As the West Briton and the Packet both failed to put my report in the paper this week, i thought i'd copy it on here just so people don't moan at me for not doing one. Just for the record, i write a report every Sunday and email it to both the West Briton and the Packet but unfortunately they don't put it in all the time. Anyway here's the report for those that can be bothered to read it all:
After much transfer activity in the close-season, the first week of the Jolly's Camborne-Redruth Premier Pool League kicked off with a lot of teams sporting new line-ups, none more so than in the match between the newly formed Redruth RBL Dingos and the Redruth RBL Goats. The Dingos, under the captaincy of Gareth Ball who flew the Eagles nest to assemble his dream team by combining a mixture of summer league winners' RBL Sharks' players with a sprinkling of Penwith players, got off to the best start as they ruthlessly took apart Mark Moyle's Goats to win 13-2 in a match that was all over in short of 90 minutes. Rob Charman, Kevin Opie, Phil Shackleton, Jason Ottaway, Ball and Phil Lane all won to produce a cleansweep in the first session before Paul Gee and Leroy Saundry registered the Goats' first point of the match in the opening doubles. It was to be a short reprieve for the Goats though as the pairings of Charman/Lane and then Shackleton/Ottaway won, followed by further singles wins from Shackleton, Ottaway, Charman, Opie and Ball to put the Dingos 13-1 up. The final frame of the night witnessed Gee defeating Lane to give the Goats a small consolation but the heavy defeat will send out a warning to all teams that the Dingos will be the team to beat in the winter season.
The Spice of Life Eagles started the defence of their crown with an 11-4 win away to Illogan RBL. Despite the scoreline, the Eagles didn't have everything their own way early on as Chris Paton won the opening frame for the home side before wins from Dave Metcalfe, Adam Clift and Tristan Prigg put the Spice of Life side 3-1 up. Illogan's Paul Metcalfe reduced the deficit to one frame and Nigel Pengelly looked to be set to tie the match but a loose positional shot at the finish let in Jamie Turnbull who made the most of the opportunity with some fine potting culminating in a sensational pot on the black to give his side a 4-2 lead after the first session. Once again Illogan came back fighting and Paton teamed up with Matt Roach to claim the opening doubles frame and again leave them trailing by just the one frame. That was to be the last time the home side were in the running though as the Eagles went up a gear to claim the next seven frames including a doubles and singles win for Lewis Saundry on his debut for the champions. There was some consolation for Illogan though as Pengelly claimed the last frame of the match to make the final score 11-4 to the Spice of Life side, with Metcalfe, Clift and Prigg all recording three wins out of three for the victors.
The all Robartes derby match couldn't have been a closer contest as the lead changed hands on no less than seven occasions throughout the night. It was the 'B' side who got off to the better start as Andy Stock and Michael Avent won the first two frames to put them 2-0 up. The 'A' side weren't to be outdone though and wins from B. Thomas, Jason Mutton and skipper Luke Bartle put them infront for the first time at 3-2. Robartes 'B's Sam Fenton won to tie the match up after the first singles session and then he teamed up with Geoff Brown to win the opening doubles frame and regain the lead for the 'B' team. The match continued in a similar pattern as the 'A' team won the next two doubles frames to lead 5-4 going into the final session, followed by Avent and Fenton winning for the 'B' side to put them back in front at 6-5. With only four frames remaining, the match was becoming a tense affair and the 'A' team made a dash to the winning line as Kevin Honer and Bartle both held their nerve to put their side 7-6 up, leaving the 'A' team requiring just one of the final two frames to claim the match and the Robartes Arms bragging rights. The match seemed destined to go to a decider and so it proved as Sean Hatton won the penultimate frame for the 'B' team to tie the match up at 7-7. The deciding frame pitted the 'B' team's David Mitchell against the 'A's Mutton who had already claimed a win over Mitchell in the first session but there wasn't to be a repeat of the first result as Mitchell dug in deep and edged the frame to give his team the slenderest of victories and ensure the bonus point went to Robartes 'B'. Fenton was the star of the night for the victors winning all three of his frames, a feat also achieved by Bartle for the 'A' side.
Alex Lane's White Hart Bulls started the season in emphatic style as they recorded an impressive 12-3 win at home to Redruth RBL Wasps. The Wasps started off brightly as Paul Broad put one over his ex-team mate Paul Murphy but the lead was to be short-lived as Richard Ash, Jamie Edwards, Lane, Dave Elliott and Gary Stephens won the next five frames to put the Bulls 5-1 up going into the doubles session. Ash and Jason Simmons teamed up to further strengthen the home team's lead before Gary Tonkin and Martyn Willoughby combined to gain the Redruth RBL side's second point of the night. Elliott and Edwards won the final doubles frame to move the score onto 7-2, leaving the White Hart side requiring just one of the remaining six frames for victory. They didn't have long to wait either as Stephens won the first frame of the last session to put his team into an unassailable 8-2 lead. Although defeated, Paul Broad continued his own good form to register another point on the board for the away side but it was to be the Bulls who were to finish stronger, putting in a final charge to win the last four frames, the highlight being Jamie Edwards achieving the season's first 8 ball clearance from the break. It was a great team performance by the Bulls with Elliott and Edwards both winning all three of their frames.
Elsewhere, despite losing the opening frame, the Redruth RBL Reapers gained a fine 11-4 win over the White Hart Stags with Liam Blenes, Andrew Cowper and Darren Isaacs all winning three wins out of three. Dave Matthews' Lounge Bar Leopards side started the season positively as they came back from 2-0 and 4-3 behind to run out 9-6 winners over the Grenville Troonies. Matthews and Phil Jose both helping the cause with three wins a piece.