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
  
  

powered by performancing firefox

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

powered by performancing firefox

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.

powered by performancing firefox

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.

Match Report March 22nd 2006 Away versus Beacon Public House

Bakers managed another away victory this week against a strong Beacon team who finished only 5 points adrift of our championship winning points tally last year. On slow but straight table Bakers relied on some strong play and a little luck here and there to sneak an away win at a tough venue.

Highlights
* Denis Sheriden’s outstanding play at number one slot, Denis will admit he is not our best player, simply produced the best frame I have seen him play to lose a very tight frame on the last couple of balls.
* Dan Cooper’s higher than normal slot in the order resulted in him clearing up from 4 balls out, including clever use of an opponents covering ball to free the black.
* Scott Rose normally incisive play was replaced this week with a long thoughtful style, his snookers at the end and cool head lead to him beating one of the Beacons best players
* Terry Greenwood once more out thought and out fought his strong opponent, however his opponent leaving the last black on edge of the middle pocket helped him to a usful but fortunate win
* Tony Cossey’s cool clearance from 6 balls out to beat the beacon captain (a women so it does not really count – very PC NOT)
* Yon winning the last game against the drunkest bloke in Dagenham, IE Lucked out again.

Lowlights
* Peter Kempster’s ability to keep ending up less than an inch from the object ball in his frame.
* Mitches miscue in his tight frame while in a Chinese snooker AND a normal snooker, so I will think we will let him off.

The bakers are having a good start to the season if all keep performing or being lucky like yon I can see us ending up in the top places once more.

Pool Fixtures for the Next Few Weeks

Pool fixtures on the Horizon
22/3/2005 vs Beacon away
29/3/2006 Cup match vs Drawn opponents (Our 'bye' needs confirming)
05/4/2006 No game
12/4/2006 No game (singles & pairs competetion see me for entry forms)
19/4/2006 vs BPC Goodfellows (Venue to be confirmed)
26/4/2006 Cup match vs Drawn opponents
02/5/2006 vs Roundhouse home

Lets win them all :-) and have a practice night for the NO GAMES

I have spoken with the league official today as i did not collect our fixture list last week and i don't know which fixture we have on Wednesday. I think we are at home......i will send a sms/txt regarding this when i get the information tonight.

Second thing, after talking to the jolly fisherman captain last week and their experiences with the barking supporters club 'bent' table. I mentioned this fact to our league 1 rep Jamie Joyes, he will keep an eye on the situation but will be talking to other league officials about a course of action should the jolly fisherman confirm our feelings on the playing environment

Match Report March 8th 2006 Away versus Jolly Fisherman

The Bakers had an away victory last night at the Jolly Fisherman PH Barking, one of our rivals from last years championship winning run, the 6-2 win was a great result given we played with only 7 players. The whole team played well with only Dennis Sheriden losing his match, however the match was closer than the score suggests.

Highlights
* Tony's delicate snooker with only 4 balls on the table to get the advantage in frame one
* Terry's potting with his new cue!
* Scott Rose's skillful tactics and deadly potting to be beat their player of the year
* Stuarts form
* yons luck once more :-)
* Mitch and his waiting game

Lowlights
* Slightly slow playing surface
* Champions league soccer on the projection TV over the table (well done Arsenal)
* Danny watching the soccer at home instead of playing :-)

All in all better than last weeks drubbing.

Match Report March 3rd Away versus Barking Supporters Club

This match was an absolute disaster, the home sides table was clearly out of line and this was a major influence on the match result. Bakers had our worst defeat ever inflicted on us and went home with our tails between our legs after an 8-0 drubbing (plus a loss in the doubles). I complained to home captain and his 'spirit level' was worse than useless at showing how out of line the table was, in fact is was more of a way of avoiding arguments than lining up the table. Underthe table was a trolly, this shows that the table has to be moved regularly, we know from the old may & baker club this leads to a very low quality playing environment unless you spend an hour adjusting the table prior to the game.

On a shot weighted to travel from baulk cushion to baulk cushion, the cue ball would roll offline by at least the width of two cue balls. The very existence of a spirit level alone shows the table was suspect, the only way to line a table up is by eye and via playing shots across the table diagonally and along the spots. All this sounds like sour grapes but the whole match turned into a joke as the home team obviously were used to playing crown green bowls.

The only player to come near winning was Scott Rose who managed to double the black and was unfortunate enough to knock in a opponents red as the cue ball rebounded off the cushion. My own memory of the game will be the snooker i played when in complete control of my opponent, watching the ball start online and then curve directly into the middle pocket avoiding contact with my red will live with me for some time.

Highlights
* NONE

Lowlights
* Everything

Can everyone post an opinion on if we should register a complaint or not? My vote is NO as it will be viewed as sour grapes and effectively nothing can be done by the league anyway. It reminded me of the home table at the old may and baker club :-( Lets beat them 8-0 on the return fixture.

