So, it’s that time of the season again where things start to get interesting (usually for at least 2 teams anyway). This year it’s the turn of the Eagles and the Sharks to do battle as White Hart seem to have once more fallen by the wayside, so much so that they’re in their own battle for third! Definitely a changing of the guard in respect of the main challenger… But hopefully not for league winners! With only 3 weeks remaining the Sharks have a more than healthy 5 point lead combined with, it could be argued, an easier run in. Interestingly, due to a postponed match the top two teams haven’t played each other yet, so the two head to heads may well prove crucial. From an Eagles’ point of view, let’s hope so!

Can the Sharks maintain their great form and run of results so far? Can the Eagles dig deep and grind them down to snatch the league once again? Does anyone apart from a few people actually care…?!

I care!

i wouldnt say it was a "changing of the guard" at all. the guard changed a couple of years ago as the bulls havent come close to "challenging" for a few seasons. anyway i think sharks will win this season even though u guys have 2 play each other twice and i dont know last nites results.

on another note, im gutted i cant play the singles comp,

im on a training course for my job............ p.s it wasnt my fault i used the entry knockout form as a chip cone, i thought it was an old one as I cant remember there ever been a singles summer knockout comp and didnt see the dates on the form till afterwards(soory anyway alex is gonna text bally the players who will play from the bulls.

good luck to both teams in run in but i think this year will be the true changing of the guard!lol

Well the table doesn't lie and 9 points is a hell of a gap. NOT impossible for the Eagles still to win the league... But maybe improbable! Wed night wasn't a great night as the Sharks looked to be playing well (albeit having at least a couple of frames thrown in with bows and ribbons on) and we dropped some points we obviously didn't want to.

But as they say, it ain't over til the fat bird sings!

lol andy the white hart alone has given u guys at least 7 presents over the two matches, i can think of two obvious ones being clifty vs alex and my doubles match. so bows and ribbons have been given to both teams, the team that wins is the best, end of discussion.

i can think of two obvious ones being clifty vs alex and my doubles match. so bows and ribbons have been given to both teams, the team that wins is the best, end of discussion.

--- joetonkin1 

Mr Tonkin you are absolutely talking through your butt, if you're applying your theory then surely Alex shouldn't even have come back to the table after his first shot as i cleared up and, with only two balls remaining and me having two shots in hand, i failed to hit a cushion - by my reckoning (and your logic) that means i gave Alex the game with bows on which he subsequently stuffed up as well. It's all very well saying you should've won that frame but let's not forget that you should've lost that before you were given the chance. Also you refer to your doubles but you don't refer to your singles frame which you were gifted - selective memory to make your point valid me thinks!

With regards to us losing the league, if it happens then it happens but if we go the whole season unbeaten (which is still possible don't forget) then that'll be the first time any team has achieved that in the Jolly's League history so i'd still take pride in that, and, if the roles were reversed then i'd rather finish unbeaten runners-up than win the league having lost three matches. We've won the league before but not since the Wednesday Mickey Mouse League days have we gone unbeaten. Obviously i'd much prefer to win the league unbeaten but if that doesn't happen then so be it. We've gone out and played the strongest players from each teams and that's all we can do. If the Sharks do win the league then it'll be fully deserved as we know at the start of the season that it's frames and not team wins that counts. I'm sure they'd much rather win the league and beat us once if not both times though to stop people saying how we finished unbeaten.

nice essay mr clift. cant think of anytime in my singles when i supposed to lose tho,.... neway speaking of the sharks I spotted them from 2pm today practicing!! think they were still there when i went past again at 5ish. so u guys better get sum practice in for ur two games against them.

nice essay mr clift. cant think of anytime in my singles when i supposed to lose tho,.... neway speaking of the sharks I spotted them from 2pm today practicing!! think they were still there when i went past again at 5ish. so u guys better get sum practice in for ur two games against them.

