The Interleague knock out cup run in is now upon us and the booking in process is, for the teams anyway, over. The lucky qualifying teams are getting ready to do battle once more, as always, the current crop of the cream of England’s pool players will be putting in an appearance at Vauxhall Holiday Park, the “theatre of dreams”, for just about every pool player who wants to play at the highest level

Each year brings a crop of new teams and new players who after the experience of the weekend find out first hand why the event is so popular and why the seasoned old timers keep coming back year after year.

This year we welcome back, after a long absence, three teams from Norfolk. I can’t remember the last time Norfolk attended the Interleague – but I do know it is a long time ago now.

The three representatives attending, are South Norfolk, Norwich A and the most local of all teams, Great Yarmouth. Before anyone raises it, and I know the thought has already crossed your mind, yes, they too have to be resident on site!!!

Although, Norfolk have not put any teams in the event recently there is no reason to expect anything less than a solid performance from all three teams. The teams all have current county players as part of their line ups and anyone who attends the Intercounty finals will know that Norfolk, as a county always put in a strong team for that event.

Any teams drawn in their group had better not make the mistake of thinking ah, new team, no Interleague ranking position equals “easy meat”. If they do, they will get a real shock when they play them.

Railway from the Askern pool league in South Yorkshire are making their debut this year, although the team name may be new to us the players will not be as they are all used to being here, Railway consists of a sizable chunk of the old Mexborough team, they might not be as strong overall as Mexborough were but I have no doubt that they will prove a real handful for their fellow group members.

Cambridge Snooker Club led by Steve McDonald, Cambridge Elite’s captain Ian Norris has been here before so will know what to expect, Brighton S will no doubt be well aware of the standard coming from the same league as Brighton A, Chorlton from GMC join the family for the first time, Crewe although first timers should have a strong side with Dave Preece as their leader, Clitheroe I cant say too much about as they are a unknown quantity to me, East Leeds are another of the teams I know nothing about, Glossop from Derbyshire look like they might be relying on the Roberts clan to do their bidding, Heywood’s skipper Chris Longley will know what its all bout because of his role as GMC Interleague Secretary, Macmillan’s from West Yorkshire will hoping to make an impression on the event just like some of their other teams, Waterloo 2 from London have some very experienced players in their line up so they will be hoping to give a good account of themselves.

I have not checked to see if this statement is a fact or not but I would hazard a guess that this year is the most we have seen but if anyone knows different then let me know. The full list (as far as I know) of new teams this year are and some of them might be stretching the point a bit Brighton S, Cambridge Snooker, Cambridge Elite, Chorlton, Crewe, Clitheroe, Glossop, Great Yarmouth, Heywood, Frank Smith, MacMillans, Northwich, Railway, Riverside, Riverside Elite, South Norfolk and Waterloo 2

We welcome back some old friends back in to the interleague fold, Darren Appleton, Kev Barton & Andy Richardson, they have put recent events behind them and hopefully will make the journey down from West Yorkshire and will be representing Leeds. Mick Hill returns home to P.J.'s Stourbridge which can only be a warning that a very strong team has just got stronger.

Leeds teams’ expectations will have been given a boost by that news that the three musketeers are attending and although they are playing down their chances. The inclusion of 3 such players added to their already strong squad makes it impossible for them to hide in anonymity and have to be considered as contenders.

This year’s big name non appearances include East Herts who for the first time in their history will not be present. Neither will the All’oas who have now disbanded and are playing in different teams also missing are West Midlands Small Heath

There are also the teams who always manage to qualify from the county knockout competitions. Teams like. And In no particular order, Sun Valley, Dawley A, P.J.’s Stourbridge, Leicester, Trent Trophies A, Rochester, Walsall, Godalming and Brighton. They are all going to be there again this time round.

This year sees the Anglo-Welsh cup being played as part of the interleague weekend, for those who don’t know this is the annual competition between Wales and England and is the first time a competitive international has been fought out in the Yarmouth arena. We have set up some warm up matches for the two squads in the shape of the England U21 squad and a select team from Region four.

This is not the usual international friendly we have become used to, this as they say, “is the real Thing” with each nation’s pride at stake. The Anglo – welsh cup is a two legged competition with the first leg on Friday and the second leg on Saturday. On both days the teams will play warm up matches to get themselves ready for the Anglo – Welsh cup

The knock out cup has always produced shocks of one sort or another each and every time it’s contested but one of the biggest shocks of all time happened at this time last year as Colchester from Essex made it to the final. It was a shock because up to then Colchester had a patchy record in the event but last year they “gelled” and produced pool that took them all the way to the final. Anyone who knows how strong the interleague is will understand how bigger shook it was that Colchester made it to the final – you only have to look at the teams they knocked out on the way to the final to see how good their performance really was last year. It served notice to all the big boys that the gap between the “super” teams and the lesser-known ones is shortening with each passing year.

Colchester have now shown the rest of the interleague world that it is possible for lesser teams to make it all the way and in so doing are a shining example of what team spirit can achieve.

The shock would have been massive had Colchester won the event but Sun Valley of Nottinghamshire finally put the lads from Essex to the sword. For Sun Valley it was the end of a very long wait to win the event, always there or thereabouts but never quite making it to the winner’s rostrum so for Sun Valley too, last years event proved a watershed.

As mentioned earlier, this weekend is not just about the Knock out cup, there is the matter of the national singles championships that is played out over the Knock out cup weekend for a prize fund of over £5,000 with the eventual winner claiming the title of the National amateur singles champion.

Last year we saw Shane Balding (Lincolnshire) beat Grantham’s Neil Davey 7-3 in an excellent final but those were the last two still standing after two days of slugging it out with the other hopefuls.

When you look at the quality of players who dropped by the wayside last year you can see how strong the event really was furthermore how great Shane’s achievement was. Listed below are just some of the players who fell between the last 16 and the semi finals Frank Strivens (Epsom) Scott Willers (Milton Keyes) John Gillard (Rottingdean) Clint I’ Anson (Nottingham and Danny Miller (Stevenage).

Those are the ones who can say they with justification that they might not have won it but they did have a good run. Then spare a thought for the players expected to do well but went for an earlier than expected bath.

In Round one we had the following casualties

Glenn Cahir (Wigan), D Bannister (Birmingham), Scott Surridge (Worcester), Karl Sutton (Lowestoft), Shaune Dawber (Wigan), Rob Gould (Romford), Matt Purnell (Ipswich)

Followed by these in round two

Mick Conlon (Cambridge), Willie Anderson (Faversham), Paul Dunkey (Brierley Hill), Ashman (Littlehampton

Round three saw the departure of these big guns

Scott Yardley (Telford), Nick Booth (Bordon), Geoff Harrison (Wigan), Gary Mcleod (Mansfield), Neil Jones (Nottingham), Del Redmond (Bury), Jamie Kitchen (Chatham), Steve Robertshaw (Cosby), Richie Foxall (Wolverhampton), Graham Hewlett (Weston- Super-Mare), Jordan Church (Newington), Stephen Chambers (Coalville),

Once you get through to round four the quality starts to get concentrated so to go out here can’t really be considered to be an early bath but just to keep the theme going here are some of round four casualties.

