BLOG Revisited

I have decided to relaunch the Bakers pool team blog, the team will be allowed edit rights, so it can be a public or private forum, lets talk about this at the next match

Also let's remember the rules of pool club

Gentlemen! Welcome to Pool Club. The first rule of Pool Club is: you do not talk about Pool Club. The second rule of Pool Club is: you DO NOT TALK ABOUT POOL CLUB ! Third rule of Pool Club: Someone yells "stop!", goes limp, taps out, the frame is over. Fourth rule: only two guys to a frame. Fifth rule: one frame at a time, fellas. Sixth rule: no shirts, no shoes. Seventh rule: frames will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first night at pool club, you have to play pool......

Winter league fixtures

Winter league fixtures


The full list of Winter league fixtures are:-


HOME TEAM (NAMED FIRST)
14/11/2011 RAFA PRINCE ALBERT
21/11/2011 HSS CLUB B RAFA
28/11/2011 HSS CLUB A RAFA
05/12/2011 RAFA CRCC
12/12/2011 IONA B RAFA
19/12/2011 NO MATCH NO MATCH
26/12/2011 BANK HOLIDAY NO MATCH
02/01/2012 BANK HOLIDAY NO MATCH
09/01/2012 CUP GAME 1st ROUND CUP GAME 1st ROUND
16/01/2012 RAFA MARLBOROUGH B
23/01/2012 THE LAMB RAFA
30/01/2012 BELL & GATE B RAFA
06/02/2012 PRINCE ALBERT RAFA
13/02/2012 RAFA HSS CLUB B
20/02/2012 RAFA HSS CLUB A
27/02/2012 CUP GAME 2nd ROUND CUP GAME 2nd ROUND
05/03/2012 CRCC RAFA
12/03/2012 RAFA IONA B
19/03/2012 NO MATCH NO MATCH
26/03/2012 MARLBOROUGH B RAFA
02/04/2012 RAFA THE LAMB
09/04/2012 BANK HOLIDAY NO MATCH
16/04/2012 RAFA BELL & GATE B
23/04/2012 CUP FINAL CUP FINAL

Shoalin Grandmaster Peter Kempster, 128th Dan, total clearance discipline

The Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple is a Chán Buddhist temple at Song Shan near Zhengzhou City Henan Province in Dengfeng, China. It is led by Venerable abbot Shi Yingxìn. Founded in the 5th century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu and 8 ball pool, it is the Mahayana Buddhist monastery perhaps best known to the Western world.

The Shaolin Monastery and its famed Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as part of the "Historic Monuments of Dengfeng.", also the pool sections coin op table and club bar have been deemed of the highest quality by pool players such as "maltese joe" and "monkey o'brian", when leading world championship players were beaten 8-1 by the shaolin first team, Maltese Joe uttered the famous line "doze chinks can play dat pool innit mate, who wuz da bloke who took on that stupid clearance playing number 9?".

The 'bloke' joe refers to is the new leader of the Shoalin pool section, "Grand plank master Peter Kempster, 128th Dan, total clearance discipline", 'the plank' has been demonstrating his clearance skills in attempts thought to be impossible on the pool table since 1980 in local essex leagues, the toughest leagues in the world.

Qoute from "Grand plank master Peter Kempster, 128th Dan, total clearance discipline"

"If you can generate enough backspin to rip the baize, through years of practice, then on any given shot in any given frame, you can pull off tremendously pointless screw shots, allowing you not to worry about where any of the balls are on the table, making tactical play a thing of the past, its a link between your soul and the tip of the cue, however you do lose the majority of the frames you play, even against small children"

List of Total 8 ball Clearance styles currently taught at the temple by Kempster

Xiao Hong Quan - Little Red Fist - 8 Kronenburgs with red bull chasers
Da Hong Quan - Big flood fist - 6 pints of abbot
Tong Bei Quan - Through the black fist - 6 pints of guinness and 6 pints of abbot
Liu He Quan - Six harmonies fist - 6 pints of carling and full 3 course steak meal, plus irish coffee
Taizu Chang Quan - Emperor Yon's long fist - Yard of Ale between shots
Qixing Quan - Seven star fist - 7 bottles of becks and 7 shots of aftershock
Da Pao Quan - Big cannon fist - While eating kebab and having consumed all the drinks above
Xiao Pao Quan - Small cannon fist - while eating small kebab but without the guinness above

Crouching Kempster, Hidden Daleboy

Weekly Shoalin Review:

Confucius say "big monkey only danger to small monkeys when using his seat on the sofa"

Shoalin Highlights this week

• 128th Dan Kempo's clearance attempt with ball in hand after foul from the break by opponent
• Start potting furiously, give the impression you have not looked at the balls at all
• With two yellows left give opponent false hope by seeming not to have planned the difficult ball and play maximum screw on on penultimate yellow to pointless effect
• Swerve, arm held high in the air, around the blocking reds and miss the final yellow but still hit it off the cushion
• Walk away from the table giving impression that you forgot about the two visits and the ONE remaining, a classic Chinese king fu deception move, ref calls you back to the table
• Return across the rice paper and double the last yellow and pot the black to shouts from your pupils 'shoalin.......!"
• opponent is very upset as he has been 8 ball SHOALINNNED by a blind (short sighted) master of the impossible clearance
• Dale
• Inspired by SHOALIN above, play like you have a blindfold on
• Lose badly.

This concludes our Shoalin temple update this week. Pay homage to the SHOALIN TEMPLE in your waking moments today

2011 Fixtures Scanned

Sorry about the scan, no time to retype today.

New Season Tactics and Selection

With the new season just 1 day away i thought i would put on the BLOG a few key tactics for matches, lets just say we should keep these simple guidelines in our minds when playing, i do this every year in hope someone will take some notice :-)

• Before just potting a ball, try to think why you are potting it and which shot you want to play next.
• Make a clear decision before your first shot of a visit on the outcome of the WHOLE visit to the table; Examples = "clearance including the black" or "get my opponent in a snooker" or "cover that pocket so my opponent can't win"
• If you decide to play safe, think about where you would NOT like the white ball to be if you had to play the next shot
• IF ALL ELSE FAILS, You are playing terrible and feel off form, nothing is going right, here is a winning tip, just worry about keeping your HEAD still and stay down on the shot......The basics always come to the rescue

I think we are all very close as a team in terms of being friends, this is an important factor when playing any team sport, however with pool its slightly different, in MY singles matches all i worry about is WINNING MY GAME, even if we are 6-0 up or 0-6 down, its why i played a few seasons in the Wednesday league as last man.......i am good under pressure as i am playing for ME in the singles, it may be something that can help you out with pressure. If we all worry about WINNING our OWN games the TEAM will benefit.

If we had done a little better in the singles last season we would have been in the top 3 of the league overall, our doubles performance placed us level 2nd in the league on points.....such a small difference as winning ONE more singles frame can swing a match in our favour.

I think the reason we were strong in the doubles last year was that i changed the selection policy, i now try and play four 'on form' players as two pairs, this obviously pays off given our doubles performance last year, thus i will continue that policy this year.....

Best of luck to everyone and all please make the effort to attend every game.

Thanks

Tony

Fixtures Winter League 2010-11

RAFA BAKERS Fixtures Winter League 2010-11

22/11/10 HOME v PRINCE ALBERT

29/11/10 NO MATCH

06/12/10 HOME v FARMHOUSE

13/12/10 AWAY v MARLBOROUGH B

20/12/10 AWAY v BELL & GATE A

27/12/10 NO MATCH

03/01/11 NO MATCH

10/01/11 HOME v SUN

17/01/11 K.O.CUP 1^st ROUND

24/01/11 AWAY v BELL & GATE B

31/01/11 NO MATCH

07/02/11 HOME v H.S.S. CLUB

14/02/11 AWAY v PRINCE ALBERT

21/02/11 NO MATCH

28/02/11 AWAY v FARMHOUSE

07/03/11 HOME v MARLBOROUGH B

14/03/11 HOME v BELL & GATE A

21/03/11 AWAY v SUN

28/03/11 HOME v BELL & GATE B

04/04/11 NO MATCH

11/04/11 AWAY v H.S.S. CLUB

Bakers Pool Team - HDPL Winter League 2010/2011

Yon kindly attended the meeting on Sunday, he will bring the fixture list to the next practice night, plus we will have the final tables.

FIRST LEAGUE FIXTURE = HOME on 22nd of November 2010

Thus I suggest the following pre season fixtures:

First Practice Night = Monday 8th of November 2010

Second Practice Night = Monday 15th of November 2010

Can i also suggest we change practice night into something that that resembles match conditions, this will allow everyone to practice snookers, snooker escapes and of course potting. No drinking practice required for our team.

Can we aim to try and get at least 6 or 9 members of the team and we draw names out of a hat and play small matches in teams of 3, it will take slightly longer but will give Terry and Stuart more drinking time :-)

Regarding team structure this season, I assume that nobody has objection with the structure from last season.