--- joetonkin1 

I suggest your memory is not what it used to be then if you can't remember anytime in your frame when it looked like you were about to lose. As for the Sharks practising, good for them but don't you worry about our team, i'd be more concerned with your own team. If we're in decline and still unbeaten then things could be a lot worse me thinks!

Sometimes I'm convinced you post just to cause controversy Joe, as you don't appear that dense in real life! Take it as a compliment if you will...

First off, White Hart have gifted us 7 points in our 2 matches? Righto sunshine!!! What planet are you on and is it nice there? Whether it be the different players, lack of team spirit or the fact you're usually out of contention fairly early doors nowadays, WH just aren't the team they used to be. Even though they've never won the league they usually used to play well, especially against us. The last few seasons they haven't. But then again that applies to them against all the other sides too. 'At least 7 points gifted this season' is utter bollocks and you know it. Like any match, you need to capitalise on your chances. And from what I've heard, WH have capitulated like a rabbit in a headlamp a fair few times this season. You've picked up 5 points out of 22 against the Sharks this season - how many of them would you class as chucking away?

You're right of course, every team in the league, at one point or another, will have had games handed to them on a silver platter and accompanied by a birthday banner. But regardless of that, my point is that on the night, a quite crucial night where the gap stood at 5 points before the start, just a couple less handouts would have made things a bit more interesting in the run in. Quite dispiriting when you're on the next table and you glance across every now and then to see either a) a good dish from team 1 or b) an absolute fu*k up from team 2, especailly whilst you're having a bad night yourself as a team. BUT, as I also said, Sharks have been on a great run, getting some monstrous results and played well last week - I'm taking nothing away from them!

As Clifty says it would be nice to go through the season unbeaten for the first time in the Jolly's Premier League history and who knows, if we do then stranger things have happened than us pipping the Sharks at the death. Should be 2 good head to heads between us whatever the outcome, as even without taking the points and league title into account I'm sure the Sharks will want to beat us (twice!).

jory i can think of 2 times in the game at urs where on another nite u wudnt of got as lucky as u did with the white ball. i remember it hittin the middle knuckle in both ur singles and doubles. god knows how many times thats happened this season! maybe it was just karma sseing it happen for another team.so u cant say u never get lucky! and speakin of going unbeaten, it wont matter if u finish second. no-one ever remembers who finishes second, even though going unbeaten is a good effort in a couple seasons all people are going to ask and care about is who won last year.

and speakin of going unbeaten, it wont matter if u finish second. no-one ever remembers who finishes second, even though going unbeaten is a good effort in a couple seasons all people are going to ask and care about is who won last year.

--- joetonkin1 

Absolute garbage son and you know it! If we won the league losing three matches when another team beat us twice and went unbeaten you'd be the first person to mouth off and say we didn't deserve it! (i can just imagine the stuff you'd type on here about it!). To be honest with you, in two years time if we do go unbeaten and lose the league i think a fair few people will still be remarking how the hell a team can win every game and still lose the league, i've never known it to happen before. It's all hypothetical at the moment anyway as the Sharks are the best at present so should are more than capable of beating us at least once as they're not nine points ahead by luck. Just to echo what i'm saying, last summer after the Sharks beat us in the first half of the season i had a go at all the Eagles team and said that if we were to lose to them in the return match then in my eyes we wouldn't deserve the title. If we lose the title then we'll shake their hands and congratulate them as, apart from the odd match here and there, i couldn't have asked for more from my team, so full credit to the Sharks for eclipsing us.

Anyway, going back to your other comments, it's funny how you remember Gerbil's games but not your own frame against Tris??? As it is you're trying to say we didn't deserve to beat the Bulls twice, actually by your logic (you giving us 7 frames) we should've only won 10 frames over the two matches and not the 17 frames we actually won. Most, if not all the teams we've played against this season have played their strongest (statistcally) six players against us, there's not many other teams who can say that.