Match Report February 22nd Home versus Chequers

The first home match of the season turned into classic encounter with outstanding play from both the 'bakers' and the visitors. The match ended in a 4-4 draw with the advantage swinging each way with each game played, Terry Greenwood managed to register his first win for the team, Mitch and myself winning with 5 ball and 6 ball clearances respectively, plus Yon getting a walkover for game 8. Good performances from Peter Kempster & Scott Rose went unrewarded as their opponents played outstandingly well to win. Mitch Dawson & myself (Tony Cossey) managed to lose the pairs game after our opponents doubled the black after a rather weak positional shot left them snookered on the black during their clearance attempt.

Highlights
* Terry's nerve jangling 3 ball clearance to win his game
* Terry's 1st three visits being made with no tip on his cue without realising!
* Mitches clearance under pressure due to his opponents balls being set in an easy position
* My (Tony Cossey) win after being faced with the black over the edge of a pocket after my opponents opening visit and clearance of his 7 reds.
* My (Tony Cossey) 3rd last pot, in the final 6 ball clearance, over the the length of the table along the cushion to leave one yellow and the black over the pockets, known as a 'career' visit....... to win was sweet.
* yons opponent staying at home to give us a walkover at game 8.

Lowlights
* danny having to play the chequers player of the year last year, good play from Danny just seemed to spur on their best player.
* Denis going in off to leave an easy clearance for his opponent
* Food supplied by qball
* bad referee making bad decisions, IE an opposing player ref calling his own player for a foul that never was, he still overcame danny with some great play. Also the ref failed to make any of the standard calls required as this also confused the players.

Please Note; All our membership cards are now ready for collection at qball.

Match Report Wednesday 15th of February AWAY v Unicorn;

The bakers debut this year in league division1 resulted in in a 4-4 draw away to the Unicorn. The unicorn dropped out the premiership last year after relegation and were always going to be a tough test. The match was made harder when only 7 out of 8 required players were available, however a fast start by Yon, Scott and Mitch gave us a 3-1 lead, i as the captain managed to secure the 4th game when playing in slot 6.

The bakers highlights of the evening included;
* total eight ball clearance by Mitch - Great potting, positional play and a cool head
* Scott Rose keeping his cool and producing outstanding pots to get the last 4 balls in his game.
* Yon's luck holding out :-)
* My 'punched' yellow to drop perfectly on the black during the final visit

Lowlights
* My first attempted clearance in my win
* Terry's attempted snooker in game 7
* Denis's unfortunate foul which lead to him losing
* Dan's in off via opponents ball
* Yon's shot selection on his clearance (outstanding recovery to win however - check your shoes)
* attendance as a team

Tonights match is at home versus the chequers PH, due to my holiday break in could only publish this match report today, the next report will appear tomorrow.

Fixtures for the first 4 weeks of the 2006 pool season

Week 1 - Weds 15th February 2006 @820pm - Venue Unicorn PH
Week 2 - Weds 22nd February 2006 @820pm - Venue HOME v Chequers PH
Week 3 - Weds 1st of March 2006 @820pm - Venue Barking Supporters Club
Week 4 - Weds 8th of March 2006 @820pm - Venue Jolly Fisherman PH

We are short on player numbers this year and need all the support we can get from our squad, if you can make it to games then please do so, i am adding to the current squad numbers so this situation will not last forever. After last years championship victory we need to make extra effort this year to maintain our form

Snooker Billiards Pool

PLAYERS! Practice tonight at the cue ball snooker center in wantz lane at 8pm, last chance we may have to hone our skills prior to the start of the new season.

I will be ringing you all over the next few days to ensure i get the player registration forms completed for the next pool league meeting this week. Plus we are desperate for new players, all suggestions welcome, we have only added to our numbers by one so far....after our championship victory last year it would be a disaster not to followup with another good season, so lets all have a think about who you know and if they would fit in the team.

Also i have now created a 'feedburner' site for the pool team blog for those of you who cant get to the http://bakerspool.blogspot.com originating blog site. The feedburner URL is Below, i will be publishing fixture/player-availability details with venue google map references for each game on Mondays via the feed/blog, any more ideas on blog content please fire back to me

http://feeds.feedburner.com/MayBakerPoolTeamBlog

We can earn money for the team by publicising our blog to friends and family, feedburner allows you to earn cash by embedding single google adsense adverts in each blog post. I know someone who earned £300 in one year for the clubs coffers by putting his hockey club blog (what a poof) on the web with google adsense driven advertising with clickthru revenue see (www.google.co.uk/adsense). Weekly fixture/results/match reports on the blog drove the clubs circle of contacts to the site, lets try the same and try to earn enough money for an end of year beano. I have already created a adsense login so watch this space for details

Can all players who have not signed up this year and want to participate,
please email me to arrange signing this years player roster ASAP. We
are a little short at the moment of the 12 players we need, so
suggestions on new players please. Also please welcome Mitches father,
Terry, to our pool team illuminati as he has agreed to play this year.

