Postie Pats fail to Deliver - 19 & 20 July 2017

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.

From left: Andy Bunton, Joel Scott, Charlie Bosett, Ady Bonsor, Sam Boome, Ben Bushby.

From left: Luke Wilkinson, Lloyd Firth-Robinson, Ray Pizzey, Mick Defraine, Tony Brown.