Captain = Me
Vice Captain's = Yon & Mitch
Fixture and Results Secretary = Monster
Drinking & Driving Safety Officer = Terry

We will use this BLOG to publish our 100% of our fixtures, upcoming venues and results, i will ensure this does happen this year

Singles & Doubles Draw

SINGLES (18th October):-

Mitch (OLD MAYPOLE)

Pete (BELL & GATE)

Terry (MARLBOROUGH)

Monst (IONA)



DOUBLES (25th October)

Tony & Dale (C.R.C.C.)

Yon & Scott (MAYPOLE)

Pool Season 2010 : Match day 1

Away Hyneholt PH 12 April 2010: The bakers made a good start to the season with a convincing away win versus the Hyneholt of hainault. The team won the singles portion of the match by four frames to two.

The highlights of the singles being a long black by Alan Bruniges, playing in his first match for Bakers and Dale Bennett keeping his cool to pot a tricky black ball with the cue ball in a difficult position. There was some controversy in Peter Kempster's frame as his opponent claimed a deliberate foul after a poor snooker escape attempt, however the Hyneholt official team must be applauded for their fairness as they told there own player to continue (and stop moaning) as they felt Peter made a genuine attempt to escape and just mis-hit his shot. However it must be said the call by the Hyneholt ref in the first instance was correct in his call, the player however asked 4 times if it was a deliberate foul, clearly making him a special breed of moaner, however his fellow team members were very clear in their thoughts and obviously are very sportsmanlike....well done the Hyneholt.

The Doubles portion of game closed the overall match as bakers closed all three frames for victory, the main highlight being Scott Rose's 4 ball clearance under lots of pressure to close the victory in the first doubles frame.

This left the bakers with a away victory of Seven frames to Two.

Singles - Won 4-2
Monster loss (good clearance by opponent)
Mitch win (drawn out tactical frame)
Peter loss (deliberate foul controversy)
Tony win (bad black positional from tc lead to tactical end of the frame)
Dale win (ahead all the way thru the fame and potted a good black)
Alan win (great black after failed initial clearance)

Doubles - Won 3-0
Scott and yon (tactical frame with great black by Scott
Alan and Monster (win)
Peter and Mitch (win)

Overall Match: WIN 7-2

Next match HOME, versus the BELL & GATE 19th of April 2010

2010 League Fixtures

Havering & District Pool League Fixtures for RAFA Bakers Pool Team 2010

12/04/10 - HYNEHOLT - away .... 26/07/10 - home
19/04/10 - BELL & GATE - home .... 02/08/10 - away
26/04/10 - P.A.L.S. - away .... 09/08/10 - home
17/05/10 - HSS CLUB - away .... 23/08/10 - home
24/05/10 - MAYPOLE - home .... 06/09/10 - away
07/06/10 - PRINCE ALBERT B - away .... 13/09/10 - home
21/06/10 - CHERRY TREE - away .... 20/09/10 - home
28/06/10 - FARMHOUSE - home .... 27/09/10 - away
05/07/10 - WINCHESTER - away .... 04/10/10 - home
12/07/10 - DRILL - home .... 11/10/10 - away
CUP GAMES
14/06/10 & 19/07/10
COMPETITION
18/10/10 - SINGLES
25/10/10 - DOUBLES
NO MATCH
10/05/10 & 16/08/10
BANK HOLIDAYS
03/05/10 & 31/05/10 & 30/08/10

New Squad Members Needed

This is a summary of the advert running in the Havering press

• The RAFA Bakers 8 ball pool team require 2 new players for the remainder of their current season in the Havering and District Pool League
• The team name is RAFA BAKERS, the team has been established for 25 years and are based out of the RAF association club in Romford, new players must join the club as a member for a small fee.
• The team play a match every Monday Night at 8:15 PM
• Players must be 15 years old or above
• Contact is Tony via 07968068016 or tonycossey@gmail.com or http://bakerspool.blogspot.com
• All Applications considered, we will run a "try out" night if we have more applications than places in the squad

New Rules for 2009 Summer Season

There are some new rulings that will come into effect this year that we all need to note.

1. If a player pots a ball direct from the break shot, you need to nominate, you can nominate either colour, thus if you pot a red but yellows are in the better position you can nominate the colour you prefer. However if you CHANGE colour if you don't pot a ball next shot then the player who follows has an open table.

2. In cup matches only we are playing scotch doubles, simply the doubles pairings take alternate shots not alternate visits, plus there is a 'no conferring' rule, the 'conferring' rule will be reviewed after the first round of the cup in june.

3. Our little disagreement last year about the rule where missing a league meeting costs the side who missed the meeting 2 points, in which the RAFA were relegated, lead to chaos in the 2nd division as they won the title (and the money) at a canter, they did not lose a game, the opposition captains accusing the RAFA of fixing the previous season so they could easily grab the purse of monies from the rest of the league......Well thats a really a joke and sounds like sour grapes to me, also it shows how poor the 2nd division is in terms of quality. One thing to note the RAFA did not miss a meeting in the winter league......lessons learned no doubt

One further note lets make a NASSIVE effort tomorrow night to beat the RAFA at our shared home venue in the 1st game of the season, we should also make a HUGE effort to get on with the players as no doubt we will share a practice table with them through the season.

Also the RAFA club payed our £80 membership fees and our food is free, hence no subs this year, however the RAFA club requires a £20 members fee, this is normally £28 but discounted since it is April. Those who came to practice last week know that the table is very nice, medium to fast baize with tight pockets IF the ball is hit with pace, its a big improvement over the bakers table.

This is the PROPER league now so lets make an effort to attend all games and ensure we maximise our persinal performances so we can put a good few wins under our belt.

RAFA BAKERS Havering 2009/10 Fixtures

RAFA BAKERS Havering 2009/10 Fixtures

RAFA 6th April away.
NO GAME 13th April
DRILL 20th April home.
WHEATSHEAF 27th April away.
NO GAME 4th May
BARKING P.C 11th May home.
FARMHOUSE 18th May away.
NO GAME 25th May
BULL 1st June home.
NO GAME 8th June
KO CUP 15th June 1st round
SUN 22nd June away.
MARLBOROUGH 29th June home.
NRCC 6th July away.
PRINCE ALBERT A 13th July home.
KO CUP 20th July 2nd round
RAFA 27th July home.
DRILL 3rd August away.
WHEATSHEAF 10th August home.
BARKING P. C 17th August away.
FARMHOUSE 24th August home.
NO GAME 31st August
BULL 7th September away
NO GAME 14th September
SUN 21st September home.
MARLBOROUGH 28th September away.
NRCC 5th October home
PRINCE ALBERT A 12th October away.
SINGLES KO 19th October 1st round
DOUBLES KO 26th October 1st round

Bakers Fixtures Havering Winter League 2008/9

Bakers Fixtures Havering Winter League 2008/9

1st Half of Season
24/11/08 HOME v Farmhouse
01/12/08 AWAY v Prince Albert
08/12/08 HOME v Wheatsheaf
15/12/08 CUP 1st Round
22/12/08 AWAY v Sun
05/01/09 HOME v Marlborough
12/01/09 HOME v BPC
19/01/09 CUP 2nd Round
26/01/09 AWAY v Bull

2nd Half of Season
02/02/09 AWAY v Farmhouse
09/02/09 HOME v Prince Albert
16/02/09 AWAY v Wheatsheaf
23/02/09 HOME v Sun
02/03/09 AWAY v Marlborough
09/03/09 AWAY v BPC
16/03/09 HOME v Bull

Pool Team Costs

Guys,

Yon and I were discussing the annual costs of running the pool team, currently myself and Yon bear the brunt of the costs, we want to start allocating this more fairly.

Costs for the Year

£80 = Summer League Team Registration Fee

£60 = Winter League Team Registration Fee

£80 = Per player Winter League Fees (First 8 players)

£168 = Home Game Food for 12 Home games Summer League

£98 = Home Game Food for 7 Home games Winter League

£40 = Compulsory end of season party fees for tickets organised by the league

Thats a grand total of £526 for both Winter and Summer Leagues.

Thats about £50 a man a year, plus of course we now need to join the M&B club..... 

I am sure you will agree i think its a lot farier if we spilt these costs on a weekly basis, so we pay a £5 sub every home game, even if you do not turn up......lets all discuss possible solutions

Bakers stay in havering division 1

Bakers stayed in the top division of the havering league, only thanks to a vote by the league captains on Sunday at the monthly league meeting, attended by myself and Yon. The RAFA missed 3 league meetings, thus were docked 6 points as per league rules. This points deduction left them below bakers in last relegation slot, however the league official (John Radley) seemed to think this unfair. however a drawn out debate ensued, in which the Wheatsheaf pointed out that the League title this year was decided on a 2 point deduction on the same rule, hence the RAFA must accept the rules, given the decision at the upper end of the table. The decision was put to the vote, the outcome was almost 100% in bakers favour, hence we stayed up, JUST.