Email me via tonycossey at gmail.com (- this type of notation should prevent spammers harvesting my email address from this blog with their pesky email harvest robots).

End of 2005 Season Photos, taken with Sony Ericsson Phone w800i in low light!

Ok i screwed up, we missed the off season league by two weeks, apologies to all those who wanted to partake --- DOH! The other news is that this saturday (17/12/2005 @8pm) is the end of season dinner dance, we will receive our trophies for winning the league championship and finishing runners up in the doubles.

Last night Cue Ball Bakers clinched runners up spot in the league doubles competition by beating the matapan public house in a playoff match. The playoff format dictated that each side enter 3 doubles pairs to play at the Barking Pool Club, the bakers pairings were as follows.

Match 1 = Mitch Dawson & Scott Davis
Match 2 = Peter Kempster & Yon Thomson
Match 3 = Tony Cossey & Scott Rose

In match one, the bakers players took an early advantage after the matapan potted too many reds from the break. Mitch and Scott gave the Matapan a late clearance opportunity but they failed to capitalise leaving Scott Davis to pot a smooth long range black ball along the cush.

In match two the frame developed into a safety exchange initially, Peter and Yon playing a series of tactical shots to claim pockets. In the later stages the Matapan were the first to attempt a clearup but this left Yon a clearance in return. Showing his ability to perform under pressure Yon potted the remaining three balls to close the frame and the playoff.

Well Done boys!

Champions !

This week the Cue Ball Bakers pool team had confirmation that we are Barking & Dagenham Pool League 2nd Division Champions. This is the first honour won by the team and we are scheduled to collect our Trophy on the 17th of December 2005 at the annual dinner. Well done to everyone in the team and lets keep up the winning habit.

PLEASE NOTE; We have a playoff for the doubles trophy runners up spot with the Matapan PH on Wednesday 9th of Novmeber 2005 @Barking Pool Club 8pm.

Below are a few facts and figures about the 2005 season.

1. Our Record - Played 23 games, won 14 games, drew 5 games and lost 4 games. This giving us a 47 point total, 2 points clear of the runners up (Roundhouse PH). We as a team won 108 frames and lost 76 frames

2. Squad Records (3 points for win, 1 for for attending a match and losing)

#Mitch Dawson 55 points
#Scott Davis 52 points
#Yon Thomson 46 points
#Peter Kempster 42 points
#Tony Cossey 41 points
#Scott Rose 38 points
#Denis Sheriden 29 points
#Stuart McClemments 29 points
#Dan Cooper 23 points
#Dale Bennett 16 points
#Jim Walker 4 points
#Dave balding 1 points

3. Odds & Sods

#BEST Win = 7-1 v Jolly Fisherman PH
#Worst Defeat = 2-6 v Admiral Vernon Metros
#Only team to beat us home & away were the Admiral Vernon Metro's (6-2 & 5-3). The metro's team finished 9th out of 12 in our league!
#when playing the runners up, the roundhouse PH, we managed a 5-3 win at home and a draw away.

The cue ball bakers played the final two fixtures of the league season in one week due to a game postponement. Both games, versus the BPCL and Barking Supporters Club, ended in 4-4 draws. This was somewhat of a anti climax given the stella performances against the Beacon and Jolly Fisherman public houses. However on the plus side both bakers doubles partnerships won both games in the doubles competition which gives us a chance of winning the title in that league also. The Bakers await the final league tables to see if they have clinched the league title for the first time in their history. Double partnerships named below.

BPCL = Dan Cooper and Peter Kempster
Barking Supporters = Dale Bennett and Mitch Dawson

Game Postponment; The game this week has been postponed due the opposition not being able to field a team due to the england qualifier versus poland and holidays. A recent league ruling allows teams to move games when there is an england soccer match. All this means there are now TWO games next week on TUESDAY 18th October 2005 (HOME) and WEDNESDAY 19th October 2005 (AWAY v Barking USC)

Cue Ball Bakers stormed to another win in the second top of the table clash in consecutive matches. The Beacon public house, positioned 2nd in the league, were defeated 6-2 away by the 'bakers boys' in a match of several tight frames. Both Yon and myself won at the top of the card, Yon winning with an impressive clearance in the opening frame, myself edging out my opponent with a clever snooker 'behind the 8 ball' giving me 2 visits to pot the black. The home team fought back to make it two frames each only for Scott 'the dog', Mitch and Stuart to close the match out with strong performances. The final frame of the evening being a walkover as the home side only had 7 players. This leaves the cue ball bakers 8 points clear of the beacon and 5 points clear of the Jolly Fisherman depending on the result the jolly fisherman had on wednesday this could leave the Cue Ball Bakers as champions with two games remaining.

