LATEST NEWS

5/11/08

INTERLEAGUE NATIONAL KO CUP FINALS

BRACKNELL [A] TOP NATIONAL FINALS GROUP

The National Interleague KO Cup Finals took place in Great Yarmouth over the weekend of the 2^nd-5^th of October where the Bracknell & Ascot [a] team were involved with 95 other leagues from all over the country.

Bracknell [a] were paired in a group with Leicester City and St Albans and were well up for the challenge ahead.

We were starting at 9am on the Saturday morning and we were to play 18 games per match.

Bracknell got off to a poor start in their first game against Leicester as we lost the first three games to go 3-0 down before Chris Stocker chalked a game up for us.

We then went 4-1 down before Dave Bryant & Lucky Birdy closed the gap for the Bracknell lads to make it 4-3.

Leicester hung in there to take the next game 5-3 before the Bracknell boys decided to wake up and take the next six games.

Leigh Morshead, Kev Bassett, Stox, Sean Watson, Brad Parker and then Leigh again all contributing to take Bracknell into a 9-5 lead and now only needing one more game to take the vital points.

Leicester had to dig deep and done well to pull two games back to make it 9-7 before Dave Bryant settled things for the Bracknell with Lucky also taking the last game to win the match 11-7

The Bracknell [a] had overcome their first hurdle and now had to wait 2 or 3 hours for the defeated Leicester team to take on St Albans.

Leicester won that match which meant that Bracknell only had to win eight games in their next match against St Albans.

Again the Bracknell side got off to a slow start going 2-0 down and again it was Stocker who came to the rescue.

We went 3-1 down and again Bracknell had to rally and take the next four games thanks to Bryant,L Morshead, Parker & Rob Morshead.

Bracknell were playing erratic pool and lost the next three games to go 6-5 down to the dogged St Albans side.

Chris Stocker kept up his good form by levelling the match 6-6 and then Kev Bassett put Bracknell on the hill as we took a 7-6 lead.

It was left to Leigh Morshead to wrap things up for the Bracknell to win the match 8-6.

The Bracknell [a] had won their group with two wins and were now through with the last 32 teams and into the KO stages.

The Bracknell [a] were drawn to play The White Rose OAPs who we were hoping to be a bunch of geriatrics but it turned out not to be the case.

The White Rose were not a bad side but the Bracknell lads uncharacteristically continued to miss chance after chance as the match began to slip away from us.

Bracknell eventually lost the match 10-5 to end our involvement in the finals.

It was more frustrating than disappointing knowing we had just lost to a team who, if all or even most of the Bracknell lads were on form, we would have beaten.

At the end of the day if we are to reach the latter stages of these tournaments, then the whole of the team needs to perform.

Unfortunately this time around I would say that only half of the Bracknell team played to their potential.

I would however like to thank all of the Bracknell [a] team players for their efforts and hopefully it will come together the next time we are in the finals.

Team & Player Stats � Go to Interleague pages.

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The fixtures for the Bracknell & Ascot Winter season have now been published and you can find these on the, Winter League 08/09 Fixtures Page,

The first games of the season starts on Thursday 30^th October [that�s tomorrow] so please be sure that all captains have checked the fixture list so that you know where your team is playing.

Fixture Change � Boot [b] please note that you are now playing at home to the Woodcutters as they have requested to stay in Division One.

The BAPL would like to welcome new teams, Rileys [b], Crowthorne Inn and The Admiral Cunningham into the league and wish them well for the coming season.

You will see that The Newtown Pippin are also back and have been given a place in the Premier Division.

This is because they are basically the old Woodcutters [a] team from last season.

You can find the league formats and general info on the, Winter League 08/09 page.

Please note that we will not be using the card system this season so all you have to do is txt or email your results through to us.

All captains note that this will only happen if we get your results sent through to us.

It is up to the winning team to get your result to us by the Saturday after each match so please make sure that this happens.

The penalty points system will be put in place from the start of the season and you will lose 5 points from your league total if we don�t receive your result � you have been warned

The Singles and Doubles draws will take shortly after the season starts so please be sure to have all your forms filled in correctly ready for collection.

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Please note that we are looking to start this seasons Winter League this Thursday the 30^th of October.

I am hoping to have the league fixtures published on this site by Tuesday evening if all goes well.

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NEW WINTER LEAGUE STARTING DATE - THURSDAY 30th OCTOBER

The Bracknell & Ascot Pool League are aiming to start its new Winter season on Thursday 30th October

If you would like to enter a team into this seasons winter league then please either go to the winter registration page on this site and print it off or a copy of the registration forms will arrive at your pub/club sometime this week.

It will depend on yourselves and how fast you get your registration forms in as to if the league starts on time.

WWW.BRACKNELLASCOTPOOL.COM

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The Twigg Gypos come through their Champions of Champions regional qualifier against Sloughs Lady Haig with what turned out to be one of the Gypos sweetest victories of all time.

Both of these teams are part of the Bracknell & Renegades fierce rivalry in the Berkshire Interleague and it was no different between the Gypos and The Haig. If anything it was much worse.

You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife as the match began with the Haig taking the first frame in what was to be a race to eight games to decide who was going to the Champions of Champions National Finals in November.

The Haig gave out a loud and menacing cheer as the tension between the two sides was already beginning to heat up.

The Haig were then stunned into silence as the Gypos stormed back with Bassett, Shaw & Bryant taking the next three games.

Both of the ceiling fans were on full blast and everyone was in T-Shirts, that is apart from one of the Haig supporters who insisted on standing in the corner with a near full length coat on the whole night.

He must have either had a cold or thought it was cold as he stood with an attitude and a five bar sovereign ring on his middle finger.