Victory for Bakers at the Bull in Romford

The Bakers mission to stay in the Havering and district league top division was provided with a major boost last night, Bakers produced an impressive away win at the third placed Bull pub in Romford.

Monster opened the singles play at slot 1, after a tactical frame his opponent skillfully closed the game with a 4 ball clearance, the long pot 8 ball being the most impressive shot.

the home side requested that the doubles be played at this point to allow some of their players to attend shift work, Bakers agreed and Tony Cossey and Scott Rose played the first doubles fixture, after the Bull player went in off on their second visit, Cossey swept home a seven ball clearance to clinch the first of the 3 scheduled doubles games

Tony Cossey was also in the next game of singles, again Tony looked like he was going to clear up, again from 7 balls out, however a poor positional shot on the last colour, left a double on the 8 ball, which just refused to drop in the middle pocket. The opponent attempted to made the black safe from the next vist, however a spectacular shot on the 8 ball closed the frame for Cossey

Stuart was next up for bakers, again he played solid pool from a tactical disadvantage, always in with chance thanks to some solid tactics, however his opponent made his tactical advantage tell by clearing the last 3 balls to win, again however a good frame by Stuart.

Yon played next and went through a whole range of emotions in his frame, firstly missing a awkward 8 ball, then seeing his opponent make an amazing miss on a dead straight black, Yon then missed another hard black leaving the opponent another simple simple final shot, which he AGAIN missed, yon sheepishly then dished the final ball to win.

Mich played the next frame, his opponent leaving mitch a mountain to climb after clearing down to the 8 ball, then laying that ball near a pocket. In true Mitch style he took on average 22 minutes to decide on each of his shots and cleared up to win. :-)

Peter had the slot for last frame and after a scrappy affair, his oppoent made a decisive move to clear, however a poor positional shot left him without the final black, Peter swept in to mak it 4 - 2 in the singles and of course 5-2 overall as one doubles had been preplayed.

The final two doubles frames being shared to leave Bakers winning the match 6 - 3.

Winter League 2008/09

The havering winter league draws close, this is money competition, where each of the league entry fees forms a prize fund shared by the highest placed teams.

To enter this competition, we need....

• 4 Singles Players
• 2 doubles Pairs (The singles players can't form ANY part of the doubles pairings)

I think the format of the fixtures differs as well, but we need to discuss who forms which part of the side, especially with shift patterns and conference calls to deal with :-)

Speak at Monday's fixture.........Also Yon will send around the details of the XMAS party.

Bakers Home Win Versus Winchester

Bakers ended a run of 8 league defeats with victory over the Winchester club in Division 1 of the Havering & District pool League. This was an important voctory as the Winchester Club are in same region of the league table and this was considered by the Bakers Squad as a 'must win' game.

• Things started badly with Mitch Dawson losing the opening singles frame, the tactical nature of the frame slowed play, but Mich was visibly upset with his last visit.
• Tony Cossey avenged defeat to the same opponent in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season with 4 ball clearance after his opponent fouled while attempting a clever 'bank' shot.
• Stuart Mac was involved in an entertaining frame but was edged out by the Winchester captain. However Stuart once more proved he is 'hard to beat' and he never gives up on his frame, giving each shot full thought, an attitude we could all replicate which would add to our success.
  
• Dale Bennett admitted to playing like a 'plank' but this week was a winning 'plank' in his close fought frame
• Scott Rose was involved in the most controversial frame of the night, his opponent fouled under the 'hit one cushion' rule introduced this year, this lead to friendly but intense debate amongst the two teams. Eventually the ref (Stuart Mac) made the brave (and correct) call of 'FOUL', Scott then swept to victory by clearing his remaining 3 reds and the black after the foul.
• Gary 'Monster' Dennis swept to victory whitewashing his opponent with a two visit clearance of the table. Damm he is ruthless.

This put the bakers 4 frames to 2 up and gave us Victory in the Singles.

• Dale & Tony then played the two weakest opposition players in the first doubles, this was a strange tactic employed by the Winchester club as defeat would hand victory to Bakers in the overall match. The frame was streatched out by a blocked pocket with a red and a yellow on the edge of dropping. After a foul by Bakers the Winchester pairing made an attempt at a clearance, however after the player failed to clear, Tony Cossey cleared the tricky remaining balls for Victory, handing an overall match win for bakers
• I missed the last two doubles but the frames were shared one each, leading to a 6 frames to 3 victory for Bakers

The Bakers have some crucial fixtures in the coming month, these games involve playing close league position rivals, these fixtures will dictate the fate of our season. BE THERE guys....And Win.

Cup Victory for Bakers

The winchester club could only muster 4 players for Monday's cup clash with bakers at the M&B club, this had a dramatic effect on the tie. In effect Bakers were three zero ahead from the start as the 4 players from the Winchester could not cover the spare two slots in the 6 singles, plus of course the 1 spare slot in the doubles.

Singles
Mitch powered home the first frame with a good clearance with a chance created by a good snooker. This left Bakers needing ONE frame remaining to clinch victory. Scott the dog Davis provided the performance Bakers needed by taking his opportunity to clear.

The opposition then declined to take further part in the match after losing the match 5 - 0. This left the other players from bakers high and dry in search of a match game.

Overall it was nice to progress but a full match would have kept everyone happy.

Overall Match = 9 - 0 Victory for bakers
Singles Match = 6 -0 Victory for bakers
Doubles Match = 3 - 0 Victory for bakers

Victory at the Winchester : Havering League

The Bakers grabbed an important victory at the Winchester last night, an average performance from some of our players almost lead to an overall loss in the match.

Singles
Bakers drew 3 frames all in the singles, poor performances lead to 2 losses but power plays by Yon and Scott Rose saved the day as the bakers scrambled a draw after Tony, The Dog and Stu all fell to home players. In fact Mitch at number one stumbled over the line in his frame so the bakers can consider themselves lucky to get a draw in this phase of the match.

Doubles
Good performances from the Yon/Monster combination lead to an early win in the doubles series, a clever fluked snooker at the end paid dividends from Yon, with Monster confidently closing the frame. In the second match a determined clearance by the Winchester player put an end to the hopes of Dog/Stu very quickly, great play by the home team to be honest. This left a tense situation for Peter/Tony in the last frame. A fast start by the Winchester pair lead to them taking an early advantage and putting the pressure on Peter/Tony, however a foul by the Winchester lead to fantastic 7 ball clearance by Peter, which must go down as one of the best visits by a bakers player in years, Peter demonstrating Potting, positional play and steely determination all in one superb visit.

Also special thanks to Denis who offered his doubles place to another player to help ensure victory for the Bakers.....thanks Den.

Overall Match

• Bakers Draw the Singles 3 - 3
• Bakers Win the Doubles 2 -1
• Bakers Win the match 5 - 4
  

2008 Havering pool league fixtures

21-Apr Sun B H

28-Apr RAFA H

05-May

12-May Marlborough A

19-May Crown H

26-May

02-Jun Winchester A

09-Jun CUP

16-Jun Prince Albert A H

23-Jun HSS Club A

30-Jun Bull H

07-Jul Wheatsheaf A

14-Jul CUP

21-Jul Barking Pool Club A

28-Jul Farmhouse H

04-Aug Sun B A

11-Aug RAFA A

18-Aug Marlborough H

25-Aug

01-Sep Crown A

08-Sep Winchester H

15-Sep Prince Albert A A

22-Sep HSS Club H

29-Sep Bull A

06-Oct Wheatsheaf H

13-Oct Barking Pool Club H

20-Oct Farmhouse A

New League, New Venue

Guys,

First match in our new league tonight

Home match at our new venue the May & Baker Club, our new team name is the "M&B Bakers", our new league is Havering and District Pool League

One thing to remember about tonight, this league plays World Rules not English Pool Rules

Hence the only real changes are:

• If you are not potting then either the object ball or the cue ball has to hit a cushion.
• In the doubles there is a 1 minute time limit on your shots, this is doubles ONLY

This prevents players just rolling up behind a ball as a safety shot, so if you want to play safe make sure a ball hits a cushion.

Match Format

• 6 singles
• 3 doubles

So there are 3 results match results each night - Thus there are no dead matches really.

• Overall (singles plus doubles = best of 9)
• Singles (best of 6 match)
• Doubles (best of 3 match)

Cup Game - Wednesday 23rd of April

New Fixture 23rd of April in the Cup - White Horse away

First Division Fixtures 2008/9

Division One Fixtures for Cue Ball Bakers for April thru July 2008
23rd April AWAY Dagenham Football Club
30th April TBA Cup First Round
7th May HOME Cherry Tree
14th May AWAY Keith Davis Snooker Center
21st May AWAY BPC Outcasts
28th May TBA Cup Second Round
4th June HOME Prince Albert
18th June HOME White Horse
25th June AWAY Crown
2nd July AWAY Marlborough
9th July Home Keith Davis Snooker Center

Bakers Demotion Reversed

In a complete reversal, the league has contacted me and informed me that we are restored to the FIRST division. I will explain the the details behind the headline news when we meet.