Just to talk through a couple of your 'points' Joe:

jory i can think of 2 times in the game at urs where on another nite u wudnt of got as lucky as u did with the white ball. Tonkin… So what? Yep I got lucky with the white ball twice. As I recall you were the only one making a song and dance of it at the time and if it weren’t for you bleating on about it now I wouldn’t even give it a thought. Luck happens in most frames of pool to some extent or another, especially local league where no matter how fantastic some people like to think they are, the truth is that it just ain’t that great a standard all the time; a player getting lucky with the white ball is not some event to be ooohhed and aaaahhhed over. i remember it hittin the middle knuckle in both ur singles and doubles. Hitting the middle knuckle? In singles AND doubles? Bloody hell, it’s like the equivalent of Foinavon winning the National or striking it lucky on Euromillions twice running isn’t it?! Grow up sunshine, it’s part and parcel of the game… god knows how many times thats happened this season! Indeed, God does probably know, but unfortunately I haven’t kept a running tally. I’d hazard a guess, however, as to not significantly more or less than it’s happened to anyone else. Just pure chance that it was twice against your team. I may be wrong but POSSIBLY, on at least one occasion, you yourself may have hit a knuckle at least twice throughout your three frames of pool one match this season?! And even if you haven't, it really isn't like a passing pigeon dumped on the table to stop a black rolling in is it now? maybe it was just karma sseing it happen for another team.so u cant say u never get lucky! Please do me a favour and direct me to, or show a quote even, where I’ve stated that either I personally or we as a team never get lucky. I haven’t. I wouldn’t make myself look stupid by saying something that lucky. All I said was it’s disheartening when you’re playing an average match yourselves and see the team a place ahead of you, near the end of the season, in the same room and on the next table, playing some great pool and also getting some rub of the green, which I stick to now. Care to disagree with that one, oh master debater? and speakin of going unbeaten, it wont matter if u finish second. Umm, seems to matter to the Sharks. And us. And also at least one member of our opposition on Wed who was cheering nearly every frame won by the Sharks, who by the way were playing ON THE OTHER TABLE!! no-one ever remembers who finishes second, even though going unbeaten is a good effort in a couple seasons all people are going to ask and care about is who won last year. Just to emphasise what Clifty said, at the end of the day every team should want to go out, play the strongest players they can every week, win every match and win the league convincingly. If that doesn’t happen then the least you’d expect is for them not to lose to another team twice out of two matches, e.g. last season when we were indeed told the league would be a hollow victory if we didn’t beat the Sharks in the second half of the season, even though the title was already in the bag. I’m sure the Sharks will be thinking the league is now in the bag but will still badly want to beat us to prove a point to people. But hey, whatever the result of the 2 matches and the league itself I’m damned sure all the Eagles will stand up, say well done and shake the Sharks’ fins at the end of it.

You seem to be quite passionate about this Joe – God only knows what you’ll be like if a team you’re part of is ever challenging for the league!

And if by any slimmest possibility anyone's still reading this, I'd just like to say apologies for the diatribe :)

Just been looking at the table and bloody good effort by the Sharks - bonus points aside, Eagles are averaging over 8 and a half points every match (not bad at all) but Sharks are averaging 9.2, with their opponents on average winning less than 2 frames per match. Fair play!!!

Gerbil I though the 417 word rant was verbal diarrhoea but 718! I'd be impressed if you were a student!!

Seriously though - take a breath!

(and remember there are some who want the eagles to win!)

Cheers Jo!

You can tell I get bored at work sometimes can't you?!

i would just like to take the time out to wish the sharks and the eagles all the best for the final game,both have been a different class this year and deserve to be way ahead of the rest,sorry to have not challenged again but unfortunately we are now only making the numbers up and will be nowhere near for the up and coming season,to get six players next season will be a bonus but we will not fold and will definately not be merging with the b side and to keep the league strong will be definately feilding two sides.Thanks to the players that have stuck this season out and extended thanks to the players who played when we were short(even joe,your still a goon and far from forgiven for what you did) but thanks.Good luck to those who have entered the singles comp also.