Matt Barcock (Lancashire), Steven Kane (Halstead), Steve Petty (Surbiton), Dean Reeve (Godalming), Mark Thrussell (Cheshunt), Robert Southey (Ware), Ashley Sealy (Stevenage), David Preece (Halesowen), Liam Stanley (Nottingham).

Once you have negotiated round five you are in the last 32 and no matter who you are you have had a good day and to keep going as Shane Balding (Lincolnshire) did last year and win it is an amazing achievement by anyone’s standards

This is a very attractive event and tends to attract 200 – 300 entries each year so if you have not entered it before it will be a good test of your pool playing skills

Finally, as always the knock out cup will provide all teams with a roller coaster ride of emotions all packed into a weekend. Some will be in a state of depression by 11:00am on the Saturday of the event as they realise they have a mountain to climb to keep them in the event. For others it’s all plain sailing as they won the first match and can sit back and see how the other match will pan out before they are called into action again.

Then there are the ones that draw their first match. For them it’s a nail biting time as both teams know that the draw hands the advantage to the third team in the group because they will know that a will make them favourites to progress out of the group. For the team they are playing it will be only a win will be good enough to keep their hopes alive.

The team not playing in the group will be praying for a draw because it will put one team out and leave them with a head to head with the third team with all to play for. It can be that tight. So tight in fact a single frame in 54 frames scheduled to be played in a group can and is sometimes the only difference between three teams. When things are that tight you can see why it becomes a roller coaster ride one minute you are in, the next you are out, and then you are back in, then it’s looking bleak then suddenly it’s all rosy again.

The ones who come out of the group to continue their quest will start to celebrate around 4pm on the Saturday. Not to hard though, they may have won the group but they are going to be playing one of the other 31 group winners, as both teams are definite group winners. Then it all starts again only this time there is no hiding place because the event then changes to a straight knock out where only 16 teams will be left by the end of play on Saturday.

Then it’s into Yarmouth or Vauxhall’s starlight room to party away Saturday night for those that are out of the event its brakes off time and go full on for fun. If your team is still in the event you know that you are going to have to up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 9:00am on Sunday morning. So for you it’s a how much can I get away with and still be ok in the morning equation.

The reality of getting that one wrong has been seen so many times before that it’s best to have an early night.

One thing is for sure we are going to have another great event and whoever comes out wining the final match on Sunday 7th October will have been tested to the limit and be worthy winners of the National Interleague Knock Out Cup.

To all those of you going I am sure you will not be disappointed and I will see you at the bar at some point.

So how the teams in this event fare? It’s time to give my thoughts on the group stages and rattle a few cages, burst a few bubbles and pleasantly surprise a few teams as we go through every group to see what the form book, according to me, indicate should happen. It has been said in the past that my comments about teams have been pasted to the walls of the team’s caravans to inspire the players not to allow my words to become facts. Others have been amazed to see what I said would happen, happen. But it’s all done as a bit of fun to generate a bit of interest before we all travel down to Yarmouth and do it for real, so as you read through your bit just remember that and enjoy your read.

Table One
In true Interleague tradition, table one will see the defending champions set off this event at 9am on Saturday morning. Nottingham’s Sun Valley will start off the very tough task of retaining their title against Cambridge Elite who have Craig Benstock, Ian Norris, Mick Conlon and Simon Rivers in their squad and will no doubt have a plan of action on how to deal with the sheer strength of Sun Valley who can call on Baydon Jackson, Clint I'Anson, Jason Rimmington, Jim I'Anson, Lee Howitt, Liam Stanley, Neil Jones and Steve Hotchkiss you can see that you are going to require some performance to stop this lot in their tracks

Sun Valley are returning to this years knockout cup as reigning champions and no doubt have been singing we are the champions all year long. They are team to beat, lead by skipper Jim I’Anson has only one intention and that is to win it again and with experienced International players like Bayden Jackson and Clint I’Anson they should be capable of getting somewhere close to it.
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With the calibre of players that make up the Sun Valley team, it is hard to see how Cambridge Elite will be able to stop them I know that the Cambridge players won’t see it that way.

That will mean that Tolworth II will take on Cambridge Elite with their pride dented Cambridge will seek to avenge their defeat in the opening match against the Surrey side. Sadly, for Tolworth II I think they will. In doing so, Cambridge will have inadvertently knocked both team out of the event.

Sun valley will ten take on Tolworth in the final match of this group and having lost to Cambridge Elite the only thing for Tolworth II to play for will be pride but I don’t see Sun Valley allowing then to salvage much of that as they cruise through to the last 32

Table Two
This is one of those groups that has three fairly evenly matched teams and the group kicks off with West Yorkshire’s Grove Elite taking on Berkshire’s Bracknell & Ascot B

Given that I think this will be a tight group the opening match will be important to both teams’ aspirations and the winner will be safe in the knowledge that their destiny will be in their own hands.

There are no superstars in either of the team’s line ups but Grove Elite will be hoping that players like Shabir Ali and in particular Neil Burchall can produce a performance that will give them the win

Bracknell & Ascot B have been here a few times now and will know what to expect. They will be hoping that Steve Moody, Stuart Kaye, Calvin Dixon & Danny Fryer will have what it takes to see them through to the win

When it comes down to it I fancy Bracknell & Ascot B to win this match and give Grove Elite a tough job if they want to carry on in the event because they will have to take on West Midlands’ Lye & Stourbridge. A team with a long history in this event and one that usually sees them progress out of the group.

Lye & Stourbridge’s skipper Neil Saunders can choose from Jason Priest, Mark Jones, Mark Wood and Martin Lloyd to guide them through to the win. With Grove Elite losing their first Match the pressure will be on. This and the fact that Lye & Stourbridge have a bit more experience will mean that they should be able to keep the West Yorkshire outfit at bay. Leaving Grove Elite with the feeling that things can only get better.

This will set up a group deciding clash between Lye & Stourbridge and Bracknell & Ascot B and although the Berkshire side will cause Lye & Stourbridge a few headaches on the way I feel it will be Lye & Stourbridge that just shade it and make it into the last 32

Table Three
This is a group that looks like it has a clear favourite, if you look at the recent track record of the teams involved. Oxfordshire’s Bicester Select starts the group with a match against Cambridgeshire’s Ely.

