Summary

Tense, exciting and extremely close it was, pretty it certainly wasn't but the bottom line is we made it through to the final. Next week we have an opportunity to finish a 'perfect season' but last night clearly illustrated that it will not be easy.

The Games

Mark (SL5) lost 2 - 3 against a 4
From watching Mark's opponent in practice, a close match was always on the cards and so it proved with just about every rack going to the wire. In the end some bad luck and a few mistakes cost Mark the match. At one point Mark was probably wondering if his last memory of the season was going to be the 8 ball miss in rack 5 but fortunately the night got much better for all of us. Mark's out next week so a big thank you from all the team for an excellent contribution this season. Let's see if we can get his name on the wall for when he returns.

Sean (SL5) won 4 - 1 against a 3
First rack looked like a stroll but a terrible mistake in rack 2 with a 2-0 lead begging at least made the match interesting. Sean probably won't appreciate me using the word interesting but there you go. We were all on the edge of our seats. To be fair though, the next three were won without too many problems to secure our first point of the night.

Heather (SL3) won 2 - 1 against a 3
For the second week running I find myself purring over Heather's performance. The team clearly had a shaky start and you could argue that at 1-0 down Heather was lucky to have a chance to win rack 3 but I see things differently. Against a very good 3 Heather got to the black first in all three racks including a great four ball run in rack 1. It should also be said that none of the racks went more then 4 innings which illustrates the level played. My lasting memory though has to be the final five ball run finished with a long 8 ball to take the match. In the last few weeks Heather has been playing at a level better then anything I've seen her achieve over the last couple of years. Tim echoed this last night. Awesome.

Darren (SL7) won 5 - 1 against a 4
Similar to Sean's match really. A lackluster performance resulting in the loss of a rack and necessitating winning the final two racks for the match. Fortunately, my opponent's nerves definitely played a part and I was able to secure our berth in the final. I'm guessing that everyone's nerves were slightly shredded and I can't imagine what was going through poor Sparky's mind knowing that he'd be playing the decider if it came to it!

Shot of The Night

Heather: Shot of the night must again go to Heather for just about every shot she took.

Worst Shot of The Night

The real competition was for worst shot of the night where Mark, Sean and myself [Darren] had a fantastic battle!