Foresters Arms Pool Team

Oh dear!! I think that is the best way to describe last nights efforts. A much improved Social Club team and a Foresters team who took its eye off the ball meant that this was yet another disappointing night of pool for us.

Bad luck and unfortunate mistakes meant that the Social Club team had it a lot easier than they should have. We really should have beaten them. Instead, we let them play the way they wanted to and they took the initiative away from us.

A good first showing by Martin, playing in his first match for us, but disappointing play from others.

Onwards and upwards, we're against the Hobby Horse A team at home at the Foresters next week. Let's hope we can stop the rot!!

Keep smiling

Sue  

Well, what can I say?

I guess we went into this match already defeated as we knew that this team had played in Division 2 last season and so had more or less convinced ourselves that they were going to beat us anyway. Wrong attitude I know, but there you go.

Everyone in the team could have done better. Flash was Foresters player of the night as he was the only one to win 2 games, and Sue had a long, drawn out technical game as her first one which she eventually took from her opponent.

Even though every one could have played better, we also had a lot of bad luck with shots that on any other night, at any other table, we would have got.

Let's take nothing away from The Jebbends. Every member of their team played extremely well. There wasn't anyone that you could say didn't play well. Definitely no weak links in their team!

Oh well, time to look forward; we play Williton Sports Club next week and hopefully a victorious night for us will ensue.

Keep smiling.

Sue  

What can I say about the first game of the night?? Our first 7-ball game in our competitive history... Bob was kept off the table by his opponent after a break by Bob left all the balls nicely placed with nothing going down off of it. This allowed Bob's opponent to the table and it was time for Bob to pull up a chair and wait to shake hands at the end of the game. Unfortunate for Bob, but if you can't get to the table, you can't pot any balls.

After that unfortunate start, things picked up and we went a couple of games in front. By the halfway mark, things had looked in our favour for the win. Then started the come back from the Rude Not To's. They seemed to get a new lease of life after going 1-5 down, and we seemed to take our eye off the game which let them back into it. Several close games later and the score was tied at 5-5.

Things evened up for the next couple of games with the score going 5-6, 6-6, 6-7. Then Flash played possibly the best game of his season to win the night for us, taking the score to 6-8. With the night won, the last game was played in a certain amount of a relaxed atmosphere, and the most successful Anchor player won his third game of the night making the final score 7-8.

As always, a thoroughly enjoyable night of pool at the Anchor in Watchet, and we look forward to playing them again later in the season on our home table.

Keep smiling.

Sue   

Well, what can we say; another great night for the team, with everyone playing some great pool and enjoying themselves to give us the second win of the season to even things up nicely on the score board.

Unfortunately for the Hobby Horse, they arrived at the Foresters a player down but they hoped he may appear later. We were happy to start playing and wait to see if their fifth player turned up before claiming the three games as automatic wins.

Ash was keen to play the first game, and what a game it was. Playing a slow and methodical game, thinking about every shot before taking it, it was like she was a different player. The game was won fair and square and her opponent was left with balls on the table as Ash sank the black. Another boost to her confidence, and a great way to start the night for the team.

This was followed up by Wayne who was able to play for his first match of the season. Always a player who can put a string of shots together, Wayne methodically put ball after ball down to sink the black with a confident shot. 2-0 the Foresters!

Debs was up next and although she started well, once again she was beaten to the black; although allowance could be made for the fact she wasn?t feeling 100% on the night.

Eddie took the initiative again in the forth game and extended our lead again. Unfortunately Steve couldn?t keep the momentum going and the Hobby Horse were able to pull back another game to bring the score to 3-2.

Another win then another loss by Sue & Flash respectively, saw the gap stay the same. Wayne then Eddie both won their second games of the night to increase the lead to 6-3. Ash then had her second game and after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, she was able to get her second win of the night out of the way. Once again, Steve was unable to capitalise on things as the score line became 7-4 although not because he was playing poorly, but he was just unlucky with some of his shots and his opponent had the better run of the balls. Only one more win needed to secure the night, even without the forfeited games.

It was Debs up next and what followed was a nice relaxed game which didn?t show any signs of pressure. A convincing win for Debs, with several of her opponents balls left on the table brought the score to 8-4 at the end of actual play. With Sue, Flash and Ash down to play the last three games of the night for the Foresters, they were each awarded a win as the last Hobby Horse player failed to turn up so those games were forfeited.

A successful night for the team, but for Ash in particular who had a 100% record for the night (along with Wayne, Eddie & Sue) and hopefully a huge boost to her confidence which she will hopefully carry with her when we play the Anchor Rude Not To?s next week.

Congratulations the Foresters, let?s keep it up!

Keep smiling.

Sue  

Our first win of the season! A nail biter which saw the match going right down to the last game to decide the night, played and won by Eddie Maddock (although he did give his team mates some questionable moments!)

Bob, Eddie & Steve all played well winning all of their games. Aaron B was able to join the team for this match and was able to add to the winning tally, with Sue & Flash making up the other winning games.

Unfortunately Ash wasn?t able to capitalise on her win the previous week, but played some sterling pool never the less. Another unfortunate player was Debs with all of her games being snatched away from her grasp at the last moment. Still waiting for her fist win of the season, Debs is playing some solid pool but just not able to make it past the winning line.

