Match write-up for 9th/10th August

‘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.