Bicester Select will need to bring their “A” game to the table if they expect to do well if their “A” game is missing then they will need to find another way which means that players like Bob Hines, Nick Gaul & Rob Franklin will have to lead by example. Ely on the other hand have tried and tested performers like Iain Aldous, skipper Dale Parson and Chuck Sellars. Ely probably won’t have the services of their number one attraction, Phil Harrison but they are still going to be a force to be reckoned with.

I don’t think that overall that Bicester Select will be able to stop Ely from getting to the winning line first.

That will mean that Bicester Select will then be taking on Berkshire’s Bracknell & Ascot A. having lost to Ely, Bicester Select may find Bracknell & Ascot A just a bit too hot to handle. Bracknell & Ascot A have Danny Oliphant, Dave Bryant, Steve Ring and Mick Worsfold to do their bidding.

These players should have enough experience to see of any challenge that Bicester Select can muster.

This in turn should set up a head to head clash between Ely and Bracknell & Ascot A to see who will be group winners. This I can see being a tight affair and Ely may well wish they had Phil Harrison to steady their nerves. Although tight I still think that Ely will just have enough to get past the defences of Bracknell & Ascot but they are going to know that it was touch and go for most of the match.

Table Four
Keeping Ely company on the next table will be county stable mates Cambridgeshire’s Cambridge Snooker Club. Because they are playing Derbyshire’ Glossop in the first match. This is the hardest group of all to predict because all three teams are first timers as far as the Interleague is concerned.

That said, Cambridge look to be the best equipped team of the group so on that fact alone I am going to go for Cambridge to come out on top.

This means that Glossop will be taking on West Yorkshire’s Macmillan another team I know very little about but coming from West Yorkshire they have some quality teams to play against so they must have learnt something from that experience.

Glossop on the other hand will have to pick themselves up from their first match defeat. Losing in the Interleague is a very depressing thing and you have to be of a strong will to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get back to winning ways. This is not too easy if you have bags of experience but a nightmare when you don’t have the experience of being able to do it in the pressure cooker.

So I am going to go for Macmillan’s to win this one and end Glossop’s involvement in the event.

With Cambridge taking on Macmillan’s for the right to proceed to the last 32 both teams will be blissfully unaware of the magnitude of the match, oh they will know it’s to win their group but won’t be aware of the carnage going on in some of the tables around them as some of the fancied teams fail to escape from the group stage.

I am going for Cambridge to win the group and become one of the very rare club of teams that have won the group at their first attempt and will leave Macmillan’s with distinct feeling that they need a trip to the rehab clininc

Table Five
First up in Group 5 will be Northamptonshire’s Pocket Rockets B and Portsmouth Snooker. Pocket Rockets B have some quality players in their line up like Craig Haynes, Gary Francis, Justin Wynne, Mark Seaman and Wayne Gardner. Portmouth will counter that threat with Jamie Brooks, Roy Kellett, Ben New and Lee Newman amongst others.

I have a feeling that the match could go either way and initially I fancied Portsmouth to do well but having looked at the players available to both team I find that I have now changed to Pocket Rockets B as the winners of this match.

This means that Portsmouth will then go straight back into action against Hertfordshire’s E.H.P.L. now assuming that E.H.P.L haven’t made the most of getting a late start and over done it on the Friday night they should be fighting fit by the time they are called to play.

Will the slight lay-in help EHPL out or not ? well that really does depend on what they get up to on Friday night, but I think this time it will, although this time around they are without the nanny services of former long term skipper Gary Keefe to keep their excesses in check

They are all a bit older now as well and with new captain Lee Pateman keen to get his time as captain off to a good start perhaps they will get an early night…..yeah right.

Anyway, they will face Portsmouth which I think they should just edge and if they don’t it will probably be down to the usual culprit – Friday night/Saturday Morning

This will then set up a group decider between Pocket Rockets B and E.H.P.L. I have given up counting the times I have backed E.H.P.L. to do well and each time they just do not play to the skill level the team has. Therefore, my prediction is that they will lose to Pocket Rockets b and go out of the event and it will be put down to “One of those days”

Table Six
Cheshire’s Northwich take on Kent’s Folkestone A. Northwich are the newbie’s of this group, and no doubt will be thinking it’s good to avoid the gig guns but Folkestone are a solid side who usually do well in the group if not exactly setting the event on fire so things might not be easy as they may think.

That said, I think this match will be tight so Kev Barry will need to pick his team wisely if they want to upset Folkestone’s plans. Folkestone, the Kent outfit on the other hand will need Steffan Godden, Skipper Mark Wynn & Jeff Fordam to produce the goods to make sure they don’t get a nasty surprise and end up feeling paranoid about the whole thing .

All in all I think that Folkestone will get the better of Northwich so that will mean that Luton Elite’s opponents will be Northwich.

Luton Elite with Paul Cox, Terry Teivans, Wayne Sampson & Ben Turnstill should not find Northwich too much of an obstacle but like Folkestone they will have to be wary. If they take their collective eye off the ball then a draw could be a real possibility. That would put Luton Elite in a very dangerous position knowing they had to play Folkestone for the group with one hand tied behind their backs.

Providing that Luton Elite win their match against Northwich then the group play off between Luton Elite and Folkestone will be a straight race to 10. I believe that this will happen and that Luton Elite will take the lead and despite Folkestone constantly snapping at their heels. Luton Elite should be able to keep Folkestone at bay and in doing so will book their place in the last 32.

Table Seven
London’s Battersea A take on Warwickshire’s Coventry Reds in the opening match in group seven and as this is the first time here for Battersea coming up against Coventry Reds in your first match can’t be described as a lucky draw.

With players like Barry Hinde, Phil Parkin, Surinder Singh and the legendary Garry Callcott in their squad Reds will be aiming for a good win to set them up for the third match in the group. I can’t see Battersea having too much luck against Coventry Reds.

Not that I think Coventry Reds will run away with the match but I do feel they will have the strength in depth to be able to cope with what ever Battersea can muster to throw at them and still come out winners with a frame or two to spare.

Once this match is done the grand old lady of the Interleague will make her entrance, Essex’s Barking Phoenix will be taking on Battersea. Barking Phoenix have been Barking’s No 1 team since the demise of Barking Elite, who it’s claimed were only elevated to “Elite” after nicking a number of Phoenix’s players. That was a long time ago and Captain Zed has rebuilt his team and despite me continually claiming they will go out in the group seem to manage to defy logic and qualify.

This time his Zedness informs me that his team is not as strong as it should be due to some players being missing and that I should not tip them to win the group he even intimated that it was so bereft of players that he himself might have to play.

