Holders Gremlins taken to extra frame by the Sharks
DEFENDING champions La Villette Hotel Gremlins are through to the quarter-finals of the Team Straight knockout, but they had to endure an extra-frame decider to get the better of North Legion Sharks.
With Seb Priaulx’s 52 and Martyn Desperques’ 48 easing La Villette into a 2-0 lead, it looked to be a comfortable night ahead, but Geoff Guille sprang a surprise by taking the second off Desperques 57-47.
A 3-1 lead soon became all square as Mark Jeffreys edged his first against Adrian Holley by eight points and Simon Streek took out reserve Tony Walden.
Holley responded by winning the penultimate frame, but having taken the match into a decider by winning the last regulation frame 59-46, Streek was back in action against Desperques.
The latter’s 39 proved to be decisive, though, in taking the frame 87-9.
La Villette’s opponents in the last eight are North Legionnaires, who were also taken into a deciding ninth frame.
An intriguing match against RAF Reds, who they replaced in the Premier Division, initially favoured Bill Smith’s side as the Reds built a 3-0 lead – mainly through Dave Bullock’s victory.
Only Rick De Garis’s 39 kept the Legionnaires in touch, but they still needed the last two frames from Miles Plumley and Tom Brock to force the draw.
Skipper Brock, who had beaten opposite number Smith, stayed on the table to take the decider 60-34 against Steve Le Poidevin.
In contrast, Imperium Strokers enjoyed the largest victory margin, beating Ex-Service Recalls 7-1.
Jim Wilson had given the Second Division side a glimmer of hope, but Kelvin Du Feu and Colin Gilbert dominated the second half.
It is worrying times for Ex-Service Stunners, who are bottom of the Premier Division and now out of both team knockout competitions.
First up against DWA Rebels in the straight, Roscoe Cloarec’s win and a frame from Ross De Carteret put the top-flight side in charge, but a remarkable comeback saw the Rebels take all five remaining frames.
Antony Makepeace defeated Paul Le Sauvage, while Russ Wakeford crucially took his last frame against Gary Le Noury 48-42.
Two nights later, in the Team Handicap, the Stunners again went down 5-3 as Yvonne Bogue and Becci Welsh brought Stonebond home with three second-half frames between them.
Annie Wilkins had tied up the score at 2-2 by confirming her win on the black against Cloarec, after which Welsh’s win sealed her side’s victory.
One ray of light for the Stunners came from Le Sauvage, with breaks of 62 and 68 overturning a 56 start to Danielle Leadbeater.
Ex-Service Hot Butts progressed in the handicap with a dramatic win against the Knights at the Gremlin Club. Recovering from 3-1 down to lead 4-3, Paul Tostevin looked to have closed out the victory for the Knights, but a cruel in-off let Jamie Le Cheminant in to clear the last three colours and force a decider.
Tostevin remained for a second bite of the cherry, but Clayton Le Noury proved too strong, winning 63-48.
It was also a good week for two other Third Division teams playing higher-ranked opposition in the two other team handicap matches played.
Dan Kelly was the only winner in an all-Gremlin battle as the Guzzlers beat the Second Division’s Grinders 5-3, while a North Social affair saw First Division outfit MJ Construction lose 6-2 to Baubigny Boys.
After an even first half, Jason Dixon’ black-ball respot was the catalyst for him and James Ferbrache winning the last four frames.
