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=277 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:57:52 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=276 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:53:03 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=275 <img src="/dump/playerprofile/andyesgrove1.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" />
Surrey 'B' went into the 2nd to last match of the season in Chichester West Sussex, knowing there was no way they would lose grasp of their Region 7 'B' Team Championship that they have held so tightly since 2003. The fellas knew they simply needed a win to make it almost mathmatically impossible for anybody to catch them even though there was little or no chance of that happening.

With absenteeisms in the 'A's, The 'B' Team found themselves missing a couple of their top players with Kevin O'Connor and Ray Scott getting the call to move up.
 
The match started as usual, with Surrey losing the first frame of the day, but then promptly securing 8 of the next 10 frames from Paul Brooks, Jon Leach, Sean Kelly, Andy Esgrove and Ray Duncan along with returning 'B' team player Eddie Hudson and making his debut to the 'B' team, Dorking player Tony Pidgeon.

Sussex were not really on the same par with Surrey, however, nobody told them that, and they went on to win the second quarter 6-5, taking the score at half time to 13-9 in Surrey's favour. Only Jon, Sean, Tony, Paul and Andy were able to get wins which gave an incentive to Sussex B to step it up and play.

Surrey were having none of it though and upped their game once again taking the third quarter 10 - 1 and won the match with wins from Sean, Kyle Pickett, Paul, Jon, Eddie, Marc Burnett, Andy, Martin Lambert and Billy Donovan, leaving the last quarter for 4 out of 4's and an opportunity to build more confidence before the National Finals next March. 

With the hard work done, Surrey relaxed and won six of the last eleven frames with Marc, Eddie, Billy, Ray, Andy and Martin all successfully taking their frames making the final score 15 - 29 to Surrey. 

Andy Esgrove was by far the player of the match and for the first time in what seems ages, he picked up four from four and the player of the match award with good three from fours from Paul Brooks, Jon Leach, Sean Kelly, Eddie Hudson, Ray Duncan and Marc Burnett. 

Surrey's closest rivals this year were London 'B' and they picked up a good result cutting their deficit on Surrey from 30 to 25 points. As good an effort as it was, this is still too much of a lead to overcome in one match, and the Region 7 title looks safe for yet another year, making history by being the only 'B' team in Region 7 history to win and retain the title for 6 years straight. 

With one eye looking towards the National Finals next March, Surrey still have one last match this season to play and after narrowly avoiding a loss earlier in the season, Surrey will be looking to set the record straight and taking apart the Kent 'B' team JUST LIKE THEY USUALLY DO!!!! <img src="./images/forum/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" /> (just for SpongeBob)

Surrey have the added advantage of playing at home and with returning 'A' team players, Surrey 'B' should be sitting at almost full strength.

16th November at Riley's, Imperial Way, Croydon is the date, we'll see you there. Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:52:48 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=274 <img src="/dump/playerprofile/ashleyacton.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" />
Surrey Juniors went to Sussex knowing that the Regional Title was now unattainable as London's lead was too great. Having said that, there were England trials to play for, so the boys still wanted to gve 100%!

As now seems to be the normal for the Juniors, we finished the first set only 6/5 up, but performed better as the afternoon went on. The second set was 7/4, the third 8/3. However Sussex started to show some spirit and the fourth set finished 6/5.

Ashley Acton was very ill, but insisted on playing all of his frames. Unfortunately he only managed to get 1 out of 4, which was very dissapointing as it probably means that he will not achieve England Trials in his first year now.

Four players got 4 out of 4 - James Charlwood, Luke Garman, Liam Pearson and Jack Smithers. It was good to see Jack return to form after a disappointing season to date.

Man of the Match goes to James Charlwood. Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:51:01 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=271 <img src="/dump/playerprofile/jamesbowry.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" />
At the pre-match talk, 'C' Team I told the players that in the match against Sussex earlier in the year, we had beaten them 29-15 and that I would like us to improve on this, as we were still well behind Kent, and would be playing them in the last match of the season next month.
 