They may be short of a Gary Parsons or two but they still have James Shadimier, Keith Bryant, Kevin McDonnell, Steve Adams Rob Gould and the returning Wayne Pardon to call on and that is the makings of a strong team sadly, they will be missing the lovely Laura Llewellyn.
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When Battersea take on Barking Phoenix the Essex boys will reasons to be cheerful. Because I think that they will be sailing past Portsmouth and into a group decider with Coventry reds where the reality of the group stage means the winner takes it all..

This is the match where Barking’s weakness, if indeed they are, will be found out Garry Calcott’s boys will show no mercy and will want to get this game out the way as quickly as possible. When it comes down to it I would have gone for Coventry Reds to win this group regardless of how strong Barking were but if I am wrong and Barking do qualify then it’s 4-0 to the old tart Zed,

Table Eight
The first match on table 8 will see a newly formed Riverside Elite have Andy Stillwell, Gary Ploughman, Rob Gardner & Sam Underwood so they will be looking to make in impact. They were formerly known as Harlow but with a couple of different players they might get away with being called a new team. They take on Andover with Jason Dixon, John Gray, Karl Baxter & Sam Higson who will be looking to negate that impact but there will be many more rivers to cross before they can think about reaching the last 32

Riverside Elites captain Gary Plowman will try and lead his team through to the win and then look towards reaching the last 32 which is in no small way going to depend on the performance against Andover. As it happens I feel Riverside may well win the match

This will mean Andover will be taking on Leek B in the second match. The Leek team has, Captain Colin Leather, Duffield, Thwaite, Woodwock & Oddy who will be looking forward to getting their campaign underway. It will be a bitter sweet match for Andover because I feel they will have enough power to beat Leek B but then they are going to have to sit and watch Leek play Riverside Elite.

Riverside on a high from beating Andover will attack Leek from the start of the match and in doing so will leave themselves open to the sucker punch if they fail to finish their frames.

What all this means that Andover will be thinking they may still have a chance but in the end the frames will run out and Riverside will stumble over the winning line.

Table Nine
See's Derbyshire’s Derby go head to head with Sussex’s Brighton M and my feelings are that they are both fairly evenly matched. This would indicate that neither team will be able to deliver the knock out punch to the other, that may well mean the match may end as a draw. Derby’s team will consist of Andy Chalmers Dale Wigley Darren Finch & Dean Stratham amongst others. Brighton will be picked from Damien Head
Daniel Harley, David Howells, Mark White, Nigel Enticknapp & John Webb

If it is a draw it’s up to the top table for the spin of a coin to decide who gets the rest and who goes straight back in to battle. I will even predict that Brighton will win the toss and put Derby back in to bat.

Chomping at the bit and raring to enter the fray will be first timers form West Yorkshire East Leeds. Because they are first timers I have no past performances to gauge how they will do. But derby will be wanting to get of to a good start to give their team some breathing space. I think that East Leeds will win the opening frame but that Derby will hit back with a run of frames that will end giving them the winning advantage.

That will mean that East Leeds will be taking on Brighton M in the final match of the group and it will be all to play for, except for East Leeds who will be out what ever the result, but for Brighton M and Derby the frames that East Leeds take in this match will have a direct impact on who eventually gets to qualify for the knock out stage.

I think that although Brighton M will be in charge of their own destiny it will be Derby that qualify on the back of a solid East Leeds performance. For Brighton M it will be a case of don’t look back in anger.

Table Ten
Northants Village Pool League (N.V.P.L) A start out on their Knockout Cup 2007 sojourn against Lancashire’s Preston City. Although Preston City have been here a few times their Captain Nick Whitelaw says that it pretty much a new team which consists of among others Alex Shaw, John Hodgson, Matt Broderick & Ryan McDermott. Whist N.V.P.L. will be relying on Captain Ant Floyer, Micky Mullens, Scott McMillan & Danny Welford to do their bidding.

N.V.P.L.A have a vast amount of experience at this event and whist Nick Whitelaw is on the IPA tour he is probably the star of his team (is that worth a pint at the bar Nick?) so as much as I would like to say Preston would win I can’t see it so it’s N.V.P.L.A all the way for me.

Having lost their first match it is just going to get even worst for Preston as they have to go in against Rochester, so poor old Preston will have to face April’s Interleague finalist Rochester. If any of the Preston Players wonder just why it seems so bad that they are to play Rochester they are Led by Willie Anderson this team contains five IPA tour players of which, Ian Kettel, Ian Hubbard and Jordan Church, are all in the top 64. I think this line up will prove too much for a number of teams in this competition which is why they were runners-up in April So with all due respect to Preston this one looks a bit like a David and Goliath tussle but this time David won’t have the benefit of a sling and a rock.

After the win Rochester will turn their attention to N.V.P.L.A in a group decider. N.V.P.L.A will have to bring their “A” game to the table if they are to get anything out of this match and with Rochester getting off to a flying start against Preston in their first match I do not think that they will have what it takes to be nice and let N.V.P.L.A get too close to them so it’s Rochester into the last 32 for me and a case of so you win again for the other two teams in the group.

Table Eleven
This is an interesting group in that all three teams will feel they have a chance Staffordshire’s Leek A take on Cumbria’s Penrith. Leek have no recognised stars in their line up so they will on a team effort to give them the strength they will need to get past Penrith.

Penrith will be hoping for solid performances from the likes of Brian Hetherington, Phil Leary, Richard Forrester & Steve Percival. My feeling on this one is that Penrith will just have the edge over Leek but it won’t be one way traffic. Leek does have the power to win this match and assuming that Penrith do win out in the end they will be aware they have been in a match.

Leek will then have to take on Sussex’s Brighton B who won’t be any easier to beat than their first opponents Brighton have Andy Williams, John Cairns Jnr, and Les Sanders & Mark Proto.

That little grouping will ensure that Leek will have to fight for everything they get but in the end I would expect Brighton B to have a bit too much fire power for Leek.

This will set up a thrilling head to head between Penrith & Brighton B and this where Brian Hetherington, Phil Leary, Richard Forrester & Steve Percival of Penrith will have to subdue Brighton B’s Andy Williams, John Cairns Jnr, Les Sanders & Mark Proto if they are to progress. I think this is going to be a real tight match where it’s unlikely there will ever be more than a frame or two between them once it gets beyond the point where Brighton can qualify their captain will be sitting there thinking heaven knows I’m miserable now.

My prediction for the group winners will be Penrith but it may well take a play off to separate the two teams

Table Twelve
Buckinghamshire’s High Wycombe, who by the way are new to the event, have the unenviable task of trying to pick their way past the ultra steady team from Nottinghamshire, Chesterfield.

