name to look out for in the future. Final shout out too to Ivan Knight. It’s fair to say that nobody likes to be the ‘only’ losing player on a team win and so, unlike on two previous occasions before when his team were on the brink of delivering the same ‘lesson’ as they did tonight only to fall at the final hurdle and not quite take all 15 frames, he managed to hold his nerve this time round and helped to see his team secure an outstanding result which sees Larking About jump back into 2nd spot in the table and the Posties staying in 8th.

The featured YouTube Live-stream match saw Court By The Cops host Crosskeys Silver. The match was all square by the end of the 4th frame however, Silver then threw down the gauntlet and piled the pressure back on to the home team by taking the next 5 frames in a row leaving the Cops with the unenviable task requiring all of the remaining 6 frames if they were to get a result. Glenn Cripps of the Cops got the ball rolling by winning the 10th frame however, with 3 frames then won in a row by Silver, including Tony Brown confirming the win in the 11th, this gave Silver a relatively straight forward win in the end which sees them drop to 4th spot, albeit with games in hand, and the Cops now move up to 6th.

PSL Lions took the trek across to the other side of the city to take on the Quinns Muppets. On form and table positions alone, this should have been a relative breeze for the Muppets on home turf however, never ‘judge a book by its’ cover they say, and so it proved. This was as about as closely fought a match as it could possibly get. The Lions went 2-0 up only to be pegged back to 2-2. Over the next 10 frames a pattern immerged with the Lions going a frame ahead only to then see the Muppets draw back level each time. This continued up to and including the penultimate frame where, at 7 frames apiece, Paul Dewey of the Muppets took on Stephen Edgley of the Lions in this match decider with the former, securing the win for the Muppets - the one and only time they went in front. This closely fought win for the Muppets sees them move up to 3rd spot in the table and, whilst the Lions narrowly miss out on their first win of the season, it does see them reduce the deficit between themselves in 9th and the Posties in 8th spot.

Top of the table Court Gold welcomed Bluebell R Back. The match was level-pegging at 2-2 by the end of the 4th frame but Gold started to create a decent lead by taking the next 2 frames through Andy Bunton and Joel Scott. Lee McShane for Bluebell halted the slide by reducing the deficit to just the one frame however, Gold kicked back in with three in a row leaving the pressure back on the Bluebell team not needing any more losses if they were to take this match. Gold, of course, had other ideas by finally securing the match through Sam Boome’s ‘break & dish’ in the 12th frame and, not to be outdone, Gold’s Ady Bonsor himself all but wrapped things up with a ‘break & dish’ of his own. This now leaves Gold with an increased lead at the top and the Bluebell team still mid-table in 5th spot.

The Jet Wednesday league, 19th July, featured the YouTube Live-stream match with Court Gimme A Break hosting the Postie Pats. The Posties did themselves no favours at all in trying to lift themselves off the bottom of the league table by allowing Gimme A Break to take the first 10 frames in a row with Beckie Watkins securing the win in the 8th frame and, while new signing Mick Sell and Martyn Allen took the consolation 11th and 15th frames for the Posties, this was certainly a night to forget as they now see themselves 4 points adrift at the foot of the table but with Gimme A Break moving up into 2nd spot.

An all ‘Court’ affair took place with the Jesters taking on At The Bar. By the end of the second session, they were all tied at 5 frames a-piece with each taking a session 3-2. Whilst it looked like a close finish may have been on the cards going into the final 5 frames, Court Jesters moved up a gear by taking 4 out of 5 including a ‘break & dish’ by Darren Hope giving the Jesters a relatively comfortable win increasing their lead at the top but, with Court At The Bar also lifting themselves off the bottom of the table.

Parkway hosted Court Snapbacks and this match proved to be a real battle. Parkway stamped their authority on proceedings by taking the first session 4-1 only to then see the Snapbacks return the favour leaving things all tied going in to the final session. James Harford put Parkway back in front only then for the Snapbacks Jamie Stokes to level things up again. Parkway went back in front through Craig Scothern just to be pegged back again by Snapbacks Shane Wood. Pressure was now on in the 15th frame decider which saw the Snapbacks finally take the win through Scott Beasley. This closely contested match see’s Snapbacks drop one place to 3rd in the table but also has Parkway moving up one spot into 4th.

PSL Aint Going Down saw their recent good form come to an end when playing away to the Court Kids. At only 6-4 down by the end of the second session, PSL were still in the match however, the Kids had other ideas and kicked on by taking 4 out of the last 5 frames in the final session to take an overall convincing win which included a ‘break & dish’ by Ryan Anderson. This leaves no change in table position for the Kids but does see PSL drop one place to 5th and leave both teams tied on the same points.

Thursday 20th July’s featured You-tube live stream saw the league give way to the PWR’s Jet Knockout Cup Final seeing Crosskeys Silver and Court Gold go head to head and it was the former that set the pace early on and put the pressure on Gold by going into a 3-0 lead. Court Gold responded by then taking the next 3 frames to square things up. Luke Wilkinson put Silver ahead once again only for Gold’s Andy Bunton to bring proceedings back to level pegging. Just as a pattern was starting to appear, Gold showed exactly why they are top of the league by kicking in once again and taking the next 3 frames in a row, heaping the pressure back on to their opposition. Silver’s Luke Wilkinson started to close the gap with a very good frame won taking the match to 7-5. The 13th frame then beckoned with Gold’s Joel Scott stepping up to take his turn and try and get his team over the winning line and, what a great way to win the match it turned out to be with a superb ‘break & dish’ taking with it not only the win, but more importantly, the winners of the first ever Jet Knockout Cup in the PWR’s Inaugural season!

The Stanground Carpets & Flooring Thursday League also saw two matches played out this week postponed from earlier in the season. Firstly, Court Gold were at home to PSL Lions, 17th July, and this turned out to be a relative breeze for Gold as this ‘top v bottom’ of the table clash might have suggested. Whilst it was only 1-1 by the end of the second frame, Gold then cranked it up and took the next 12 frames in a row, including a ‘break & dish’ each from Joel Scott and Sam Boome. Whilst Stephen Edgley took a consolation 15th frame for the Lions, this result has left the Lions deeply rooted at the foot of the table and Gold with plenty of daylight between themselves at the top, and their nearest rivals.

Court Larking About hosted Quinns Muppets, 20th July, and this turned out to be a classic, closely fought match with no obvious winner until the very last frame. Larking About took the first session 3-2 only for the Muppets to repeat the same score-line in the second session – all square at 5-5. The last session saw the Muppets edge in front only for Larking About to square things up once again – this was repeated again in the 13th and 14th frames taking the match to a last frame decider with the Muppets Ryan Anderson securing the win for his team. This leaves Larking About just shading the table position over the Muppets, but by only 3 points.