There have been some problems displaying the new BLOG format via the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser.

The sidebar on the right drops to the bottom of the page, this is caused by problem described in the following blog;

http://jonaquino.blogspot.com/2005/03/fixing-float-drops-in-blogger.html

I am going to try and adjust the blog so it does display correctly however users may find a better (and safrer) all round web experience by using the free browsers below.

Firefox - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Opera - http://www.opera.com/
Netscape - http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/

Bakers Strong Showing

Last night Cue Ball Bakers surged to dominating 7-1 home win against the Jolly Fisherman public house. Bakers made strong start which seemed to inspire the whole team to win close frames all the way down the card. With their strongest 8 players on show bakers needed a good result to keep their hopes of promotion alive and retain 2nd spot in the league.

Last night we managed a 4 all draw against the Matapan away, i think the quick table and generous pockers caught out our first couple of players, i missed the 8-ball on the clearance and had to pot the black as the last ball of the game after a series of snookers. However another point in the bag!

Just to try and drum up some interactivity on the blog, (i blame myself for not advocating this facility well enough), i am going to ask everyone at the match tonight to email me at tonycossey@gmail.com to request a login and start putting some content on the blog. I am starting by publishing results each thursday with a match report......a bit more dedication on updating this blog from me would go a long way i am sure.

League Fixtures 2005 - Cue Ball Bakers UK 8 Ball Pool Team

11/05/2005	Singles/Pairs
18/05/2005	Admiral Vernon Simms	Away
25/05/2005	Matapan	Home
01/06/2005	Jolly Fisherman	Away
08/06/2005	Beacon	Home
15/06/2005	Singles/Pairs
22/06/2005	BPC Ladies	Away
29/06/2005	Barking Football Supporters	Home
06/07/2005	@Barking PH	Home
13/07/2005	Singles/Pairs
20/07/2005	Dagenham WMC	Away
27/07/2005	Admiral Vernon Metros	Home
03/08/2005	Unicorn B	Away
10/08/2005	White Horse	Home
17/08/2005	Roundhouse	Away
24/08/2005	Bull	Home
31/08/2005	Red Lion	Home
07/09/2005	England Qualifier
Thurs 08/09/2005	Hope	Away
14/09/2005	Admiral Vernon Simms	Home
21/09/2005	Matapan	Away
28/09/2005	Jolly Fisherman	Home
05/10/2005	Beacon	Away
Tues 11/10/2005	BPC Ladies	Home
12/10/2005	England Qualifier
19/10/2005	Barking Football Supporters	Away

Another morning in the city of London completed, its seems UK interest rates are kept on hold at 4.75% by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee which normally points to a slowing economy. .....see how boring the city is.....anyway on with the pool. Check out these links for the new season...

http://www.epa.org.uk
http://www.wepf.org
http://www.professionalpool.org

We have been asked by the league if any of the team would like to join a league 'task force' to review the rules we play this year with a view to changing next year, just shout up......the rules are on the EPA website above. TONY

Ok Guys as you can see i have been playing around with some of the photo facilities, to test a few of bloggers features. It all works very well......On a sporting note; Would anyone like to practice next week at the CueBall? We should all get some practice in on the new tables, nice, straight and fast with pockets that can't be mistaken for buckets like at the previous venue.....

Picture(12)

Picture(12)
Originally uploaded by tcossey.

Photo from my camera phone, pool teamsters can upload photos too by sending them to me.

Well guys here is the new season, we are registered with the league and have a new venue as per my email today , please email me at tony.cossey@gtcibrokers.com or tony@tonycossey.nildram.co.uk for a login to this BLOG

New team for this year is as follows in no particular order;
1. Peter Kempster 2. Steve Thomson 3. Tony Cossey 4. Denis Sheridan 5. Scott Rose 6. Scott Davis 7. Dale Bennett 8. Dave Balding 9. Mitchel Dawson 10. Stuart McClements 11. Dan Cooper 12. SPARE (Bomber, Gordon, Stumpy, Ash could play here.)

Quick couple of notes about last night, it seems the league will have a new results system next year and we will be able to SMS results in, its all going to be chaos i feel as no format has been agreed and i cant see the results guys have the mobile phone number of every team captain in his phonebook. Thus he will get about 300 texts with just 5-3 and nothing else.....time will tell.

Tony.C.

Well here it is the first post on the may and baker pool team blog, mostly this blog will interest team members and allow the trials and tribulations of a hectic 2004 season to be documented. Content here will include team match reports and general opinion on the seasons events........enjoy.