http://www.surreypool.com/ Surrey County Pool Association en-us http://www.surreypool.com/ The Home of Pool in Surrey 88 31 http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=402 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/hope.jpg" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
Game 5 of the year and we made a change bringing Ryan Mears into the A team for the first time against a team with a lot of new faces from Hampshire. 

There was a good vibe about the team due to the 3 game winning streak we were on and we were looking to get to the halfway point with another.

It was a tight start with both teams trading frames and wins from Michael Cook and Michael Hope gave us an early lead, wee then had a min slump in the middle part of the set but managed to keep it close with wins from Paul ‘Mr lover lover’ Wildman, Paul Brooks and Nick Booth.

Into the second set and we got off to a good start with Tom Kennedy winning with a tidy finish and Michael Hope picking up his second win of the set. Towards the back end of the set we started to fall behind and found ourselves 13 – 9 down at the break, which included a Break and clearance for Ryan Mears to put his first frame on the board for county.

We needed a big response in the 3rd set and that’s exactly what we got. We won the first 3 games and the last four of the set with 1 in the middle to win 8 – 3 and give us the lead by 1 going into the last set. TK, Mick Cook and Michael Hope started the ball rolling with Shaggy Paul Brooks, Neil Callingham, Max Brooker and Nick Booth Finishing off that set.

So onto the 4th set and again it looked like it was going to go all the way to the wire. After trading frames for the first 4 frames to make the score 19 – 18 we put a mini run together to win the next 3 with wins from Sean Kelly, Shaggy and His second debut break and dish from Ryan Mears. This made the score 22 – 18 and we needed just 1 more to secure the all-important 3 points. Paul Brooks and Neil callingham then lost to make it 22 – 20 with Max Brooker and Nick Booth who was looking down the barrel at another decider. Thankfully Max won a steady frame to secure the match for surrey. Nick Booth Broke and Dished for good measure to make the final score 24 – 20 to surrey and keep our good run of wins going.

This was a good result again coming from behind to win for the 3rd time this season against a descent Hampshire side. 

Notable performances of the day were Ryan Mears who on his debut Broke and Dished twice on his way to 2/4. Nick Booth, Tom Kennedy and Shaggy all got 3/4. Man of the match is guy who has continued to impress playing at the top end of the line up with another 4 out of 4, Michael Hope. Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:30:16 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=401 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/shergar.jpg" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
Max Brooker was yet again retained in the A Team, so Simon Le Marchant, the Team Manager, continued as acting Captain.

Nothing less than a win was required against Hampshire, who were propping up the table, particularly as London were playing Berkshire, which meant that 3 points would guarantee at least second place at the halfway point of the season.
Dan Barthrop, Tony “the bald” Pidgeon and Billy Donovan returned to the team, the latter having been unavailable since the first match of the season.  Chris “the better” Pidgeon kept his place, while Ryan Mears was given a shot in the A Team and the unfortunate Ray Duncan dropped down to the C Team, however, bearing in mind his experience at the National Finals, we were looking for him to give us a selection headache next month! Simon was 12th man and looking to come in for a frame towards the end of the match.

Bluey Noel, rather than Marc Burnett, had the responsibility of playing the opening frame and although he won the lag for break, he was then unlucky to lose the frame.  We also lost the next, however, Steve Sherstone started his Player of the Match performance, by winning our first frame of the day. 

We then went 3-1 down, but Marc, the better Pidgeon and Billy all won to put us in the lead for the first AND, as it turned out, the only time, until the last few frames of the match!  Hampshire took the next three, which included a break and dish against the bald Pidgeon and although Peter “Steady” Knight won the last of the set, we were 6-5 down at this point.

The next eight frames were shared.  Steve & the better “Pidgeon” won again, while Ryan O’Donnell & the bald one won their first frames of the day.  Unfortunately, we then lost the last three of the set and at the halfway point we were 13-9 down and struggling to get going.

The third set had to be and was better, even though we shared the first four, thanks to Bluey & Steve, however, Dan was on the end of a break and dish.  Marc and the better Pidgeon got us back to just two behind, but the baldy was the only winner in the next three.  Jon Leach & Peter did win the last two of the set, which meant that we were just one behind, at 17-16 down, going into the final set and right back in it!

