Wednesday 23rd August Headline:
'The Snapbacks not tested in winning the Knockout Cup’

With the Court Jesters rounding off the Jet Wednesday League last week by taking the overall League Title, it was down to the division’s 2nd and 3rd placed teams to fight it out this week, in the Jet Wednesday Knockout Cup Final, 23rd August, this week’s featured YouTube Live-stream match. Court Snapbacks took on the Court Gimme A Break team and, considering their respective final table positions of last week, on paper this would suggest a closely fought match. It was Gimme A Break who took ‘first blood’ with a great clearance from Mick Thorpe but, with the Snapbacks then replying with 4-in-a-row, Gimme A Break knew they had a match on their hands! Gimme A Break’s Beckie Watkins halted the slide by taking the 6th frame however, that’s as good as it got for them because, the Snapbacks repeated the first sessions score-line by once again, taking the next 4-in-a-row, with Scott Beasley taking the 10th frame and in doing so, sealing the win and the Cup for the Snapbacks with a session to spare – it’s now all about, of course, the Snapbacks defending the Cup next season!

Thursday 24th August Headline:
‘Posties fail to deliver on home-turf’

The Stanground Carpets & Flooring Thursday League, still with 3 weeks to go to conclusion, saw Court Posties host the Bluebell R Back team in tonight’s, 24th August’s, featured YouTube Live-stream match. First session went to Bluebell 3-2 with the Posties coming back and repeating the same score-line in the second session, tying things up nicely going into the final 5 frames. Any ideas that this match was going to ‘go to the wire’ were quickly dispelled though with the Posties never getting a look in, with Bluebell taking all 5 remaining frames including, Lee McShane confirming the win in the 13th, giving them an overall comfortable win. This leaves them securely in mid-table and the Posties themselves lower down and perhaps also with just the one eye over their shoulders looking at the team currently in last place.

Crosskeys Silver took on Court Larking About and Silver certainly did their own potential title winners credentials no harm at all with a very comfortable. Larking about didn’t let Silver have it all their own way though with Ivan Knight and Lewis Roberts completing a ‘break & dish’ each however, the match was put beyond doubt as Silver’s Mick Defraine confirmed the win as early as the 11th frame. This win also see’s Silver taking advantage of the fact that the current table-toppers, prior to tonight’s matches Court Gold, had no match this week and has Silver now topping the table, for now. Larking About still hold on to 3rd spot, albeit now with less of an advantage over 4th place.

The PSL Lions hosted the Heron Warlords from across the other side of the city and bottom of the table Lions came extremely close to achieving their first win of the season in this closely fought match. At one point the Lions were 5-2 down but then rallied very well to nip into the lead for the first time by then taking the next 4 frames in a row. Advantage then swung back to the Warlords favour once again with Ian Lea and Gareth Mears taking 2 in a row with two frames left to play. The Lions Martin Edgley then ensured the match was going into a final frame decider by taking the 14th - 7 apiece! A tense final frame saw Roy Hasdell take on Dee Coogan with the latter finally confirming the win for the Warlords – a case of ‘so near yet so far’ for the Lions. Whilst this leaves the Warlords still firmly entrenched in the ‘mid-table pack’, it also sees the Lions still propping up the rest of the table.

'Jesters round off the season in style!’

The featured YouTube Live-stream match this week, 16th August, saw the Court Jesters wind up the first season of the PWR Jet Wednesday League tonight with a resounding victory against the Parkway team. Jesters top-of-the-table status was already confirmed in the penultimate match last week and this week was really now about who topped the averages table. The match itself was won for the Jesters by frame 9, with Amanda Lethbridge taking the solitary frame for Parkway. John Roe took his last two consolation frames for the Parkway, which also saw him top out as the highest in the averages for the Parkway team however, with Andy Bunton winning the 15th and very last frame of this season for the Jesters with a ‘break & dish’, this comfortable win for the Jesters saw them finish the season as Champions. It also saw its captain Ady Bonsor and team-mate Mick Defraine  finish tied at the top of the averages in the league overall. Parkway finished the season in 6th position.

Court Snapbacks confirmed their runners-up position for the season against Court At The Bar. Snapbacks however didn’t have it all their own way in the first two sessions with the match being all-square at 5-5 going into the last. Wanting themselves to also finish off the season in style, the Snapbacks made no mistake by taking the last 4 of 5 frames with Sean Hackett confirming the win in the 14th frame, which also saw him placed highest in the averages for the Snapbacks team. Court At The Bar finished in 7th position, with James Bennett finishing top of the averages within the Court At The Bar team.