THUS This weeks fixture is HOME versus the Admiral Vernon

We really do need players being available this week so we can try and get a good start in the FIRST, I know there is Champions league action with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea but the club will have that showing i am sure. Please DO mail back with your availability, i think the following players will be there, let me know if you won't

Scott DOG
Scott Rose
Dale
Stuart
Yon
Adam
Terry
Mitch
Denis
Me
Peter is on Holiday

This fixture was meant to be away, but due to 3 teams being at home at the vernon we have been asked to play at home. This to add's to the confusion in us being promoted.

I am going to the monthly league meeting tonight, which should be lively given the news.......!

If anyone can offer a lift i would appreciate it as my car is being serviced, if not i will tube it there and back. I will find out what is happening with the fixtures we have missed in the first......in fact this is what i will do at the meeting

1. Get new fixture list
2. Listen to moans from 2nd division captains as our results are now invalid
3. Listen to those unaware of our demotion moan about our promotion
4. Listen to 1st division captains moan as they have to fit in 5/6 more games someohow
5. tell the league organisers what a a complete debacle the whole demotion thing has been.
6. Smile smugly

Fixture List for Bakers

• March 12th - Vernon Metros away,
• March 19th - Jolly Fisherman home
• March 26th is a Cup match prelim round - we have a bye
• April 2nd - Hope awayApril 9th is singles/pairs tournament so week off
• April 16th - Hinds Head home
• April 23rd - White Hart home
• April 30th is Cup 1st round proper likely to have a game
• May 7th - Captain Cook away
• May 14th is singles/pairs tournament - week off
• May 21st - Barking Football Supporters home
• May 28th is Cup 2nd round game on if we are still in
• June 4th - Vernon C away
• June 11th is singles/pairs tournament - week off
• June 18th - Unicorn home
• June 24th is Cup 3rd round game on if we are still in & its a Tuesday
• June 25th - Sun away
• July 2nd - Roundhouse away
• July 9th - Albert home

Match Report: Bakers Versus Prince Albert

After bakers return to the BDPL second division in highly controversial circumstances after the leagues decision to adjust numbers in each division, bakers played our first fixture this year versus the prince albert away. In a match that swung both ways the bakers won the last two frames via
cossey and kempster to secure a 3 frames to 5 away win.

The bakers went into an early lead after mitch cleared confidently, however close frame losses by stuart and 'the dog' left bakers in a tricky situation. Both Dale and Yon again provided bakers with something to cheer as again both players took on 4 ball clearances and secured
bakers a lead in the match.

Scott rose lost after a drawn out frame of cat and mouse. Tony Cossey produced another 4 ball clearance for bakers to secure at least a draw. Peter Kempster deservedly won the
last frame which was scattered with errors and fouls from both players.

Now bakers have a win and a loss under our belt as last weeks no show will register as 8 to zero walk over.

Whatever our destiny in terms of the league we play in, it seems that the teams form is good and that may trigger a repeat of our 2005 run of success no matter where we play

Fixtures meeting 2008/09 Season

Guys,

I am going to the first pool meeting of the season tonight, i will return with the fixtures and some news on the venues we have been looking at.


The facilities offered google groups is being well used but only via email, take a look at the other elements of what google groups can offer via the website and other details below.

Google Groups Name
Bakers Pool Team

Description
Bakers pool team private group on google.

Public website
http://bakerspool.blogspot.com

Group address
http://groups.google.com/group/Bakers-Pool-Team

Current email address:
Bakers-Pool-Team@googlegroups.com

2008 Season Status

Guys,

Apologies about my illness last week, here is the latest update of the pool league for 2008.

• I spoke with Alan Huckle league chairman today and confirmed our entry for next year
• I need to drop an £80 cheque to Jamie Joyes Division 1 secretary this week
  
• Fixtures will be published after the next meeting 1st Tuesday of February 2008

regarding venue and players for next season

• VENUE UPDATE 1: I spoke with the cue ball yesterday, the owner rang me regarding my conversation with Rita last week about us leaving for a new venue. He wants to encourage us to stay with the promise of a new 'food policy' for teams competing from the cue ball and regular table tunes ups (every 3 months) to counter any faults in the table. I was very polite and told him that the team had virtually decided to move anyway as he was now addressing issues he should have considered in mid 2007, i did say that he needs better communication with Rita.
• VENUE UPDATE 2: If we are to move from Cue Ball we need to find a venue FAST, currently we need to vote but options are:
  
• peter kempster is championing the crown roneo corner.
  
• I am championing Dagenham football club or the place below
  
• The Keith Davis Cue Sports club is another option (next to Becontree district line station)
• RAFA club in Romford (but continue in the wednesday BDPL league)
  
• We could go back to the bakers club
• New wembley is fully booked, I WILL BE CONTACTING THE ABOVE VENUES THIS WEEK
  
• PLAYERS 2008 - PLEASE CONFIRM via email
  
• Mitch / Adam / Terry
  
• Yon
• Dale (new job so will be available more)
• Peter
• Scott (Rose)
  
• Denis
• Stuart (move up north may works well with league season and him being in London)
• Dave (Needs to confirm status)
• Scott (Dog) (needs to confirm status)
  
• Myself
• In Total 12 players IF dave and Scott play, plus if the fixtures suit stuart)

FEEDBACK ON THE ABOVE PLEASE via email; to Bakers-Pool-Team at googlegroups.com

Meeting of Minds

Decision making meeting for 2008 at the Crown Public House Monday 7th of January (pub that is on Roneo Corner) @8pm

Agenda:

• Venue for 2008
  
• Players for 2008
  
• League for 2008
  

20/09/2007 Match report: Goodfellows Close but no cigar

It seemed last night that the supercomputer running the pool matrix had thrown a few glitches, a highly depleted bakers had another unusual night of play in the BDLP Div 1 fixture away versus the Goodfellows, the bakers were missing Mitch, Dale, Dave, Pete and Stuart leaving, bulleted list of the action below

• Tony at the number one slot beat the league singles points leader (ok matrix control room only slightly buggy)
• Scott Rose was victim of a nice clearance after playing a nice frame (Matrix control room now start flicking switches)
• Terry plays a cool frame against useful opponent only to drop 'in off' the winning black in the middle pockets (Matrix control room now moving into action)
• Adam plays a very highly rated lady player, gets his chance to clear fouls twice on two consecutive yellows by flying straight into the object pocket, the lady player then can't clear leaving Adam to roll in the 'pot black' of the century to win in great style (matrix control room now start enjoying themselves)
• Yon plays an 11 year old boy, (insert own joke here), who reached the final of the under 16 uk championships, tight frame (go for another joke here), but Yon still with a pool holiday hangover missed the clearance (matrix control team now move the controls to 100% parallel universe)
• Denis the gladiator enters the arena, his suit of shining armour gleaming under the lights……..Denis gets to the table after the break….pots three yellows in a row….good pots great position, pots two more good pots perfect position (Cossey states on the sidelines he will retire if Denis dishes the 8 ball clearance), Denis considers his options, pots the 6th yellow leaving a stun into the centre to pot the final yellow and leave the black into the centre, the yellow drops leaving a 3/4 ball cut into the middle for the black (Cossey on the sidelines start writing his resignation & retirement speech), Denis steps back, lines up the black, executes the shot (boys in the matrix control room come back from the tea break and quickly adjust the controls back to 'normal'), the black just clips the inside jaw and misses……no 8 ball, BAKERS GUTTED. Denis snookered out of the game and loses (matrix control room go off shift).

Bakers lose 6-2 which could have been a 5-3 win if the matrix control room had shorter tea breaks, NEXT week is MASSIVE match versus the MATAPAN in our relegation battle….JUST BE THERE.

Crown 5th of September Report (Mitch)

Just a quick match report from Mitch (while Tony is on Hols)-

Based on The crowns league position we expected a white wash but we dug in hard and gave them a game - Denis and Scott both played very tight frames making their opponents work hard and both were only narrowly edged out in the end - well played boys. Stu was up next a put in a typical gritty performance and got to the black, his opponent then put him in a couple of snookers but failed to capitalise with his two shots, leaving stu a thin black and hampered cueing - stu duly potted the black and registered our first frame on the board.

I was up next and faced their supposed best player who according to reports was a bit jaded due to family problems - After a few opening exchanges my opponent was in amongst the balls and I feared a clearance - I managed to get to the table and produced an 8 ball clearance with a rather lucky black, after jawing the black from a reverse double in the middle pocket the black trickled back across table clipped my opponents yellow and dropped in the opposite middle pocket - much to my opponents dismay - Happy days two on the board for bakers ! Adam and my dad followed Adam potted a few before " double hitting " a ball and giving away two shots to which his opponent produced a clearance to win ( better luck next time Ad, and stop playing balls so close to the white, you will get fouled for it ) My dad played next and had covered a couple of pockets but unfortunately fouled by touching a close ball with his hand, the opponent then cleared to take this frame also ( again better luck next time ) we had to surrender frames seven and eight as we had no one to fill the spots.