We started the final set poorly, as Hampshire took the opening two frames, however, we then started to get on a roll for the first time in the match by winning the next three and drawing level.  Steve completed a 4/4 for the day, with Ryan & Marc the other winners.  We then went behind again, as the better Pidgeon lost for the first time in the match, however, his bald brother levelled it again!  While Billy was involved in a long tactical battle on one table, the acting Captain, Simon, brought himself in for the unfortunate Nick Pool on the other one.  He then went on to win a key frame to put us ahead for the first time since early in the match.  Billy then won too to put us on the hill and guarantee at least a draw, however, the win & 3 points was what was needed to keep our season on track.  Hampshire took the penultimate frame, then Peter stepped up, broke & dished and the match was won...just!

It had been a generally poor and flat team performance until it really mattered.  We had to win seven of the last nine frames to get to the magic 23 and it showed once again that we are never beaten, however desperate the situation gets.

There were significant contributions from Tony, who got 3 and was on the end of a dish in the other, Marc and Peter, once again performing well at a key position in the team.  Chris also bounced back from the disappointment that he must have felt after the previous match, to win his first 3 but not quite getting the magic 4.  That honour fell to Steve Sherstone, who has really made his mark since coming up from the C Team earlier this year.

Bearing in mind that there were a number of strong performances in the C Team, the Selection Sub-Committee will have some tough decisions to make in advance of a massive and possibly season defining match - a trip to leaders London, where a win would put us in a very strong position going into the remainder of the season.  Bring it on!!! Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:29:40 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=400 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/louelvin.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
After our questionable performance last month we were hoping for a much needed win at home against Hampshire, with a view to getting ourselves back into second place in the Region.

First set saw us edge a win 6-5 with solid performances from Lou Elvin, Sarah Smith, Cathy Fox, Marcia Burnett, Steph Johnson and Debbie Barthrop.

With a nice break a dish from Dawn Milton taking us over the winning line for the second set, another 6-5. We needed to up our game though as this lead just wasn’t wide enough. 12-10 up at this point.

From the halfway mark we managed to reel off an impressive 15 wins from the final sets. Some good pool was played and with confidence too. Well done ladies!

Thanks to Dawn Milton and Debbie Barthrop for stepping in and making sure we had a full team, oh and to our very own little mascot,  Joshua Barthrop who cheered us on all the way 

4/4’s were Lou Elvin and Cathy Fox
3/4's were Anne Taylor, Steph Johnson and Dawn Milton
Mom was awarded to Lou Elvin – Well done Lou!

A special mention also goes to Sarah Smith for reaching her 500th frame for Surrey Ladies. What a great achievement…Lovely glass trophy too (or was that a shower door?) Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:24:40 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=399 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/jacksmithers1.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
Hampshire have struggled over the last year or so putting together a capable junior team. In fact, they couldn’t find enough players for their visit to Croydon last year & we had a walkover. So I wasn’t expecting anything other than a win for us. The question was – by what margin? 

The guys were very confident in the pre-match team talk and together we agreed a target of 34 frames, or a 10 point margin.

However, the match didn’t quite start the way I expected & we soon trailed 2-4. Rhys Williams won in good style with a very delicate black. Ryan Taylor was very unlucky when his opponent potted a flukey black, coming off the opposite jaws. But the team began to find their rhythm & by the end of the 1st session we were 6-5 ahead.

The second session took on a different complexion & we started to dominate.  Of particular note was an excellent long black by Josh Atfield and a determined, controlled clearance from Harry Hossack. Scoreline at half time: 15-7.

The pressure really began to tell for Hampshire during the 3rd session. Try as they might to close the gap, they lost 3 frames by potting the black before it was due! This proved to be very costly for them, as they still managed to win 4 of the session’s frames & could have narrowed the gap. Instead it grew wider & going into the last quarter we had won exactly twice as many frames as them. Scoreline: 22-11.

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice but it did for Hampshire! Not content with throwing away 3 frames in the previous session, they repeated the compliment in the final quarter. Another 3 blacks potted out of turn! By now it was becoming a rout. The guys decided it was a great time to set a new record – by winning all 11 frames in the final session! 