In the event we had an outstanding result, winning 39-5. We had 8 players scoring 4out of 4. It has to be admitted that Sussex were a weakened side who had to use 3 Lady players to make the team up. One of them got one of the five frames Sussex won! 

All in all, the standard of pool was not particularly high, we were not pushed hard by Sussex. It will be tougher against Kent, but I am sure all our players had plenty in reserve to call on if it had been needed. James Bowry played the shot of the match, after going in off the black, he was allowed back to the table with a similar cut to the far corner, where there is a good chance of the cue ball going in the other far corner, so to stop this he dug right under the white and completely miscued; the white jumped off the table, came down ,hit the black which bounced off the end cushion and went into a baulk corner pocket! Keep it up James.

We look forward to a challenging match in Croydon against Kent, who look highly likely to take the 'C' Trophy this year. Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:26:50 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=270 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:26:44 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=269 <img src="/dump/region7logo.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" /><p>
<span style="font-size:150%">Bigger & Better than Ever!!!</span>
</p>
<p>
The new improved <a href="http://www.region7pool.com/r7tour.php">Region 7 Tour</a> is now calling for players to sign up for next season.  <br /><br />To improve the quality of the event, all tables will be brushed & ironed between matches.  More excitingly, each tour event will be Live Streamed and can be watched over the internet LIVE!!!.  For more details, please see the <a href="http://www.region7pool.com/downloads/r7tour2009.pdf">Flyer</a>.  Avoid disappointment, reserving your space by email to <a href="mailto:tournament@region7pool.com">tournament@region7pool.com</a>.
</p> Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:05:25 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=268 <img src="/dump/playerprofile/stevepetty.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" />
With the Surrey 'A' side having just a one point lead at the top of the table they went to Chiswick hoping to extend the gap. Berkshire have been a notorious stumbling block for the Surrey side in the past ruining their chances of winning the Region on a number of occasions.

The away side made one change from the previous match, with Paul Wildman returning to the starting line-up in place of Paul Brooks. The A-team now have 11 men and 11 only that can qualify for the national finals, so their fate really was in their own hands.

A relatively slow first frame, saw Surrey go 1-0 down and there were no indications of what was to come. As Steve Petty made it 1-1 the rest of the players quickly stepped through the gears to take the first set 9-2. A great lead and this settled any nerves from the away side as they continued their good play, taking the second set 8-3 to lead at the halfway point, 17-5.

This sort of lead was never going to continue but the boys were determined to push on. They won the next 3 frames before Berkshire hit back with their best run of the day, 3 frames. The Surrey side just managed to sneak the third set 6-5, the game was now over but with the title race so close 23 wins was never going to be settled for.

With everybody back from food and fresh air breaks, the team re-focused and gave the opposition little chance, taking the final set 8-3 and a very impressive final score of 31-13.

Every player in the team scored at least 2 wins. Steve Petty and Frank Strivens got the full 4 frames on the board, with Steve just edging out Frank for the second time in two days to take the man of the match trophy.

Shortly after the game further good news filtered through that Kent A had held London A to a draw. This puts Surrey 13 points in front with 2 games to go and the pressure really now is on London if they want to claw back the deficit. Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:00:24 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=267 <img src="/dump/playerprofile/kevinoconnor.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" />
With the Region 7 title almost certainly safe and in the bag for an unprecidented 6 years on the spin, the Surrey 'B' team turned it's attention to the National Finals next March with outgoing Captain Martin Lambert looking for the players who are most likely to perform well in Yarmouth and help in lifting the ever so elusive National Title that they have been working hard towards for the past 6 years.

With Paul Brooks returning to the 'B' team and thus making himself eligible for the National Finals, the team once again, looked like a team that can do some serious damage in Yarmouth and unfortunately for the Berkshire fellas, it was their turn to feel the full force of the Surrey 'B' Team.

The match started with solid finishes from Ray Scott, Kyle Pickett, Paul Brooks and Jon Leach along with Billy Donovan, Martin Lambert, Kevin O'Connor and Andy Esgrove bringing up the rear, taking a good 8-3 lead after the first quarter. 