Not that it made a blind bit of difference to the Gypos lads who thought it was hilarious to see this chap sweating it out in the corner of the room.

To the Haigs credit they fought back to take the next two frames to level the match at 3-3

Enter the Gypos Leigh Morshead who had been chomping at the bit for the previous two weeks for this match to take place and he didn�t disappoint as he bounced his hapless opponent all over the table to put the Gypos into a 4-3 halftime lead.

Leigh then went into his headless chicken mode and screamed the pub down as the tension between the two pumped up sides was heading for boiling point.

It must have been nearly bedtime for some of the Haig players as one of their players started moaning that it was getting late and wanted to use two tables for the second half of the match.

The Gypos refused the Haigs whining advances and were met with a hail of yobbish obscenities from the Haig players who looked to have had one to many sherbets.

The Gypos came storming out of the blocks in the second half with Shaw & Bassett taking the next two games in a frenzied ten minute spell to open up a 6-3 lead.

The Haig then rallied and again pulled two frames back to make it 6-5 before Chris Tate put the Gypos within touching distance of victory in a controversial game where the Haig ref lost the use of his eyes after one particular shot.

The Haig still hung in there taking the next crucial game to go 7-6 as they burst into unknown songs and roars.

It was then the last game of the night and the Haigs favourite son Leigh Morshead emerged back at the table.

The room was packed out with players and supporters, the clock had struck midnight and The Fudger had come out to play.

The Haig player had numerous chances to win the game and draw the match level but the nerves were playing havoc and he didn�t have the minerals to finish up and fatally for the Haig the Fudger was allowed back into the game.

The Gypos chance came when the Haig player fouled and The Fudger was let in with two shots.

He set about clearing his colours under massive pressure and constant barracking from the Haig players.

His Only Got One Shot, was ringing out around the pub as a shot was missed but two pots later and Morshead was down to the final black.

Positioning of the cue ball had gone out the window and he was left with a black ball which he could only double.

This was no time to lose your nerve as the black ball was fired off the side rail and doubled into the end pocket.

The Gypos side of the pub absolutely erupted with huge cheers and roars of jubilation as the Haig team could only look on in a desolate silence.

Despite their obvious disappointment The Haig did manage to bring themselves to shake the hands of The Gypos at the end of the match which was good to see.

The William Twigg [a] had to endure the heartbreak of just missing out on reaching the Champions of Champions Finals when they met Sloughs top side The Irish Club in their regional qualifier.

The rivalry between the two sides was just as fierce but there was a much friendlier atmosphere about the place.

The Irish Club drew first blood by taking the first game on a table that was so slow they may as well have played it on the carpet.

The score stayed close throughout the match and as it reached its climax the Irish Club found themselves 7-6 ahead with one game to play.

The Twiggs Chris Stocker found the minerals within himself to level the match at 7-7 as the Twigg boys erupted and mobbed him.

The match had gone into a one frame play off situation and Brad Parker was nominated to play The Irish Clubs Brad Robinson.

Parker had the first chance and went for the clearance but was unlucky when trying to move his last ball from a pack and got stuck with the cue ball stopping right next to it.

The table had come to the rescue of the Irish as Parker had no option but to hit and hope but his yellow ended up on the cush and Robinson was let in.

A snooker was played which Parker missed and Robinson found himself with two shots in hand and a chance to clear the table.

The two shots in hand were used and Robinson sunk the final black to put the Irish Club into the Finals.

It was a classic match where both sides respected each other and it was shame that one of them had to lose.

The second stage of the Berkshire League Qualifiers took place at Chiswick on Sunday 28^th Sept and the reigning champions Bracknell & Ascot [a] continued to impress as they look to defend their Berkshire title.

The Bracknell [a] team who had already won 3 out of 3 of their first stage matches had a tricky start as they had to play the Bracknell [b] team who of course were well up for it.

In a close encounter the Bracknell [a] emerged victorious winning the match 11-7

Next up were a strong Maidenhead side who were well up for taking on the Berkshire champions.

In another close encounter the Bracknell [a] outfit proved to be to strong for the team from Maidenhead and ran out 10-8 winners

On paper the Marlow team looked like they might put up a bit of a fight but surprisingly they crumbled form the word go and were promptly thumped 14-4 for their troubles.

The Bracknell & Ascot [a] team top the Berkshire table and now march on to stage three with six wins out of six in their back pocket.

BRACKNELL [B] OFF TO A FLYER IN QUALIFIERS

Bracknell & Ascot [b] started their Berkshire Qualifying campaign with a match against their Bracknell rivals and current Berkshire champions Bracknell & Ascot [a]

The game was tight early on but the B just couldn�t contain the Berkshire Champs and lost the match 11-7

The B teams next opponents were the strong Maidenhead side who must of fancied their chances.

The Bracknell B though showed that they meant business by eventually turning over Maidenhead 10-8

The B teams day didn�t get any easier and next up were the even stronger Renegade [a] team from Slough, the team who finished runners up to the Bracknell [a] last season.

The Bracknell [b] team though showed a steely determination against the Slough team and battled to an impressive 9-9 draw.

Last up were the Berkshire Ladies and the Bracknell [b] made short work of them as they stormed to a 12-6 victory.

So all in all it was a very good day for the B team and they have put themselves into a very good position to challenge for a qualifying spot when the next stage of the Berkshire Qualifiers comes round at the end of November.

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All names that have been included in the Bracknell A & B squads have already been asked to play and all players have agreed to play, therefore you will be expected be at Chiswick Snooker Club on the 28^th Sept, 12pm Start.

Note � Any player who has not played in the Interleague this year will need to pay their �12.00 Registration Fee before playing on the 28^th.