In fact, we won the last 14 frames of the match, making the final scoreline 33-11. Just 1 frame short of the target but who cares when you’ve won so convincingly! An excellent result, making me proud to be their manager.

Three guys finished with 4 out of 4 – Jack Smithers, James Charlwood & Tom Telford. 

The Man of the Match Award was given, very deservedly, to Tom. Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:22:47 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=398 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/paulwildman1.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
So with a long trip to Brighton we re-grouped after 2 tight wins in the last 2 matches and hoped to secure a comfortable win to keep the momentum going.

We started well with Tom and Michael winning and continued strongly throughout the first set to give us a good lead of 8-3, which also included a dish from Sussex against Nick Booth and a dish from Andy (please stop marking the sheet to say you dished as no-one cares) Esgrove.

We continued our strong start into the second set and really put the pressure on Sussex with some no nonsense, solid pool. Due to this we managed another comprehensive 8-3 win the put us 16-6 up at the halfway point with Tom, Andy, Paul and Ollie all on 2/2.

We won the first 2 games in the third set to go 18-6 up but after a minor blip (losing 3 in a row) we restored the set well to run out 7-4 winners and give us the 23 wins and the match with a set to spare.

Surrey A didn’t rest on their laurels though and took the final set 8-3 to give us an overall win of 31-13 and make the long journey feel the bit better.

A very Solid team performance with eight 3 out of 4s. Steve Chambers got 2, a very unlucky Michael cook only got 1 but went in off the black twice and finally a very impressive display from Shaggy with all 4 made him man of the match.

Next stop is home to Hants and the chance to reach the halfway stage on 4 out of 5 wins as a team. Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:36:01 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=397 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/jonleach.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
As Max Brooker was once again retained in the A Team, the Team Manager, Simon Le Marchant, continued as Captain.

After our best team performance of the year so far at home to Berkshire in April, we were looking to build on that with a win and another 3 points away to Sussex.  It looked like this was going to be a tough ask, as Sussex were unbeaten themselves following 3 draws including, most impressively, away to London.

There was just one change this time, as Chris Pidgeon came up from the 'C' Team for the first time.  In the pre-match team meeting it was stressed, once again, that the most important thing was to get to the magic 23 points and that every frame after that would be a bonus.

Marc Burnett again had the responsibility of trying to win the lag and the chance to break first, which he won this time, however, as in the previous match, he lost the frame to give Sussex the lead, but, as it turned out, for the only time in the match.  

Once Ryan Mears, Steve Sherstone (with a break and dish), Ryan O’Donnell and Bluey Noel had played, we had opened up an early 3 frame lead. The next 6 were shared, thanks to wins from Peter Knight, Jon Leach and Simon, although Ray Duncan could do nothing in his frame as he was dished by his opponent.  

A 7-4 lead at the end of the first session laid a good foundation for the next 2 sets.

Ryan O’Donnell was the only winner in the next 4 frames, as Sussex clawed their way back to just 1 behind, however, a 5 frame winning streak put us in our strongest position in the match so far. Marc, Ryan Mears, Jon, Nick Pool and Simon were the 5 winning players. Although we lost the final 2 of the session, we had a 4 frame, 13-9 lead at the halfway point.

Then unfortunately Ryan O’Donnell was on the end of a dish at the start of the next set, however, a mini 4 frame winning streak put us 7 ahead for the first time. Marc, Ryan Mears (with his 3rd frame win of the day), Steve and Chris Pidgeon (winning his 1st frame as a B team player) were the players who put us in this commanding position. The next 6 were shared (they won 3 then we did!) as Peter, Ray and Nick kept us 7 ahead, so at the end of set 3 we were 20-13 up.

Going into the last set, we needed only 3 frames to get to the magic 23. When Ryan Mears won again and Steve followed suit, it looked a formality, as we now needed to win only 1 of the last 9. We then seemed to lose our focus and our way, perhaps thinking we had already won and the Sussex players seemed to relax too. Individual mistakes and a sudden inability to take out finishes when presented to us on a plate, opened the door to Sussex, who punished us severely. Suddenly, they were just 2 behind with 2 to play and had a real possibility of forcing a 4th consecutive draw and completing an unbelievable comeback. Jon Leach then stepped up, calmly took out a good finish and we had finally (and painfully) got to the magic 23. Peter also won the final frame to give us a 24-20 win.

