Summary

Great result and a great way to recover from last week. Thanks also to everyone for carrying on without me for the first couple of hours!

The Games

Sparky (SL2) won 2 - 0 against a 2
Mark's opponent managed several sequences of some rediculous flukes to make things interesting. In his best performance of the season Mark didn't let this drop his own standards and played composed flawless pool to dominate his opponent. Beautifully played. And who can forget that black?

Lori (SL3) won 3 - 0 against a 2
Lori's opponent looked like he might be able to cause some problems. He played a few decent shots early on but Lori stuck to her task superbly playing one of the most assured matches I've seen her play. There was a really nice pace to Lori's play but she didn't miss out on the opportunity for the spectacular with a superb combo shot up all the way up the side rail. Quality.

Mark (SL4) won 3 - 0 against a 3
I've absolutely no idea what Mark's opponent is like because Mark simply didn't give him a chance to show us. Mark was confident before the match and came rocketing out of the gate with tremendous play right from the word go. A six inning schlacking this one that left us all breathless - and his opponent unable to sit down for the next week or so. One particularly nice shot was a 12 ball all the way up the side rail leaving perfect position for the black. And who can forget that other black?

Mike (SL5) won 5 - 1 against a 2
For a moment I thought I had cursed the team by arriving just in time to see the first dropped rack of the night! As it was, it made no difference and Mike cruised to victory. Shot of the match was Mike's fantastic defensive shot what he put the white right up against the black in the final rack.

Darren (SL7) won 5 - 0 against a 4
He was a new 4 and probably more realisitically a 2 so no problems this evening. The only memorable shot of my match was missing an easy 5 ball for a break and run in the final rack!... ...oh well, they will start coming, I promise!

Shot of The Night

The first three matches contained some great pool by our players, but for the shot of the night I'm nominating two shots on the money ball by the two Marks.

Sparky: Mr. Beevers had either a double with a potential double kiss, or a tricky cut into the side pocket, with his oppenents ball looming ready to catch the cue ball into the corner pocket if it wasn't perfectly played. Mark calmly stroked the ball right into the center of the pocket without even coming close to the scratch. Great shot.

Mark: But this one edges it for me - close though. Mark's opponent was lucky to leave the knuckle of the center pocket JUST preventing Mark from having an easy shot down the rail on the black. Mark lofted the butt of his cue to play a gentle masse and got enough of the black to squeeze it into the corner off his oppenents ball. Very very sexy.

Mike: With the two matches that I saw it has to be Mike's defensive shot in the final rack of his match. Tucked the white ball right up behind the 8 ball and left his opponent no chance (although he did make a good attempt at hitting his final ball).

Worst Shot of The Night

Mike: Again, in the matches I saw, it has to be Mike's next two shots following his fantastic snooker. With ball in hand the 6 ball was underhot a little and the 8 ball left over the pocket. Didn't matter because he still won easily but it made Mike laugh!