This would be the target Surrey set themselves for each quarter and with Jon, Ray, Kyle, Kevin, Andy, Marc Burnett, Martin and Billy all winning their frames in the second quarter, it looked like there was a good chance of reaching it, making the scoreline 6 - 16 at the halfway mark.

Unfortunately, the Surrey fellas couldn't quite sustain the pressure but did continue winning, taking the third quarter 6-5 with wins from Jon, Kyle, Paul, Sean Kelly, Marc and Kevin ,going into the last quarter needing only one frame for the match. 

Up stepped, former under 21 England player Kyle Pickett who made short work of his frame to take the match, along with Sean, Ray, Ray Duncan, Billy, Kevin and Martin, finishing the match with a 15-29 scoreline.

All in all, a very good day at the office and with closest challengers London 'B' only winning 23-21, Surrey moved even further in front and now hold a 30 point lead with two matches remaining. Break out the champagne, this race is over!!!

Player of the match was a tough choice but this month Kyle just pipped Kevin in the end. Kevin won't be too disappointed however, as he now takes his individual record to 23 wins from 28 frames played.

Next month Surrey travel to Chichester for their 2nd match of the season against the boys and girls from Sussex. Last time the 'B' teams met, Surrey walked out with a 28-16 win. 

Will the next match have a similar scoreline or will Sussex put up more of a fight this time around? Will Fordy find himself playing in the B's instead of his usual spot in the A's? All will be revealed on Sunday 12th October at Chichester Snooker Club. 

See you all there. Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:52:44 UT http://www.surreypool.com/article.php?sid=266 <img src="/dump/playerprofile/debbiebarthrop2008.gif" align="left" vspace="15" hspace="15" />

Two reports in one!!

Last month Surrey were home to Hampshire, and missing two of their strongest players would the Ladies bring home a good result?

The answer was a definite YES! The whole team played outstandingly well, taking advantage of a quiet and somewhat disorganised Hampshire team. We were loud, confident and looked in control from the off.

And the final scoreline reflected the standard of play, 33-11 to Surrey - a result we would normally aim to get against one of the weaker teams in the region. It's this attitude Surrey Ladies need to take on board for each game in the season.

4/4's: Louise Elvin, Lauren Strivens and Debbie Barthrop (POTM)
3/4's: Sarah Smith, Candy Wright, Lisa Peek, Anne Taylor and Marcia Burnett

So, on to September's match.....

Surrey travelled to Chiswick to play Berkshire.

Unfortunately for a second month running, the team were without some of their players and had to call on Surrey veteran Sara Miles to dust off her cue.

Before the match Surrey Ladies were sitting in second position in the region rankings, 42 points behind Kent in first, and 81, yes 81(!), points clear of Hampshire in third place. So, near enough guaranteed a trip to Yarmouth in March, the team now needed to concentrate on playing as a team, strengthening their game and securing some good results before the end of the season.

The team started quite well, winning 8 of the first 11 frames, and then winning 7 of the next 11, taking the half time score to 15-7. An ok score against other teams, but already Berkshire had won more frames than we would hope they would win from the whole match.  Did this mean Berkshire were improving? Or were Surrey having an off day?!?

Things remained constant with Surrey winning 7 of the next 11, and then losing the last set 5-6.  Final score 27-17 to Surrey.

I'm not too sure if it was something in the water, the dodgy sausage and chips, an extremely noisy Berkshire C team that by the end of the day would have looked more at home in a zoo, or the sun making us all go a bit barmy, but it just didn't happen for us today (well, most of us!).

4/4's: Steph Johnson (POTM)
3/4's: Lisa Peek, Louise Lambert, Debbie Barthrop and Candy Wright.

Going into the last two matches of the season, the team need to practice, practice, practice in preparation for next year. And with a few of the squad needing good results in the last two matches to claim their England trials at the end of the season, I'm hoping for two stonking scores for October and November, not to mention a great atmosphere and lots of support!

See you next month! Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:14:16 UT