Overall not a bad performance, disappointing we had to give away two frames but we gave it a good shot and it certainly was no walk over - well played boys !

Mitch (Covering for Tony)

Bakers Stun the Hope: Matchday 29th Aug 2007

The bakers pulled of a relegation battle away victory on Wednesday 29th of August 2007 by thrashing the Hope 7 frames to 1. The bakers kept their cool under pressure while several of the opposition threw away chances of potential frame victories with nervy or ill thought out shots. The victory was closed by Scott Rose who used an opponents foul to calmly sink the black using the spare shot, this put the bakers 5 -1 up in frames and sealed the victory. Tony Cossey & Peter Kempster made the match a one sided affair by closing the last two frames versus to EX bakers players from the past, making the victory even more enjoyable.

Well done to the bakers, this puts us right back in the fight to avoid relegation, our closest rivals , the Hope A, the hope 's B side and Matapan all gained zero points I discovered from the league official.

Key Games This Season

Big game tomorrow, as the Bloody matapan WON last week as their opponents were 5 handed. Thus we are still bottom of the table with 8 points, but the three teams above are all on 11 now, thus a win tomorrow PUTS US RIGHT BACK IN IT!

Availability tomorrow please, we need our strongest side and best form, lets shift UP into another gear for the 2nd half of the season.

As a note here are the fixtures i think WE CAN WIN, IE OUR KEY GAMES

Our KEY Games, not a total fixture list
1st Aug - Vernon
29th aug - HOPE A
26th Sept - Grove
3rd Oct - Matapan
31st Oct - Hope B (last game of season)

That's 15 points above, added to our current 8 that's a total of 23.....enough to avoid relegation i think.

25th of July: 3 -5 Win versus White Hosre

In the most eventful pool match in years, bakers scored a crucial away victory to bolster our chances of avoiding relegation. To set the scene bakers had 9 players available and arrived
at the away venue in a determined mood.

During the 'knock up' the Bakers team noticed that the table was fast to medium pace, large pockets and tainted with a 3 ball roll off ,which was the worst we have seen in many seasons. Not a good omen.

Tony & Denis open the match in the doubles with a close frame only to lose after making the mistake of playing shot at slow pace which rolled so far it ended in the car park, ho hum, the best was to come.

Frame one, Scott the dog played a controlled frame avoiding letting his opponent 'in' while being patient. In a desperate clearance attempt the opponent managed to dislodge the black but leaving no shot for himself. In wild thrash type hit and hope the black hit several balls and went in the middle pocket, only for one of Scott's yellow balls to drop in to give him and bakers the frame, much to the joy of the 9 from Cue ball, One nil up

Frame two, Tony Cossey completed a 7 ball clearance, potting the black in the middle pocket, only to admit to a stunned audience he had glanced a yellow ball with his cue while potting the black, giving the frame to opponent as the potted black was foul. Although congratulated on his honesty by all, it resulted in a bad loss. one all.

Frame three, mitch dawson played it cool only to be left snookered (by a an opponents fluke) on the black which was near the middle pocket, in skillful shot to swerve around the snooker he potted the black, only to see the cue ball drop into another pocket, two one down.

Frame four, our young rising star, schoolboy Adam Greenwood, was presented with a tough 3 ball clearance at business end of the frame, using all the mental toughness he had, he completed the clearance to win his first frame for the team, what a victory....2 frames each in the match, hopes of bakers very much up now.

Frame 5, scott rose played a very nice frame playing all the right shots only for his opponent to fluke a 'round the table' hit and hope snooker, scott escaped only to see his opponent clear....3 2 down in frames

Frame 6, Peter kempster produced a his normal 'thrill ride' frame ending with a white knuckle clearance attempt and foul followed by his opponent doing the same, Peter then cleared to put bakers 3 all in frames.

Frame 7, Terry the ICEMAN, played an attractive young lady, who thankfully was nervous, hence letting Terry edge his way ball by ball to Victory, 4 - 3 to the bakers.

In the deciding Frame, Yon played a very skillful player from the home side, containing him with clever safety play. The end of the frame was very exciting for the whole audience......not down to pool but as a fight broke out in the pub between two locals, In batman TV series style THWACK, THUMP, BOSH......etc etc.

The players in the aftermath continued with the match, the white horses own table ended up costing them, as the drift of the cue ball stuffed their own player who missed a 'roll up' snooker, which gave Yon two visits, with which he cleared the last two reds and black to leave bakers with their first victory of the season 5 -3.

Yon's (in fact everyones) heroics leaves bakers with real shout of avoiding the drop, lets keep the form going and make like the hammers last year......Yon is better looking than Tevez but not by much.

18th of July 2007: 4 -4 Versus Dagenham FC

Bakers secured another point away from home this week, the opponents, Dagenham Football Club, being also in the lower half of the league. A bright start by Bakers in the doubles frame still ended in defeat after the Dagenham FC pair completed a 6 ball clearance from a difficult position. Much to the dismay of Mitch & Tony who had just missed their own clearance opportunity.

Tony Cossey opened the singles play by winning the first frame for the Bakers, a 3 cushion snooker escape to re-snooker his opponent lead to a clearance and a deserved win. Mitchell Dawson won but only after a uncharacteristic error on the black, making sure with subsequent 'double' chance. Scott Rose followed with another Bakers win, "played like a god" in the true "defender of the faith" style he portrays. These triple singles wins leaving Bakers 3-1 up in frames, however a fightback by the home team left Peter Kempster to win the last frame to tie the match result at a 4 frames all deadlock. Quick note to lovers of pathos , Yon as ever was a sad knob.

This leaves bakers with 5 points from 16 matches and still anchored to the bottom of league division one of the BDPL (www.bdpldiv1.co.uk). This weeks match versus the white horse another relegation threatened side is crucial to Bakers survival.

July 4th : 4-4 Draw versus Clan

The Bakers earned an unexpected home point against promotion challengers BPC Clan on Wednesday, the matched was marred by controversy but Bakers return to form was the news headline.

The match started with a series of bakers frame victories, Tony Stormed to to a win in the opening singles with a series of difficult pots to finish in style, punishing a miss by his opponent. This was followed by a long drawn out frame won by Peter Kempster who seemed to escape from endless snookers when he only had the black ball remaining. A great frame by Stuart McClemments made it three singles frames in a row, followed by a total 8 ball clearance by Mitch Dawson to make it 4-0 and clinch at least a draw. The clan were rocked by Bakers strong start.

However this is when the controversial element of the night started, certain members of the Clan seemed to see their promotion push fall away and engaged in barracking from the sidelines. Normally this would not have bothered our more experienced players, but this is still the lowest form of gamesmanship. This not an excuse for Yon, Adam, denis and Terry losing but left the whole club with a nasty atmosphere to deal with and at one stage this seemed it may escalate further. As the match progressed 'Insults' rather than 'barracking' became the oppositions tactics, this trend seemed to be increasing along with their beer consumption

The end result was a 4-4 all draw and an unexpected point, plus this result can be seen as the start of our 'run' to avoid relegation.

As a footnote both myself and mitch registered a complaint with the league regarding the minority of the opposition who engaged in what we considered to be ungentlemanly conduct.

June 27th: League Leaders away whitewash

I know this sounds strange but the eight zero defeat away to the runaway league leaders the crown jewels, all ex premier league players, could have been so much closer. If we analyze the games we can see that bakers leading 3 -1 was actually not far away being the score.

• Denis lost in the opening slot, (but his opponent left the eight ball and and final colour on the table, hence a big chance wasted)
• Stuart was left with two colours over the pockets and the black black but had a nightmare miss on the first long colour
• Tony had a battle royal in the third slot and only lost after the closest of tight frames , the highlight being the final pot on the colour and the cue ball position to move the black
  
• Mitch had a a great chance to win after his opponent missed the black, again we failed to convert.
• Yon made an error at the end of his frame to lose in tragic style
• Call me an ultra optimist - But that's 5 frames to the bakers versus the league leaders, instead we lost EIGHT ZERO. A lesson to us all in concentration.
  

Special praise to Both DAVE for turning up but not playing and the great game played by Adam Greenwood, great effort from our schoolboy superstar.