It was always going to be an uphill task for the Postie Pats to lift themselves off the bottom of the table going into the last game of the season when hosting PSL Aint Going Down. The PSL team took the first session 3-2 only for the Pats to then repeat the same score-line in the second, all square going in to the final session. Advantage then swung back in the direction of PSL by winning 4 of the last 5 frames, with Tony Clark taking the all important 13th frame. This win sees PSL placing 5th as a final position in the table and, Kris Lord topping out as highest in the averages for the PSL team. Postie Pats finished foot of the table but this season’s finale also saw Martyn Allen finish highest in the averages for the Postie Pats team.

Court Kids rounded off the season with a very good win against Court Gimme A Break. The kids started off strongly with a 4-1 first session win. They also took the second session leaving Gimme A Break the unenviable task of needing to win all of the remaining 5 frames going into the last session. The 11th frame however, saw young Tyler Clues dash the hopes of the Gimme A Break team by securing the win for the Kids and, with both teams then sharing the spoils of the last 4 frames, this match sees the Kids, despite only winning 4 matches across the season, finish in 4th position overall with Joe Haywood top of the averages within the Kids team. Court Gimme A Break finished in 3rd position in the table with Beckie Watkins finishing 3rd overall in the leagues averages.

‘Silver stay strong whilst facing the Lions!’

With the Stanground Carpets & Flooring Thursday League being still a few short weeks away from finishing, the 17th August saw league ‘business as usual’. Crosskeys Silver welcomed the PSL Lions team and at one frame a-piece, things were looking steady enough for the Lions team however, Silver then really cranked it up and showed exactly why they are vying for top spot in the table. By taking the next 8 frames in a row, including the match winning frame in the 9th by Tony Brown, this was now about ‘damage limitation’ for the Lions. They did start to stage a mini come-back by taking two frames in a row through Dave Clark and Anthony Magnus going into the last session however, it was all too little too late -Silver rubber-stamped the match by taking the last 3 frames leaving them with a very comfortable win keeping them in 2nd spot in the table and still keeping tabs on the top spot. The Lions are still rooted to the foot of the table with an uphill task in trying to lift themselves off.

An ‘all Court’ affair saw Gold take on the Cops and, this convincing win for Gold sees them keep 2nd placed Crosskeys Silver at bay in the overall table. Gold’s Ben Bushby secured the win as early on as the 9th frame, preceded by Andy Bunton’s ‘break & dish’ in the 8th and, while Glenn Cripps and Craig Harbisher took two more consolation frames late on for the Cops, Court Gold did as much as they could to keep as much daylight between them in 1st spot and the rest of the chasing pack. The Cops remain in 7th spot, albeit tied on points with the Heron Warlords in 6th.

Court Posties took the trek across the City to the Heron Warlords. Prior to this match, both teams were only 4 points apart in the lower half of the table but all that was about to change. Carl Rands for the Warlords won the match as early on as the 9th frame, with Graham Tilley also putting away a ‘break & dish’ – the Posties picking up a single frame through Aaron Clark by this point. Going into the final session and with the match already lost for the Posties, it was another straight forward affair with the Warlords taking four of the last five frames – again, with Aaron Clark picking up another single frame for the Posties. This convincing win for the Warlords sees them move up the table to 6th but also sees no change in table position for the Posties remaining in 8th spot.

The final match this week was about as close and ‘nip & tuck’ as any match could possibly be which saw Bluebell R Back hosting Quinns Muppets. In a nutshell, advantage swung one way and then the other with never more than one frame in it. It took right up until the very last 15th and deciding frame to finally find an overall winner. Up stepped Luke Watkins for the Bluebell team and Len Donnelly for the Muppets with the former, just nicking it for Bluebell in the end. A very close run thing throughout which leaves Bluebell still mid-table in 5th and the Muppets just above them in 4th spot, albeit still with some considerable daylight between them both.

.

‘Jesters take the League Title with a match to spare’

The Jet Wednesday league, 9th August, saw the penultimate week of the PWR’s Inaugural Season take place and the Court Kids took on top of the table, Court Jesters. Big mention goes out firstly to young Tyler Clues of the Kids team…up to the start of last week’s match, he hadn’t picked up a single win in 17 attempts however, while then picking up 2 frames in a row last week, his first gaining rapturous applause, he then follows it up this week with another very good win in the matches’ first frame of the night – if awards were given out for patience and determination then Tyler Clues would have an abundance of trophy’s already as part of his collection. The Kids then followed up the first frame win with a second by Joe Haywood, was a shock win on the cards for the Kids? Sadly no because the Jesters came straight back with 5 in a row. Then for the Kids, Ryan Anderson’s ‘break & dish’ in the 8th and Ivan Knight taking the 10th frame, kept them still in touch with the Jesters going in to the last session. However, the Jesters showed their true pedigree once again and took the last 4 out of 5 frames, including Chris Horn taking the all important match winning 13th frame, to see them take the League Title with still a match to spare. Whilst there’s no change in the league table position for the Kids, for the Jesters now it’s all about the fight for the top of the rankings!