To summarise, up until 22-13 it had been another very good team performance, with everyone contributing. The remainder of the match, however, was a real struggle and a number of players could not take the opportunities presented to them to close out the match earlier than we did.

To end positively (as we did win the match!), Ryan O’Donnell looks comfortable in the B team now; winning 2 and being dished in 1 he lost.  Steve, Peter and Jon all got 3, however, Ryan Mears was the star with a perfect 4 and an almost faultless performance on the table.

We have Hampshire at home next, where we will be looking for our 3rd straight win and another 3 points, which would set us up nicely for our trip to London that follows. Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:34:26 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=396 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/laurenstrivens.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
I didn't really want to be writing this months report as the score reflected what a terrible month we had. So will make it short.

Losing 9-2 in the first set wasn't good at all. The lack of practice really showed in our game. When we're at the table and we miss a ball or play a bad shot, we shouldn't be putting our head down. We should be standing and chalking our cue, putting pressure on our opponent and letting it be apparent that if/when they miss, you're looking to finish up. Not a lot to ask from the players in our team. We're more than capable. All the negativity we showed was what our opposition was feeding off.

When we've lost a frame, we shouldn't be going off for half an hour, stay and support the rest of the team please. We all know that we give up a whole day for county and we get tired and irritable especially when we're hungry, but we all know the drill. It's what we signed up to.

This month was very shabby to say the least and I hope what's written in this report is taken as constructive criticism. Would be a shame if people took it as a personal dig. Its directed at us ALL!

Final score 26-18 to Sussex.

Mom awarded to Lauren Strivens. Well done Lauren!" Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:29:26 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=395 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/harryhossack.jpg" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
Sussex had not caused us any problems for some time and I was very confident of a decent win going into this match. 

In the pre-match team talk the guys were in great spirits and readily accepted my target of 30 frames.

The match got off to a good start with Ashley Acton clearing the table at his first visit. Billy Treacy produced a win through an excellent double on the black. James Charlwood’s opponent fouled and James duly took advantage by clearing the table, also at the first visit. But mixed fortunes followed, particularly when Jack Smithers gave a great display, only to see the white drop into the opposite pocket to the black.
 
We went into the second session surprisingly 5-6 behind. But the troops rallied and by half time we were beginning to show our superiority, with a healthy 14 -8 scoreline in our favour. Of particular note was a break and dish by Josh Atfield.

In the next quarter the team kept the momentum going and really built on the good work they had delivered in the second session. Ryan Taylor, one of our new recruits, produced a splendid clearance. Two quick wins - captain Luke Garman dished his opponent, Jack followed suit and dished his opponent while on the other table, James eventually won one of the longest frames ever in junior county pool!  

The win was already secured before we started the last quarter. Our team had won all of the last nine frames in both the second and third sessions. A remarkable effort: scoreline 23-10. 

We went on to win the last session 7-4, which meant that we had every session apart from the narrow defeat in the first. 
The final scoreline? 30 -14! Exactly what I had asked of them! 

Another great all round team performance with special mention to the two guys who won all four of their frames – Ashley and James. But the Man of the Match award was presented to another new recruit, Harry Hossack, who joined this year. Harry played extremely well throughout, showing great control and application, which led him to win 3 of his 4 frames. Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:27:54 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=394 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/stevechambers.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
So after a great result away at Kent we moved onto game 3 and another massive game in terms of building momentum for our season. After the beating we received at the hands of berks last season we had a point to prove and this was stressed in our team talk.

The only change we made was the returning Paul Wildman for the absent Brooksy.

We started the match brightly  and after trading blows for the first few frames with wins for Tom Kennedy and Steve Chambers. Sean Kelly Ollie O’Boyle and Neil callingham gave us the lead before Nick Booth won the final frame of the session to give us a slender 6-5 Lead.

Tom Kennedy then lead us into the second set and won his 2nd of the match as did steve chambers but then after a mini collapse into the middle section we lost the set 7-4 with Max and neil callingham winning to put us behind at the half way point 10-12.