Another enjoyable night of pool, made all the sweeter by getting our first win out of the way sooner rather than later.

Let?s hope we can keep the momentum going and carry the winning streak onto our next game in a fortnight; it?s cup matches next week and we have a bye so a week off for the team.

Keep smiling

Sue  

Unfortunately we were thoroughly out played on this occasion. It didn?t seem to matter what we did or how we played, we just couldn?t get the balls down the pockets. On the few occasions we did manage it, it was a struggle or it was a gift from the Berts with an unlucky pot of the black ball early.

The only real plus point to come out of this match was Ashleigh got her first competitive win under her belt. It was a good game and went right down to the black, with Ash coming back from behind to pull off some pretty decent shots and giving her the first chance at the black. Both players seemed like they didn?t really want to put it down, but eventually Ash did it, with lots of encouragement and support from both teams; including her opponent Heather.

The only other person to perform with any real consistency was Bob who won two out of his three games. The Anchor Berts on the other hand did play well. We always knew they were going to be a tough match, we haven?t won against them yet, but we had hoped we would have done better. Take nothing away from the Berts, they deserved the win. And they deserved the win with the margin they got.

Oh well, better luck next time...

Keep smiling

Sue  

So, we had our first match of the season at one of the new teams to the league. Not the best start to the season, but things could have been a whole lot worse!

First up was Sue, kicking things off for the Foresters. A bit of a shaky start, but despite some good potting was unable to make the win convincingly. An unlucky attempt at the black by her opponent left it sitting right in the jaws of the bottom right corner pocket. Sue took the win but it wasn't as comfortable as it should have been.

Next up was Steve. With a foul straight off the break, Steve had to spend the rest of the game playing catch up, which he did extremely well, coming from behind to take the game with a great pot on the black.

Debs was next, playing her first competitive game for the Foresters. Although it seemed like she was a bit nervous at the outset, Debs pulled off some great shots, but was unable to really get into the swing of things. With some good play from her opponent, Debs was unfortunately the first to fall to her opponent.

Bob up next, and again it seemed like things were not destined to happen for the Foresters. As with Steve, Bob seemed to have to struggle from behind to take the win thanks to some good play from his opponent and a fluke on the black.

Next up was the youngest debutant for the Foresters; Ashleigh. In her first competitve game ever, it did seem as though she was a little daunted by the prospect of playing in her first game. A good break opened the balls up nicely, but her opponent was able to capitalise on the fact that he got first choice of colour. Unfortunately Ash never got much chance to get to the table, but was able to put down a couple of her own balls before her opponent took the win. As first games go, that was no disgrace.

The last of the Foresters team to play his first game of the season was Flash. With the score at 3-2 in the Foresters favour, things didn't look ever so promising early in Flash's game. With 6 of his colour left on the table and only 2 of his opponents, it looked as if the scores were going to go level but this is where Flash usually plays his best (as long as it's early in the evening and not too much alcohol has passed his lips!). With some cracking shots and good safety play, Flash took the win to bring the score to 4-2  to the Foresters.

With only winning 2 out of the next 6 games, the scores were now tied at 6-6 with 3 games left to play.

Steve & Bob were definitely taking two of the remaining three places due to their 100% winning streak thus far. The third spot was taken by Sue after winning the toss with Flash as they had both won 1 lost 1. Sadly, for Debs & Ash it hadn't been their night as they had both suffered 2 defeats. On the up side for Ash, she played some cracking shots in her 2nd game and her opponent said after that at one point he thought he was going to lose it.

With Bob losing his 3rd game in a closely fought battle, the Rest & Be Thankful team took the lead for the first time all evening. The final two games were turning out to be very important ones for both teams. Steve played his usual smooth , methodical games, and despite a howler of a foul where he completely miss hit the cue ball and sent it about an inch, he cllinched the 14th game of the night to leave the scores tied at 7-7.

Sue stepped up to the plate to break off for the final, and deciding game of the night. This game seemed to take forever, with both players missing shots they should have got and playing a lot of safety shots to try and disrupt their opponents flow. After taking a reasonably convincing control of the game, and getting down to the black, Sue missed a shot that under normal circumstances she ought to have got. This let her opponent back into the game, and despite having another chance at the black, her opponent managed to take advantage of the situation and take control of the game, potting the black with ease after some good positional play.

A great night with some very good pool played from both sides. Thanks to the the Rest & Be Thankful for hosting a good evening and being a challenging first match.

That's all for this week, watch this space to find out how we play against the Anchor Berts next week.

Keep smiling

Sue  

Well, the new season is almost upon us. All matches are due to start on Sunday the 21st September, and the season is to run until the middle of May 2009 (roughly).

With several new teams joining this season, it should make for good viewing as we try to improve on our performance from last year.

Anyway, not long to wait until our first match report...

Keep smiling

Sue 

Welcome to our blog. Over the coming pool season, we will use these pages to give you a breakdown of how matches were won or lost.

This will hopefully be much more enlightening than just seeing the final scores, which don't always give the whole picture; ie, someone may have played a cracker of a match only to lose when it went down to the black.

See you at the start of the season.

Sue