 The featured YouTube Live-stream match saw PSL Aint Going Down pay a visit to Court At The Bar. PSL started strongly taking the first two frames only for At The Bar to then square things up and then also edge in front by the end of the first session. However, PSL really turned the heat up on the Court team by taking the next 7 frames in a row which also saw Rob Mills taking the all important 11th match winning frame. The last 4 frames saw both teams take 2 apiece however, this convincing win for PSL now see’s them just shading the table position over At The Bar by the single point, in the lower half of the table.

2nd in the table Court Snapbacks needed both an outstanding win against the bottom of the table, Postie Pats and for the Court Jesters to majorly slip up against their opponents for them to have any chance of a sniff at the league title but of course, all the Snapbacks could do was ‘look after their own end’ of the matter. They started off well enough by taking the first session 4-1 which included a ‘break & dish’ by Snapbacks Jamie Stokes. The 2nd session beckoned and up stepped Mick Sell to stop the rot for the Pats in the 6th frame however, the Snapbacks immediately piled the pressure back on by taking the next 3 frames including another ‘break & dish’ but this time by Sean Hacket which left the Pats needing to win all of the remaining 6 frames if they were to avoid defeat. However, with the Snapbacks taking 3 of the last 5 frames, although a comfortable one, this win has seen them miss out on the league title in this penultimate week but, as long as no major slip-ups in their final match occur next week, 2nd spot in the table is all-but assured. For the Postie Pats though, it may be a ‘bridge too far’ for them to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

Court Gimme A Break hosted the Parkway team and whilst it was a close affair in the first session with Gimme A Break just shading it, the Court team then went one frame better in the middle session, which included a ‘break & dish’ by Mick Thorpe, to give Gimme A Break a 7-3 lead going into the last session. Amanda Nash then stepped up for Parkway to reduce their deficit to just the two frames but Mick Thorpe of the Court team was having none of it and took the 12th frame and along with it, the match win for the Court team. With Gimme A Break also taking the next two frames out of the last 3, again, this relatively comfortable win for them sees no change in table position for either but, does see the points between them increase which all but assures the Court team finishing in 3rd spot for the season, come the end of the final match next week and, with the Parkway team, tying on points mid-table with the Court Kids.
 
‘Bluebell move ‘Back’ up the table’

The Stanground Carpets & Flooring Thursday League, 10th August, saw the featured YouTube Live-stream match between Court By The Cops and Bluebell R Back as the away team, took full advantage of their chance to ‘shine’ for an online audience. With only 3 points separating these mid-table teams prior to the start of this match in favour of the Cops, it was the Court team that just shaded the first session. With only one frame in it at the start of the second session, the Bluebell team really cranked it up a notch or three by then taking the next 6 frames in a row with Shane Woods taking the all important match win in the 11th frame. Consolation frames won for the Cops were taken by Steve Singh and Adam Degan in the last session but, with 3 further frames also won for the Bluebell team, this gives them a much needed win and sees them move up into 6th spot, with the Cops still holding on to 5th.

The Heron Warlords took themselves away to the Quinns Muppets and it was the latter that made their mark early on by storming into a 4-1 lead, which included a ‘break & dish’ by Phil Brown, by the end of the first session and, whilst the Warlords then came back and took the next session 3-2, they still gave themselves an uphill task going into the last session by still being two frames down. The final session proved to be very decisive indeed with the Muppets taking the next 4 frames in a row, including Anthony Pask confirming the win in the 12th and, with Ian Lea picking up the 15th and final consolation frame for the Warlords, this sees the Muppets hold on to 4th spot in the table and the Warlords moving up a spot into 7th.

The PSL Lions hosted the Court Larking About Team and this was certainly a tale of the ‘break & dish’. With 3 ‘break & dish’ games won for Larking About, with one for Lewis Roberts and two for John Roe, this really set the tone for the night. The Court team never lost a session with a 4-1, 3-2 and another 3-2 win in the last session, which included John Roe’s 2nd ‘break & dish’ confirming the win, this sees Larking About hold on to 2nd spot in the table, just…due to 3rd placed Crosskeys Silver having 2 games in hand and, the Lions are left still deeply rooted to the foot of the table.

A rearranged match also took place this week from a postponement earlier in the season (4/5/17). Crosskeys Silver hosted Court By The Cops with the former taking the relatively close match 9-6, including Lloyd Firth-Robinson confirming the win for Silver in the 13th frame.