Chesterfield are one of those teams that appear to operate in a similar fashion to a stealth bomber, lots of people know they are around but don’t find who their target is until it’s too late. I fear that High Wycombe will be their next mission. Chesterfield are a quality side but manage to keep it under wraps so lots of teams think they should beat them but very few actually do. This year they have added Dave Knowles and Brian Gennoe from Newbold.

Now I have warned High Wycombe of what is likely to be their impending doom its up to them to work out their best form of defence. But I still think that despite the warning High Wycombe will still come of second best in the fight.

Surrey’s aptly named Surrey Warriors will then be taking on a shell-shocked High Wycombe and I feel that poor old High Wycombe will suffer again in this match. It will be a much tighter match than the previous one but nonetheless High Wycombe will be on a hiding to nothing and by the end of the evening the team could well be suffering from a collective bout of insomnia over the way things turned out. It’s not because High Wycombe are a bad team it’s more that both teams in their group have been there and got the T shirt, they will be only too pleased to show how much experience they have gained over the past few events by knocking out High Wycombe

That will leave the path clear for a group decider between Chesterfield and Surrey Warriors. The outcome of this tussle depends on who steals a march on the other. My feeling go with Chesterfield because they have a bit more strength in depth with players like Bob Snell, Dave Knowles, Steve Finnegan & Brian Gennoe, another thing that might help is that they have the biggest supporters club around so no one else can get anywhere near the table.

Mind you Surrey have Martin Lambert, Neal Rolfe, Richard Lambert & Simon LeMarchant to call on but I just think Chesterfield will be better prepared for the task.

Table Thirteen
This is probably going to be one of the closest matches over the weekend. Preston South, who now contains a number of players that use to make up the famous All’oas, so making a strong side that much stronger their team features Andy O'Hara, Gareth Hibbott, Jason hill, John Rimmer, Lee Clough & Nick Davey. So they are going to be a handful for whoever they play. As it happens they face London’s Frank Smith, who look a lot like Imperial use to, strange that! These two teams contain a number of international, professional and highly experienced players. For Frank Smith there is this year’s World Championships Semi Finalist Rob McKay, England International players Dean Wisher and Neil Toms as well as England Youth International Jack Pople and professional player Andrew Breen who will all be backed up by a number of high class and experienced players like Mark Thrussell and Rob Southey.

For a team with a line up like that you’d imagine that the group stage should be pretty straight forward although Preston South may have something to say about that. England Internationals Lee Clough, Gareth Hibbott and Nick Davey and the like, might just cause an upset for the side from the Capital.After talking about these two sides I’m sure you will see why the third team in this group, Redditch from Worcestershire, has been left out of the equation they might have had a bit fun had they caught a night boat to Cairo. The guys from Worcestershire will all enjoy the experience of facing the players in these two teams but I think that is about as much as they will get from their trip to Great Yarmouth as I’m not sure they are going to be able to get close to either of these two teams. My prediction as group winner, as I have to pick one, is Preston South.

Table Fourteen
Lancashire’s Clitheroe have a pretty hard task if they want to make it through to the knockout stages the reason for this is they will have to figure out a way past one of the biggest teams in the event, namely, Sussex’s Brighton A who consist of Damian Campsey, Darren Welfare, Dean Torode, John Gillard, Jon Sanders, Moray Dolan, Paul Bailey, Paul McNeil, Pete Ashman & Steve Ringsell.

If Clitheroe are unaware about how good Brighton are they won’t be in any doubt after this match is over. I expect Brighton to win and win well. For Clitheroe it will be about getting as many frames on the board as possible. If Brighton are in a belligerent mood then they will restrict Clitheroe to just a few frames.

The match between Leicestershire’s Leicester Lions and Clitheroe will be be a bit more even but I think that Leicester Lions with Carolyn Bowkett, Charlene Gibson, &Chris Kirk all of whom are well used to playing at Yarmouth as part of the Leicester Ladies team. So things won’t be easy for Clitheroe and although it will be close Leicester Lions will run out winners in this match.

This will mean that Leicester Lions will be next to have a pop at Brighton A but I can’t see Leicester Lions making a much bigger dent in Brighton A than Clitheroe did but all in all it’s just another brick in the wall for Brighton as they continue on their quest to win the big one

Table Fifteen
Northamptonshire’s Kettering make a welcome return after a wedding break in April and their team will look pretty much the same as it always does with Danny Evans,
Danny Smith, Dermot Lally, Graham Berruto, Jay Patrick, Leon Oakes but Bob Love will be missing from the line up, however it should still be strong enough to deal with whatever Hampshire’s Gosport A decides to throw at them through the efforts of Gary More George Swannack, Joel Pickersgill, Matt Overy Steve Parker, & Neil Privett,

I doubt that Kettering will have it all their own way but I feel sure they will in the end come through with the win.

Unfortunately for Gosport A they have an even tougher match when they take on Suffolk’s Ipswich. Turning out for Ipswich will be Alan Mower, Dylan Thomas,
James Hammond, Mark Keeble, Matt Purnell, Michael Puntschart., Ned Acton
Paul Keeble, Phil Cullingford, Richard Twomey, Rob Sparkes & Sam Jefferies.

With a line up like that you would expect the team to do well and I do, I think they will prove just too strong for Gosport A

That will means the wilily old foxes that are Kettering will be taking on Ipswich for the group and this should be a cracker with Kettering adopting a softly softly approach whilst Ipswich will adopt a break and dish style. So it should be interesting to watch which style will win out on the day, my feelings are that it will be Ipswich that will come out on top. This will leave Kettering in the very unusual position of going out of the event in the group stage trying to work out just why it’s all over now

Table Sixteen
Norfolk’s Great Yarmouth will have to work very hard to make their debut in the Interleague a success when they take on Leicestershire’s Hinckley. Neither team has recognised frame winners and will rely on a good team selection from their respective captains.

Hinckley are also K.O. Cup debutants so it’s a little bit hard to guess what will happen but I feel that Great Yarmouth will just have the edge because mainly because they are the local team and will settle quicker

That will mean that Hinckley will have to take on a team I know quite a bit about Surrey’s Godalming A. Godalming have the distinction of being one of the Interleague’s top teams and a look at the ranking list will show you that. Godalming with Andy Sutherland, Max Brooker, Nick Booth & Dave Tootill will prove a bit too strong for Hinckley. I would expect an easy cruise to victory for the Surrey outfit.

Great Yarmouth should prove a bit more of a challenge to Godalming and will probably match Godalming in the early stages of the group decider but as the match moves into the decisive latter stages, whilst Hinckley will be thinking of what to do with their Saturday night, Godalming and Great Yarmouth will have other things to occupy their minds. I would expect Godalming’s greater strength to kick in and guide them to the victory.