After a strongly contested 3rd set we narrowly lost out 6-5 with 3/3 for Steve chambers and Michael hope picking his first win of the day we knew we would need a massive last set to get a result.

We started the set 18 – 15 down and after they claimed the first frame we really picked up our games and won 7 straight frames to put us within touching distance of an unlikely win. So at 22 – 19 up with 3 to play Neil Callingham and Max Brooker both lost which left it down to a final frame shootout between Vikas and Nick Booth.

For the second match running Nick managed to secure the last frame for the win after a dry break from Vikas and a tidy finish from Nick.

So the final score was 23-21 to Surrey. 

Man of the match was Steve Chambers with 4/4, other notable performances from Ollie O’Boyle with 3 out of 4 and Nick Booth with 3 out of 4 and a dish against him. Tue, 10 May 2011 21:08:40 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=393 <img src="http://www.surreypool.com/dump/playerprofile/danbarthrop2.gif" border="0" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300" align="left" />
As Max Brooker was retained in the A Team, the Team Manager, Simon Le Marchant, stood in as Captain once again.
As a result of a narrow but disappointing defeat at Kent in March and a draw against London in February, this left us with a “must win” encounter with an unbeaten Berkshire.  

It was stressed in the pre-match Team Meeting that the most important thing to do was to get to the magic 23 frames, even if it was not pretty.  Now it was down to the players to deliver...

After a number of changes for the previous match, there was just 1 this time, as the returning Bluey Noel took the place of the absent Ryan Mears.

As Marc Burnett was first on for Surrey, he had the responsibility of trying to win the lag and the chance to break first, which he lost.  In the frame itself, he unfortunately miscued when in control of the frame, to give Berkshire first blood.  Mind you, once Peter Knight, Dan Barthrop (who cleared the table from his opponent’s break), Ryan O’Donnell and Bluey had played, we were in a strong early position.  Unfortunately, Jon Leach was the only winner in the next 6 frames, which meant that we were 1 behind going into the 2nd set.

Marc made up for his miscue in the next by bringing us back level.  The next 6 frames were shared, thanks to wins from Dan, Ryan and Steve Sherstone.  We then took 3 in a row, as Jon, Simon (with a break and dish) and Nick Pool claimed their frames.  Although we lost the last 1 in this set, we had turned a 1 frame deficit into a 2 frame lead at the halfway point.  It had generally not been that pretty so far, particularly with so much at stake, however, we were on the right track...

2 frames later, our lead was gone and although Dan won his 3rd frame of the day, we then lost the next 2 to go 1 behind.  At this point we needed to dig deep, as it had been nip and tuck so far and it looked like we were set for another tight finish.  Steve and Ray Duncan put us 1 ahead again, however, 1 frame later it was all square at 15 all.  At this crucial point in the match, Simon, Nick (with a break and dish) and Tony Pidgeon helped us back into a 3 frame lead at the end of the 3rd set.

Although we lost the next, we then put together a 6 frame winning streak to take us up to and beyond the magic 23 frame mark with frames to spare.  Peter, Dan (completing a perfect 4 for the day), Ryan, Bluey, Steve and Ray were the players who got us there.  The last 4 were shared, thanks to a 3rd frame of the day for Simon and a final frame win from Tony with an outrageous fluked black!

The final score was 26-18 which on the face of it looks comfortable, however at 15 all it certainly wasn’t!  Not only did we get to 23 and beyond in style, we produced the best team performance of the year so far and are right back in the hunt for the Region Title, particularly as Kent, who had won their first 2 matches, lost a tight encounter with London.

To summarise, everyone contributed, as the majority won 2 or 3 frames each.  B Team new boys Ryan & Steve deserve a special mention for their 3’s and the stand-in Captain, Simon, who lost his 1st frame but then won the next 3.
Player of the match, with probably his best B Team performance to date, was Dan Barthrop, as he started in style with a clearance off his opponents break and never looked back.

A trip to the Sussex Coast follows in the middle of May, where we will be looking to build on this great result with another win and another 3 points. 

The B’s are back and on the march again now! Tue, 10 May 2011 21:08:27 UT