"Lets keep on keeping on" and start getting those points under our belt

June 20th: Bakers draw at the hope

A depleted bakers side had an honorable draw at the hope, saved by Dave Balding's late appearance and win in the singles. The evening started well with Tony Cossey and Mitch winning the doubles, Tony's 8 ball clearance turning the frame into a two visit affair. The first singles match was a tactical affair with again Tony producing a well planned 5 ball clearance to seal the frame. the remaining frames resulted in a loss for the unlucky Scott's, both Rose and Davis. Denis played well only to lose his frame to the hopes best player. The reliable mitch dawson once more won his frame with a 5 ball clearance, followed by Terry who grinded his way to another win. Dave's heroics in the last frame meant a difficult away game with a player short ended in a valuable draw.

Home Versus Dagenham FC 28/02/2007

Bakers lost a close encounter with Rival Dagenham football club on Wednesday (3-5), the bakers managed to lose two frames by the accidental potting of black during the middle stages of frames (Yon & Stu), this being highly unusual to occur once let alone twice in a match. Tony Cossey produced another table clearance after covering the black with two yellows to foil his opponents early advantage. Mitchel Dawson once more produced a win by taking his opportunity well when it came, Dan Cooper managed to lose with the last few balls at his mercy by dropping the while ball into the one of middle pockets. Scott Rose and Dale Bennett both lost close frames to skilled opponents.This left the Bakers 5 - 2 down with Peter 'plank' Kempster winning the last frame in style to leave bakers cursing their luck on the black ball fouls.

Highlights

• Yon's look on his face when he dropped the back when glancing off the pack
• Stu's laughter when he did the same
• Cossey's final black, cool as a cucumber
• Denis being first reserve, now primary defender of the faith
  

Lowlights

• Food again!
• Yon's look on his face when he dropped the back when glancing off the pack
• Stu's laughter when he did the same
• Cossey's final positional shot on the black leaving a very difficult black
  

Away versus BPC Clan 21/02/2007

The match started promisingly for bakers who raced to an early 3 -1 lead with a solid clearup by Stuart mcClemments playing in the number one slot, the strange contest between mitch and a player who could hardly stand due to drugs/alchohol/whatever, Mitch won by 8 balls carefully avoiding the swaying opponent, plus a very cool clearance from Tony Cossey when under pressure with two balls remaining. Peter 'plank' Kempster just failed to win in close frame and this week did not play his now weekly 'why the f**k did he screw that back shot'. In the close final frame Yon was being unfairly barracked by the opponents who were now a fully drunken mob fueled by wife beater lager , which lead to Yon unusually selecting trhe wrong shot to play and thus losing. Bakers slow start to the season must be taken in its context, in the fact the that our 1st two opponents were both relegated from the premiership last year

Highlights

• Steve Nunn turning up and luving everyone
• Nice food
• Full team thanks to Denis and Yon showing up at the last MO

Lowlights

• Barcelona getting beat on the wide screen by Liverpool
• Yon weeping at the end of the final frame (perhaps that was a highlight....vote please)

Bakers Fixtures Until Mid May

As a reference point here are the fixtures we have until Mid May 2007



Since so may teams dropped out last season we have a whole new range of luxuary pubs to visit, some require a Dinner Jacket for entry. Also this look a tough league this year, both Crown teams look good, both BPC teams look good and we always have problems with the Hope......lets hang tough, i don't think Wednesday will be typical......

• 21/02/2007 AWAY versus Barking Pool Club Clan
• 28/02/2007 HOME versus Dagenham Football Club
• 7/03/2007 HOME versus White Horse PH
• 14/03/2007 AWAY versus Admiral Vernon B
• 21/03/2007 HOME NO GAME BUT PRACTICE NIGHT
• 27/03/2007 CUP Game To Be Drawn
• 04/04/2007 AWAY versus Prince Albert PH
• 11/04/2007 HOME versus Hope 'A' PH
• 18/04/2007 AWAY versus Crown 'A' (not the jewels)
• 25/04/2007 HOME versus Barking Pool Club Goodfellows
• 02/05/2007 AWAY versus Grove Social
• 16/05/2007 HOME versus Grove Social
  
  

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Bakers Home Match versus Crown Jewels 14th Feb 2007

A depleted bakers squad had bad start to the season with an Eight Zero home defeat to the former premiership team the Crown Jewels, valentines day had taken its toll with all our best looking players having to service the army of women at their disposal. Although each frame was close the Crown Jewels were simply deadly with their final clearances, the only Bakers player to come close to winning was Tony Cossey who survived his opponent's 8 ball clearance attempt from the break, only to lose on a black ball game after an excellent snooker by the Jewels player.



Highlights

• Top drawer Kissing Luvin from half the squad
• Yon received his first ever Valentines card
• New Barmaid at the club

Lowlights

• El Niño year caused an eight zero defeat
  
  
• The table seemed to have developed some issues in the off season
• Dales unfortunate Triple in Off
• Tony's failure to close his frame
• The result

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Practice Night

There is a practice night at the Cue Ball Snooker center on Wednesday 20th of December 2006 starting at 07:30pm. A chnace to practice for the new season and have a first run at world rules in case this is the standard for next year.

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Update on Events

Well a few updates for the bakers, firstly Mitch was knocked out of the player of the year after drawing a tough 1st round opponent, however mitch was somewhat upset that he did not take the chances presented to him by the player from the chequers. Also we have found the Championship trophy from last year, all this time it was in the trophy cabinet at the cue abll, as homer would say DOH!

End of Year 2006

Well the end of season is here and all in all we can look at our year in division 1 as a mild success. With the three teams dropping out we managed to still finish two places above relegation and the top dogs of the promoted teams AND we finished above the Grove social by one point..... The bakers won 6 matches, drew 7 matches and lost 9 matches for a total of 25 points from 22 fixtures.see the full table here http://www.bdpldiv1.co.uk/ Some facts are that we drew with the second placed Chequer's twice, we drew and defeated the 4th placed Daggers, we also beat the 3rd placed goodfellows, so we had an effect on the league table at the top end and considering these teams finished so high in the league we know we can compete at this level with our best side out.

The final POY table was interesting, the pool team holiday seemed to cost Yon the title and i think that since he played number 1 for most of year he needs special praise. Mitch had another good year and edged out Yon in the last few games but he will agree his form was patchy at times but 44 points is great total in this league....Myself well i think missing 7 games cost me many points which may have made a big difference but spilt milf should not go on your cornflakes. Well done also to Scott Rose who is now really playing with some thought and poise, plus congratulations to Terry who made the 'iceman' tag his own this year....Dale had an amazing attendance to wins ratio helped us stay above the drop zone at crucial times, Stuart was strong in patches and made a great contribution to our results, Matt had an ok first years but can do better given his potting skills, Peter needs to play earlier i think....Dan was thrashed by Dennis which tells its own story...

POY Points
M.Dawson 45
S.Thomson 44
T.Cossey 37
S.Rose 36
T.Greenwood 29
D.Bennett 27
S.McClemments 27
M.Townsend 26
P.Kempster 23
D.Sheriden 17
D.Cooper 7

Entries to end of year events
POY - Mitch Dawson
Tom McTaggart - Yon
Delegates - Tony Cossey

Fixtures for the rest of the season

Guys,

Here are our remaining fixtures, the last 3 match reports i will publish this week in one post.

27th of Setpember
Home versus the Grove

4th of October
Away versus Barking FC

11th of October
Home versus the White Hart

18th of October
Away versus Dagenham FC

Pool Match 30th August 2006 Home Versus BPC Goodfellows

Bakers after nearly a month of blank fixtures returned with a great 5-3 win at home against high flying Goodfellows (4th in the league). The bakers position in the league was looking artifically bad given the bakers had lost points after 3 teams had withdrawn from the league, this leaving us 2nd bottom.

The evening kicked off badly as the doubles ended in defeat for Tony Cossey and Denis Sheriden, a poor safety shot costing the bakers badly. In frame one Tony Cossey went for a 7 ball clearance with the black tied up, however a great last 'red' pot & position to dislodge the black left Tony with a difficult 'blind' thin cut into the middle from around the black spot. Tony left the shot on the edge of the pocket and his opponent cleared the table nicely to win. Yon played well in the 2nd frame but let his opponent 'in' at the end of the frame for bad start to bakers home tie.

Matt Townsend pounced on a foul from his opponent and cleared from four balls out after a safety battle (nice clearance Matt), Terry did not play to his best and lost to a good player from BPC. Peter Kempster battled away and finally ended the the frame with another good clearance from the Bakers boys. Scott Rose kept control of his frame nicely and had all of his balls positioned well just waiting for a clearance opportunity. When the clearance arrived he left a very difficult last red , scott didnt rush the shot and finally played a thumping pot bringing the white round three cushions for a nice 'drop in' black, this made the score 4-3.

Mitch stepped up to the plate and made a great series of shots to leave a simple black which he lashed in to seal the win for bakers as the goodfellows had no 8th player (Big shout for Den for turning up and getting that 8th point). Mitch is now restoring his 'hero' reputation of last year....

This win ensured Bakers raced up the league to be in position 8 out of 11 remaining teams

Pool Match 26th July 2006 Home Versus BFSC

Bakers were hungry for revenge after an eight to nil defeat on BFSC's crown green bowls pool table earlier this year.