Table Seventeen
Worcestershire’s St Johns will be taking on one of the events favourites in an attempt to reach the end of play on Saturday and looking forward to Sunday morning, Surrey’s Tolworth in their first match in this group and despite St John’s having Mark Hogan, Fred Tandy, Scott Surridge & Shane Surridge in their line up they are going to have to go like a bat of hell if they are to make their dreams come true, the power that is Tolworth with amongst others Dean Reeve, Frank Strivens, Jason Norris, Matt Cooke & Steve Petty will be aiming to prove that they are just too hot to handle for St Johns. I for one would not tip St John’s to get past Tolworth even though St John’s are far from being week.

When Derbyshire’s Corn Exchange enters the fray they will take on a softened up St Johns. Corn Exchange led by Jon Shapland should be able to take advantage of a downbeat St Johns.

I can’t see St Johns being able to make too much of an impression on Corn Exchange and expect Craig Lakin, Kev McGuire, Mick Ruane & Jamie Pegg to make things very difficult for St Johns and eventually put them out of their misery

Corn Exchange will then try to do the same demolition job on Tolworth but Tolworth have a lot of experience of doing what’s required no matter who they are playing.

With the options available to Tolworth along with the belief in their own abilities I can’t see any farther them coming out on top of this group. I would expect that Jon Shapland Corn Exchange’s captain will not agree with this assessment of his team’s chances in this match. In most other situations I would probably favour Corn Exchange to nick the group but not this time.

Table Eighteen
Nottinghamshire’s Newbold take on another first timer in the form of Sussex’s Brighton S. Newbold are a steady team who will do their best to keep Brighton S on the back foot. Coming from the same county as Brighton A, first timers or not they will have an idea of the standard at the top end of the event. Providing Brighton use their big guns at the right time they might be able to unsettle Newbold who have lost a couple of their players but still can count on Mark Gibson, Richard Marples, Richard White and Robert Titchener.

When it comes down to it I feel that Newbold who are a respectable outfit, really should have enough spare in the tank to see them past Brighton s and tip them win the first match by a frame or two.

Brighton S will then have to take on Essex’s Colchester A who created a real buzz this time last year as the marched al the way to the final. They also became Essex’s No 1 team, knocking Barking Phoenix nose out of joint at the same.

Colchester are up there and now have a reputation to protect so they will be keen to get of to a good start and the good start will be at the expense of Brighton S. Colchester have a solid base of Essex county players such as Ashley Troath Darren Sadler Karl Mayhew as well as Tour player Steve Kane.

Once Colchester have disposed of Brighton s they will re set their focus on Newbold. The Nottinghamshire outfit will prove a tougher nut to crack because Newbold are much more used to being under the cosh but still producing a result. I still feel that Colchester will win the group but they might have to wait to the very end of the match before they secure the group.

Table Nineteen
Kent’s Gravesham A will take on a strong team in the shape of Somerset’s Weston A who are a team with a long history in the event and most of it is a being considered one of the best in it as well. When they get knocked out it’s more often than not in the knock out stages and usually only after a play off

Gravesham A’s skipper Frazer Lineham does have some options but will need to use them wisely if they are to get anything out this tussle.

Weston with Russell Burgess, Graham Hewlett, Joe Noezkay and Alan Llewellyn at their beck and call should have what it takes to get passed the Defences of Gravesham no matter how Frazer Lineham decides to deploy his troops. Assuming they get past Gravesham Weston will start to fee like nothing's gonna stop us now

The next match between Leicestershire’s City of Leicester and Gravesham will see Gravesham take frames of City of Leicester at a steady rate and City of Leicester trying to stop them from getting out of sight. But by the 18th fame I would expect Gravesham to have put a major league dent in City of Leicester’s hopes of winning the group.

When the final match takes place Weston will know that a draw is good enough and City of Leicester will know that only a big win is going to be good enough. With this sort of hill to climb for Leicester, I predict Weston to be comfortably in the last 32.

Table Twenty
West Yorkshire’s Leeds have a real crunch of a draw as they start their campaign against Shropshire’s Dawley A. Dawley are one of the powerhouses of the Interleague and when you look at the players available to them you can see why they are so consistent in reaching the business end of the event when they have Craig Reynolds, Scott Yardley, Sean Yeats, Dale Blagbrough, David Blagbrough & Ian Duffy.

Leeds have been a fairly successful side at the national finals with players like John
Betts Mark Buck Paul Buck producing reasonable results but in honesty wouldn’t expect to be able to match Dawley’s line up over the course of a whole match but they have a stronger than normal line up.

They have been able to secure the services of some players who have been taking a rest from the Interleague but are now back and raring to go, their additions to last years line up are Darren Appleton, Kev Barton & Andy Richardson and the rest of the team will be hoping for a chain reaction.

Those three put a whole new complexion on the match, Dawley are a very strong side and I still expect them to win out in the end but the possibility is now that Dawley might not even make it out of the group stage.

From a Leeds point of view it’s up to the rest of the team to match the three musketeers. If they do then this is going to be a match that I want to see because it could go all the way and there will be plenty of twist and turns before the result is known
Watching this fascinating match, hopefully, will be Gosport B captain, Chrystal Sedman, plans will have to be made to use their players in their best positions to get anything out of their tie with Leeds. I am not writing Gosport B off but it’s difficult to see Gosport’s Alan Overy, Dave Barker, Dave Mouland & Dean Winter can match the fire power Leeds now have available to them.

Leeds likely victory over Gosport B will in effect hand the group to Dawley by virtue of the fact that Dawley will only need the draw against Gosport B in the final match to secure passage but I don’t see Dawley doing anything other than win both their matches

Table Twenty One
There are groups you like, there are groups you don’t like, then there are groups you think why us?
Group 31 is, if you are not Trent Trophies A, definitely one where you would like to know what you have done to upset the gods of fortune to get drawn in this group with Tent Trophies. Well all I can say is someone has to!! And this time round it’s the turn of Warwickshire’s Reds 1 to get what most people regard as the toughest team of all.

Reds I with Roger Charles, Scott Halcrow, Steve Shelton and Roy Pontefract will have to produce some quality pool and into the groove very quickly if they are to keep up their tradition of making it through to the knock out stage this time round. They have to face and beat Trent Trophies a in the opening match of this group, Trent Trophies will be keen to show they are still the team to beat, a title Leicester have forced them to relinquish in recent years They have a team line up that looks like a who’s who of pool. Trent Trophies boasts Adam Davis. Darren Henshall, Darren Lightfoot, Darren Shorne, Gareth Potts, Jamie Croxton, Lee Kendall, Liam White, Mark Blackshaw, Nick Weller & Steve Bridgewood to name a few.

