MONDAY 13th OCTOBER 2008

PREMIERE A

AWAY

CHELMSFORD POOL CLUB

Last week saw the Tulip side put in a great performance, despite losing against an undoubtedly quality side, The Flyer. This week we had to travel to the Chelmsford Pool Club (CPC). Would it be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire? On arrival at the CPC it was clear looking at the opposition line up that we were going to have our work cut out.

Things started well with Gordon making a nice clearance following a short tactical battle to secure the first frame. Maybe this is not going to be as tough as we thought? 0 – 1.

In Frame two the CPC player broke, took control and Andy never really got a look in. OK, that was a bit tougher……. 1 – 1.

Frame three turned into a titanic battle with the crunch coming with Pete playing a 3 ball plant, potting one of his last two balls, and leaving no shot on his last. With his opponent’s balls just waiting to be potted, Pete felt there was no choice. The ball was struck …..travelled around the table coming off 5 cushions to finally trickle into a pocket leaving a near perfect straight black, which was duly potted. So we have luck with us tonight….we couldn’t could we?

What was to follow was a short sharp lesson in pool. In frame four Mike made the vital mistake of failing to pot with the break. A few moments later it was all over without Mike returning to the table.

Frames five and six were like telling the same bedtime story to a small child on successive nights. Both Tam and MJ stepped up for their respective frames, lost the toss and had to watch as their opponent broke and dished. Ouch, the fire seems to be getting hotter, 4 – 2.

Craig despite playing very well and fighting hard in his frame will remember one shot and one shot only. He had turned the frame around from a probable loss to a point where he was lining up his last colour, a ball he would pot 90 percent of the time. Uncharacteristically, Craig twitched, the ball was missed and the frame went with it. The fire is well stoked now……. 5 – 2

In the final singles, Trevor’s opponent had first crack and looked set to clear until he left no pot on his last ball. In attempting to pot his last ball by cannoning in off other balls, the CPC player accidentally potted one of Trevor’s balls. With the two shots Trevor made short work of clearing the colours and the black. Still feels hot in here! 5 – 3.

All that was needed now was for us to select three pairings that will win all three doubles and take the win. Mike selected three pairings, Trevor and Tam, Andy and Pete, Craig and Gordon, which on paper looked well balanced.

Unfortunately looking good on paper was all that it was. Without really playing a poor shot or frame, all three were lost to seal an emphatic win for the home side. 8 – 3.

The turning point in the match was without doubt the three clearances in a row to turn a 2 – 1 deficit into a 4 – 2 lead. It certainly seemed to put us on the back foot. It will be interesting to see how the likes of the Flyer or the Compasses fair against this team.

FINAL SCORE

CHELMSFORD POOL CLUB 8 - 3 TULIP ‘C’