(see post http://bakerspool.blogspot.com/2006/03/match-report-march-3rd-away-versus.html)

The bakers opened the match with Danny and Denis in the doubles - Guess what.....

The first singles game resulted in another fine victory for Yon who took the first clearance opportunity available to win his frame at a canter. The next frame put Matt 'lightshade' Townsend in the spotlight, he changed his tactics slightly this week and took his time while considering his options and as a result closed down a victory. The highlight of the evening's break building followed, Tony Cossey produced a total 8 ball clearance directly after the opponents break off shot, absolutely god like (ok I do publish this blog so I must give myself some credit). This extended bakers lead to 3 frames to nil and our opponents were now on their heals. Scott Rose tried to push home the advantage after his opponent bungled a clearance attempt; however the frame ended in defeat after a weak safety shot. Mitch Dawson restored the bakers three frame advantage with his normal mix of pool skills and 'lady love', the opposition team did lodge a complaint about his shorts however. The ICEMAN Terry Greenwood entered the arena, however a close fought frame ended when he misjudged a cut in his intended clearance leaving his opponent to clear. Peter Kempster had suffered burns to his hands at work and played with bandages on the injuries which I am sure hampered his frame. Peter unfortunately lost a safety battle with his trademark 'mistake escaping a snooker', however this week he shocked us all by over hitting his snooker escape rather than the normal 1/2 an inch short effort. This left a tense last frame in prospect however Dale Bennett was well prepared (after several hours in a City pub) drinking a series of doubles at the bar. With his normal mixture of obscenities and ‘looks of disbelief’ to the heavens, he produced a decisive clearance with the thinnest of back ball cuts into the center pocket, revenge served cold one may comment after the 8 nil drubbing on the table of death earlier in the year.

Highlights
*Cossey hall of fame clearance
*Dales battle with 43 units of alchohol
*Yon's cool head
*Mitches shorts

Lowlights
*Peters hands and wrist's
*Iceman melting

Pool Match 19th July 2006 Away Versus Chequers

Bakers fought out hard fought 4-4 draw away at the high flying chequers, the first encounter this year ended in a similar result even though the teams are at opposite ends of the table. Another great opening by bakers to the match saw them establish a 3-1 lead by the halfway point, a cool clearance by Yon and an exceptionally casual 4 ball clearup in tough position by dale being the highlights. Scott Rose continued his good form by making a losing position into winning frame with a series of snooker escapes and good pots. Matt Townsend's opponent performed a miracle 6 ball clearance leaving Matt no chance in his frame. At position 6 was Terry 'The ICEMAN' Greenwood who produced the frame of the night to clear from 6 balls out (pausing several times to push his glasses back to the bridge of his nose) and secure the point for Bakers, this left Peter Kempster and Tony Cossey to secure the one frame needed for victory in the last two frames. Both frames were tight affairs with each going right down to the wire, Tony missed a the thinnest of cuts on the black, after over running a full table length positional shot. Peter in a nervy last frame missed another thin cut to leave his opponent a crucial pot on the black ball. The result could have been so much better but an away draw at the current league runners up was good result in the circumstances.

Highlights
*Yons new trousers, the last pair have retired after 65 years of service.
*Icemans clearance skills

Lowlights
*Pete
*Tony
*Pete again
*Tony again

Pool Match 11th July 2006 Home Versus Unicorn

Due to the away side not being to raise the required 5 players, Bakers enjoyed a walkover 8 - 0 home victory - Well turned up lads ! It Should be noted Yon had new trainers for the first time since the early 90's, his old ones have been donated to local asylum seekers as they had a family wedding to attend. 

League Table & POY Stats

Guys,

Here is the league table below, grim reading, we need to knuckle down. I think we should be more careful on a few things; Listed Below

(A) Snookers are cool if you are not going to clear up during your visit
(B) Getting the black should be your prime plan when ARE going to clear up, planning around that BEFORE you hit a ball is the key to the final visit (Having two visits in your pockets helps as well, see item 'A' above)
(C) To avoid nerves in your final visit, take your time to PLAN and THINK, PLUS try to 'stay in the moment' which means just take each shot like you were practicing and think ONLY about the shot, not the situation. Its tough to do, but planning and thinking will help the 'moment'. All you have to do in 'the moment' is Line up the shot, decide where you WANT the cue ball to finish, take your normal stance, aim at the spot on the cue ball you want to strike, push the cue thru straight and at the right pace THEN listen for the roar of your team :-)

We have 'chucked' several games this season where we have had leads and just let the game slip away, i fell into this trap at the white hart when i was thinking about my mum (in hospital) rather than the game and ended up potting too many reds from the break and spent the rest of the game looking at blocked pockets or snookers.

We either start pickup up points or its back to the 2nd division's venues.

League Table
Team (Points from 12 games)
1. Barking FC Carlings (28)
2. Chequers (26)
3. White Hart (23)
4. Cue Ball Daggers (23)
5. BPC Goodfellows (22)
6. Grove Social (18)
7. Dagenham FC (17)
8. Unicorn (15)
9. Barking FSC (10)
10. Cue Ball Bakers (10)
11. Roundhouse (8)
12. Admiral Vernon B (6)
13. Jolly Fisherman (2)
14. Beacon (withdrawn from league hence their results are void)

My conference calls in work last week cost me the lead in the POY, which is a good thing as we ALL need to try and win this, which will improve GAME results overall. Yon is doing REALLY well (luck) as he is playing at the tough number one slot, i have been picking myself against the top opposition players from the published stats (so pat on the back for me). Mitch is picking up his form now he has adjusted his cue, stuart keeps on grinding, Matt should read point C above, Dale turning up normally means he wins, terry is iceman status is melting so come on tel, scott is dropping away so we need to get jody to kick his backside, Denis and Danny should consider an alternative hobby :-) Peter just needs to stop trying to screw or swerve the cue ball on EVERY visit :-)

POY Stats for Bakers
1. Yon (27)
2. Tony (me)(24)
3. Mitch (20)
4. Stuart Mac (17)
5. Scott (16)
6. Terry (15)
7. Dale (12)
8. Matt (10)
9. Peter (9)
10. Denis (8)
11. Danny (5)

Match 21st of June 2006 Away versus White Hart

This match report is little late, the night before the match my mother suffered a stroke, i had spent most of the previous night in the local hospital's A&E, my brain was somewhat scrambled and all i really remember is that i lost my frame thru not really having my mind on the job at hand, we won the doubles and we lost 6-2. I will be back to form this week - Apologies, Tony Cossey

No Match on wednesday

Quick post to remind everyone there is no match this week.

Match Report, League Match, June 7th 2006 Home versus BFC (3-5)

The bakers were defeated at 3-5 home by the high flying barking football club who are positioned in second spot in the league table. The bakers made the worst start possible by losing the opening three frames, the reliable 'recovery kid' Steve Thomson was beaten in the tense opener followed by a grinding loss by current form player Stuart McClemments. This left the pressure on Mitch Dawson, who was clearly disappointed when his opponent sunk the eight ball after mitches series of poor shots. Dale Bennett stepped up to the 'plate' and with the pressure on, left his opponent with a series of tricky snookers and timed his clearance attempt well to win. Tony Cossey, leading the bakers player of the year competition made bad start to his frame playing a carelessly to give his opponents a foul when playing a 'tuck' snooker. However seizing his opportunity when it came, a determined 6 ball clearance closed the frame out.

This left the score a tense 2-3 to BFC, Matt Townsend, the new player in the bakers squad this year, played 3 nervy attempts at relatively simple clearances (given his 'off the lampshade' potting skills). The frame ended in disaster when he missed a fourth chance giving his opponent a very unlikely win. Scott Rose in the 7th frame played a waiting game as his opponent twice went on ill advised potting spree's, his opponents last visit leaving a near impossible black ball, however with a full table length 'snick' he managed to get the 8 ball and with it the match. Peter Kempster made short work of the final frame with a nice clearance and managed to include his now customary maximum screw shot, however Bakers already had conceded the 5 frames of shame which makes a defeat inevitable.

Highlights
* Cossey clearance
* Bennett Swearing
* Kempster Screwy swerving
* Iron Maiden tunes
* Keeping a spare table open

Lowlights
* Losing when we could have won
* Iron Maiden tunes (for everyone else apart from Tony, Pete & Dale)

Match Report, League Match, May 24th 2006 Home versus Cue Ball Daggers (4-4)

Cue ball bakers home match versus our local venue rivals cue ball daggers ended in a 4 all draw. The early frame lead taken by Bakers of 4 to zero, left their leader of the player stats, Tony Cossey, needing to win to secure a winning lead approaching the 5th frame. However an uncharacteristic mistake in the weight of the shot when playing the simplest of ‘roll up’ snookers, let his opponent in to make the clearance with 2 shots with the frame at Cossey’s mercy given his clearance form this year. This undid the hard work put in by Steve Thomson, Stuart McClements, Dale Bennett and Matt townsend.