If having to win against that lot does not put the fear of god in you then you are not a Pool player or you have led a very sheltered life in a monastery that just happens to have a pool table in it – not very likely in England. Reds 1 will not be over keen on the task facing them but they are a competent side and Trent Trophies have been sent packing in the group stage before so it’s not Mission impossible

I still think that Red 1 will lose to Trent Trophies so they will then take on Berkshire’s Renegade B who will have Ed Rumsey, Luckvinder Birdy, Scott Vann & Trevor Dias but I feel that will not be enough to stop Reds 1 from taking out their frustration at being beaten by Trent Trophies on renegade B. whilst it might do Reds 1 collective psyche a power of good it won’t help their qualification chances. Hammering the team that then has to beat Trent Trophies is not the best preparation Reds 1 could give them but there you go.

I doubt that all 18 frames in the final match between Renegade B and Trent Trophies will be required, in fact I have a sneaking suspicion that that it might be all over by the time 8 frames have been played with Trent Trophies moving ominously in to the last 32.

Table Twenty Two
This group is another one where all three teams are first timers and London’s Waterloo 2 take on Staffordshire’s Trent Trophies Tuesday in the opening match.

Whilst both these teams are new to the Interleague they are both “attached” to well known “A” teams. Waterloo has Jamie Fay, England U21 player, Darren O'Byrne, Etienne Wagner & Joe Prince. Trent Trophies Tuesday have Andrew Mullock, Craig Mears, Darren Ryan, David Evens & Gary Harper.

As far as I can see Trent Trophies Tuesday do not have many old hands but coming from the same league as Trent Trophies A you would expect them to be pretty good they have to really they are under pressure to live up to the name

So I will go for a Trent Trophies Tuesday win in match one this will mean that the other newcomers to the Interleague Norwich A will get to have a pop at Waterloo 2

Of the three teams in this group two of them I know little about the third however, I know quite a bit about Norfolk’s Norwich. This might be Norwich’s first time here but just about their entire squad are county standard players including, David & Paul Thraxton, Peter Mullany, Rob King & Simon Ramm. I would expect this team to give any team a run for their money.

I can see Norwich racking up a big win against Waterloo 2 because of the fact that the Norwich players have been here so many times in the inter county finals that it will feel like a second home to them couple that with a strong squad and you get a belief that the team will do well

The same can be said when Norwich take on Trent Trophies Tuesday but this one won’t be so easy for the home town boys. I can see the Staffordshire team giving as good as they get in the early stages of the match. As the match moves into the final part I feel the greater strength in depth of the Norwich team will start to take an effect and will eventually lead to Norwich claiming their space in the last 32.

Table Twenty Three
Shropshire’s Shrewsbury B get group 23 underway with a match against Suffolk’s Ipswich B in what I see as a tight group. Shrewsbury team will be hoping Adam Sykes, Danny Summer, Matthew Sullivan & Julian Cooke will produce performances that will see them past Ipswich B. Ipswich with Neil Towmey Stuart Simmonds will be aiming to do the same for Ipswich.

This match has the look of a draw written all over it so both team captains will have to trudge up to the top table to see who will have to stay on the table and who will get a rest when the realality of what the draw could mean to both hope of qualifying from the group may turn their respective captains a whiter shade of pale

Whoever goes back on the table will be taking on new boys G.M.C.’s Chorlton I know nothing about Chorton so I might be being a bit unfair here when I say that I think that Chortlon will be the key factor in this group by virtue of the score that the other two get against them.

I feel that it will be Ipswich B who come out of this group with the best record

Table Twenty Four
Kent’s Medway with Barbra Taylor, Lee Crowhurst, Phil Waghorn & Chris Prodromou will need to be at their best when they take on West Midlands’ Walsall A who can boast in their line up Captain Carl Butler, Matt Highway, Neil Dangerfield & Andy Swatman. If Medway’s Les Boddy gets him team selection right then I see Medway competing all the way with Walsall who may want to send a message to their missing team mates, we wish you were here.

If not, then I think that Walsall will prove a bit too much for Medway to handle to be honest I feel this is the more likely option so I am going for Walsall to win the match perhaps by two clear frames.

This means that South Yorkshire’s Shakespeare enter the fray with a match against Medway. Shakespeare a new team to the Interleague so little is known about them in this event. They do have in their line up Terry Hunt, Phil Cartright & Mick Bagshaw so Captain Kevin Ryder will be confident in his team’s ability.

I think the match will be a close one, whilst Shakespeare will have the pure quality of Terry Hunt, who I would expect to win his frames. Medway have Barbra Taylor who should be able to negate any frames Terry Hunt wins. But after that it becomes a lot closer affair and the greater experience of the Medway team as a whole should be enough to just scrape the win over Shakespeare.

This will leave Shakespeare with a bit of a task on their hands, they will need to beat Walsall by a handsome margin to get through. Walsall will only have to avoid defeat to put themselves through as group winners and it’s difficult to see Walsall, given their past history in the event, making a pig’s ear of qualification

Table Twenty Five
Cheshire’s Crewe A start their walk down the long and winding road and start career on the national stage with a tie against Darren Brace’s Worcester Hotshots. Crewe’s debut in the event could have been a bit easier but on the other hand it could have been an awful lot harder as well. Worcester Hot Shots are a good team with Andrew McDonald, Ashley Wild & Darryl Swallow amongst their line up

Crewe’s skipper Dave Preece is well known amongst pool circles as are Kevin Lloyd and Phil Malam so this could be an interesting tie as both side jockeys for position but I feel that Worcester Hot Shots will just run out the winners in this match.

This will mean that Crewe then take on Berkshire’s Renegade A led by England manager Robert Uzzell. Renegade will be missing the silky skills of Eddie Barker but they still have a good line up with Sefton Payne Videsh & Vikas Sabharwal

Renegade will be expecting to do well in this match but I feel that Crewe will get their first taste of victory in the knock out cup and give Renegade a real headache.
One team’s joy is another team’s dose of reality and renegade will go into their match knowing that winning the group will be a real up hill struggle and Robert Uzzell will wish Eddie Barker was in his team.

Renegade are good enough to beat Worcester Hot Shots but it’s a bit different when you have to win and win well to keep you in the tournament. Worcester Hot Shots will be well aware that the draw will be good enough for them and that will ease the pressure on them no end. For this reason it will be Worcester Hot Shots that eventually come out of the group and get to play in the knockout section

Table Twenty Six
East Yorkshire’s Holderness has the unenviable task of trying to get the better of P.J.'s Stourbridge from the West Midlands in the opening match in this group. Holderness who have Alan Robinson, Paul Bristow, Pete Broughton, Peter Everingham and Wayne Bristow in their line up but if you compare that line up with that of P.J.'s Stourbridge who have Ben Swinnerton, Hiten Patel, Jarrod Griffiths,
Neil Raybone, Pat Ward, Paul Dunkey, Richie Foxall, Rob Chilton, Rob Clark and Wayne Bedford. Now that’s what I call a line up. Perhaps after seeing that you can see why they are so successful here. Oh I completely forgot that they have a new boy in their ranks, well not new really I suppose, more like a returning son really, don’t know how good he is but his name is Mick Hill.