The opening frames involved a great win by Stuart McClemments outplaying, in a ‘grinding’ frame, the leading player of the opponents, a difficult black again proving ice water course through his veins. Dale Bennett on the comeback trail after a back problem played a cool tactical frame to close out with a simple but well executed 4 ball clearance. The newest player in the team, Matt Townsend broke his duck by winning his first game with his ‘pot them off the light shade’ style. Steve Thomson continued his run of good fortune by again winning after his opponent missed a clearance with 2 shots.

Things now swung against bakers in the match after the now infamous Captain Cossey mistake, Scott Rose was beaten, a mistake by Mitch lead to another defeat, all the pressure now on our number 8 Peter Kempster. In perhaps one of the most bizarre mistakes ever seen, Peter on his 2nd visit after a fould by his opponent played the wrong colour, mistaken that he was that nomination of colour. This gifted the frame to undoubtedly the opponents worst player, Peter had just come off a long shift and only tiredness and a thick skull can be blamed the final frame debacle. Jesus Plank……

Highlights
Dales return and win
Stuarts continued hitman attitude
Yons luck
Matts virginity being broken
Winning the doubles with Terry Greenwood and Tony Cossey after an opponent fouled a yellow with his cue but did not call the foul on the blind side of the ref

Lowlights
Cossey inexplicable mistake
Mitch and the twitch
Peter and Stella

Match Report, League Match, May 17th 2006 Away versus Admiral Vernon

Cue Ball Bakers suffered an away defeat last night at the hands of opponents near the relegation zone of our own league division 1. Unlike the champions league final which was showing on the pub’s TV, this game was over long before the end. Playing with just 7 team members in this away venue should not have presented a problem as our league position dictated this should have been an ‘away’ win.

The evening started well with Yon & myself playing in the doubles, myself going for a clearance after our opponents break only to see the last ‘thin cut’ yellow lip out leaving a perfect black begging to be potted. However our opponents did not take advantage, they to attempted to clear when clearly a set of snookers would have been the best tactic, a clever Snooker from Yon after the opponents bungled clearance attempt left me a simple black to drop in.

Peter Kempster lost the first singles in a tight frame which came down both players conjuring up a series of touch snookers with just one red and the black left. The frame could have gone either way but Peter used his patented ‘touch of a hippo’ to leave his last safety short and leave an easy clearance. The opponent bungled the 2 shots on black and another tense series of shots left Peter’s opponent a shot on the back which he finally potted.

Yon in frame two played a frame based on his normal ‘waiting game’ which paid dividends with a 4 ball clearance with 2 shots. Stuart McClemments run of good form continued as he played a tactical frame to always keep the advantage with himself and keep his opponent on the back foot. This resulted in an almost inevitable victory with a straight black.

The shot of the night came from Mitch Dawson in the next frame with a 3 ball combination shot to start his clearance attempt to much praise in the pub. However in totally uncharacteristic form he missed two attempts at his last red to leave his opponent to clear, sleepless nights all round with that frame will be had. The Bakers newest player, Matt Townsend again put a impressive potting display together only again to be foiled by a tactical player blocking pockets, his slumped to a second defeat and again learned some lessons on league pool tactics.

This left the frame score at 3-2 to the Admiral Vernon, as we had no 8th player, we knew this was in effect 4-2, thus we needed the last two frames from Terry Greenwood and myself to draw.

Terry in his frame made a gallant clearance attempt to find his last red knocked onto the cushion by his previous shot, once he missed that ball, a series of snooker’s lead to his defeat and the bakers match loss, this leaving me to play the 7th frame with only pride at stake. My frame was a drawn out affair as the black was tied up early but with myself always keeping the advantage with some excellent touch snookers, the frame was decided once I snookered my opponent behind the black hiding his three yellows, with two shots I easily cleared to remain top of the teams singles averages.

All in all a bad 3-5 defeat, this left a bad taste in the mouth as we played one player short, not helped by the matched coinciding with the televised champions league final.

Highlights
•Arsenal losing in the last 5 minutes (sorry gunners)

Lowlights
•Our spare players watching the football instead of playing.
•Chelsea not beating Barca in the first place

Match Report, League Match, May 3rd 2006 Home versus Roundhouse

The bakers pool team fought out a close home victory last night against the roundhouse public house. A lucky start by bakers was welcomed by the home side, in which bakers found ourselves two frames up. A great frame from Stuart, but a very lucky mishit ‘round the table’ 8 ball resulted in a win and Yon capitalising on his opponent not taking advantage of very simple chance to win opened the account in frame one. By the halfway stage bakers lead 3 – 1 after mitch won his frame with his usual cool clearance and peter was the victim of losing a frame from a winning position by failing to clear when the opportunity came his way. This lead to our new player Matt Townsend’s chance to impress his new bakers team mates, his potting was impressive but his opponent managed to win through a solid tactical performance leaving Matt without an chance to clear by trapping a red ball over a covered pocket. Scott lost the next frame to the opponents leading player in the league averages, being out played with a tactical game and clearance. This left the match at a tense 3 – 3 frame score with just myself and terry left to play. My frame resulted in a win and a nice clearance from 4 yellows out, although the black was harder than it should have been. Terry closed the match with extended 8th frame but played through the nerves to pot a cool black to clinch a much needed home win.

Highlights
2 lucky opening frames!
Mitch’s & Tony’s clearances
Terry the iceman!
Matts promising start

Lowlights
The table having the slowest playing surface ever at our home venue!

Player of The Year Current Standings including Last Night
T.Cossey 19 points
S.Thomson 17
M.Dawson 15
T.Greenwood 15
Stuart ‘Mac’ 9

UPCOMING MATCHES

All team members please note: Below is our next series of fixtures, this takes us to the halfway stage of the league. Lets go win these!

3rd of May 2006 - HOME versus the Roundhouse PH
17th of May 2006 - AWAY versus the Admiral Vernon B
24th of May 2006 - HOME versus Cue Ball daggers (LOCAL DERBY!)
31st of May 2006 - AWAY versus Grove Social
7th of June 2006 - HOME versus Barking Football Club
21st of June 2006 - AWAY versus White Hart
28th of June 2006 - HOME versus Dagenham Football Club

Match Report, League Match, April 19th 2006 Away versus BPC Goodfellows

Cue ball bakers were unlucky to suffer a 6-2 league defeat away to the Barking Pool Club Goodfellows, the match revolved around three pivotal games which could have swung the result in the bakers favour. The matches of Terry, Scott and Mitch in slots 4,5 and 6 could have easily resulted in bakers wins which would have turned the result on its head. Another factor was Danny’s 'in off' the last ball in his match at slot 2, his opponent had already suffered the same type of error which evened up the luck. The two leaders of the respective teams player of year competitions clashed at slot 7, with myself (tony Cossey) being victorious after a long series of snookers leading to a foul by my opponent which gave me two shots to clear the table with.

Highlights
*Tony clearing the table with a 8 ball clearance in the doubles after the opposing pair fouled from the break – Sorry you did not get a shot dennis!

*Stuarts ‘iron balls’ clearance of the last 4 reds and the black to win his game

*Tony’s win after keeping his opponent tied down with a series of full table length ‘off the cushion’ snookers

Lowlights
*Yon being unlucky for a change in the number one slot after a very tactical frame.

*Peter’s opponent at number 8 being a good potter but lousy positional player. Actually he produced a great black ball pot to win.

* Close losses for Mitch, Terry and Scott

Match Report March 29th 2006 "CUP MATCH" Away versus Unicorn

A much depleted Bakers side were bundled out the cup early this year, with only 6 players available in a 'first to five' format, an upset was unlikely against a side playing in last years premiership. Bakers in the league game, a few weeks earlier, played well to draw 4-4 at this venue, but without a full side, a win in the cup seemed unlikely.

The opening was promising with Yon winning well but losses by Scott Rose, on a disputed ref's decision. Then before scotts loss, myself losing after being in control of a frame then leaving a crucial 'goalkeeping' shot short, allowing my opponent to clear, resulted in bakers being out. We could only afford to lose one game with our depleted squad and the two defeats left us out after only three games

The bakers were out before we had started, which left the team with somewhat of an empty feeling as we could have been three fames up rather than 2-1 down given how the opening frames shaped up. The rest of the games were played as friendlies so both we and our opponents were able to get a frame on the night.

Highlights
* Yon's calm clearance
* Great food from our hosts

Lowlights
* ref's unusually keen eyesight in Scotts game
* My unusually bad goalkeeping shot (given my good form this year)
* Amazingly lucky shot from dales opponent in the 'friendly' frames. With just one red and the black left, the black being on the very edge of a corner pocket. The opponent missed his long red leaving the white racing around the table, the white then coming to rest next to dales black, leaving no pot. Lucky Boy.