I don’t like putting a downer on any team but the other two teams in this group but they do look like they are up the junction and will have to play out of their skins to get a result from this group. One thing that might help the teams out is the fact that P.J.'s Stourbridge are slow starters, if they have a weakness then this would be it.

Even allowing for a slow start I can’t see any other outcome than P.J.'s Stourbridge winning the first match. This will mean that Holderness will then take on Riverside who have in their line up Andy Williams, Dan Jones, Trevor Clarke and Sean Burke.

The match between Holderness and Riverside should be fairly evenly matched which is bad news for both teams because with each frame lost it becomes harder for riverside to have a meaningful match with P.J.'s Stourbridge and another nail in Holderness’s coffin.

All in all I think that Holderness will run out the winners of this match but only just so that will leave Riverside a mountain to scale if they are to progress.

When Riverside take on P.J.'s Stourbridge it will be a bit of an anti climax as P.J.'s Stourbridge will have warmed up and will take the first few frames which will knock the stuffing out of Riverside and as such will make it that much easier for P.J.'s Stourbridge to clock up the frames they will need to make through to the knock out stage. But as a new team it’s for Riverside to take the positives out of the defeat and build on it for next time.

Table Twenty Seven
Nottinghamshire’s Cherry Tree takes on East Yorkshire’s North Wolds in what looks a very evenly matched tie Cherry Tree have John Brinkworth., Leon Hill and Corey Blackshaw who will be hoping for a solid performance. North Wolds have skipper Adrian Walton, Neil Rookes & Bob Chard who will be doing their best to make sure its North Wolds that win the opening match.

I am going to go for North Wolds to win the first match in this group and have the luxury of sitting and watching the next match between Cherry Tree and London’s Waterloo.

Waterloo skipper Jerry Tickell will be hoping that Akar Necati, Allan Formosa & Manuel Fontes can produce the performances that will see them past Cherry Tree. This like the first match will be very tight and may well end up in a draw as both teams struggle to find the winning touch take will give either the teams to safety of a frame cushion or two.

If it does end up being a draw North Wolds will be handed a golden opportunity to win the group all they will have to do is not loose. Waterloo on the other hand will have to attack right from the off if they are to get anything from this match. Waterloo do have what it takes to win this match whether they do or will be down to North Wolds not panicking if things don’t go their way at the start. If they loose their heads waterloo will take full advantage. If North Wolds just keep plodding away then it will be them that go into the knockout stages.singing to themselves another one bites the dust

Table Twenty Eight
This group looks like being a blood bath with all three teams in it having what it takes to win it. Sussex’s Littlehampton Select take on a real old war horse in the shape of Lancashire’s Wigan. Littlehampton Select will have to at the top of their game if they are to get anything out of this match. It does not matter how good your teams is if it isn’t playing it’s “A” game Wigan with Carl Bromley, Dave Arstall. Dave O'Shaungnessy, Geoff Harrison, Glen Cahir, Ian Davenport, Lee Bridge, Shaune Dawber & Wayne Dutton will grind your team down and eventually squeeze the life out of it.

And this I feel is what will happen here Wigan will not let Littlehampton Select get a head of steam up.

That will mean that Littlehampton who will have to stay on the table and take on Wolverhampton Wednesday. The West Midlands outfit with Brian McDirmid
Chris Reckord, Clinton Lenoir, Fred Bannister and Jamie Wylde will be looking to get to the latter stages as they usually do.

Littlehampton Select will be so miffed at losing the first match they will not have recovered their composure when their next match starts. This means that Wolverhampton Wednesday will have stolen a march on Littlehampton Select before they manage to regain their composure. Do this against a team like Wolverhampton Wednesday and you are not going to get anything out of the match so it’s going to be goodnight from Littlehampton Select.

For Wolverhampton Wednesday it’s a head to head with Wigan. This should be a nip and tuck match with frames traded on a one for one basis and it would not surprise me to see this one need a tie break to separate the two teams. If it goes to a play off I would have to go for Wigan to come out on top and make it through to the last 32 giving skipper Ian Davenport plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

Table Twenty Nine
South Yorkshire’s Railway from Askern Pool league who in a previous life were better known as Mexborough are only missing a couple of players from the previous line up. They now consist of Allistaire Baille, Glyn Martin, John Astill, John Waller, Lee Denman, Lee Smith, Mark Berriman, Martin Hazel, Micheal Barron, and Tom Farrelly, like Trent Trophies they are a powerful looking combo on paper and if they are to make their mark here this weekend its got to be perfect..

Unlike Trent Trophies though they will have real competition right from the word go as they have to take on Warwickshire’s Reds Elite who have, spookily, Kevin Farrelley Liam Farrell, Mark White, Steve Mullan, Steve Sears, Sunny Singh and Vic Makh in their line. Which makes this another of the matches I will be having a look at from time to time because this may well turn out to be the match of the round robin section. Both teams ooze quality from start to finish and both teams will be aware that one slip up will be the end of their chances. Under that sort of pressure each frame becomes like a penalty shoot out where with each passing frame the tension gets ramped up another notch. With two quality teams like these going head to head there are two possible scenarios – either one team will batter the other and it will all be over before it gets started or it will be tight as a camel’s **** in a sand storm.

For me, I would like it to be the later simply because it’s better sometimes to watch the tactics than watching break- dish.

I am going to go for Reds Elite to just edge this one but it could just as easily go the other way.

That means that Essex’s Braintree A enter the arena with a match against Railway, Braintree have some good players in their line up too like Darren Ciniglio Jed Thomson Stuart Reardon Tony Carr but whether they will be able to keep Railway at bay I doubt.

Under normal circumstances Braintree would be considered a fair bet to do well but against railway it’s difficult to see where all the frames they are going to need will come from. It is possible that Reds Elite will have softened them up a bit allowing Braintree in for the kill but alas for me it will be Railway doing the killing

Hopefully Braintree won’t be completely out of contention by the time they have to take on Reds Elite because I think their style of play is better suited to playing Reds elite than it was against railway. Perhaps this group would have been completely different had it been Braintree V Reds Elite in match one But the draw is the draw and although I can see Braintree pushing Reds Elite I can’t see then having enough to stop the Warwickshire outfit from reaching the last 32

Table Thirty
Suffolk’s Lowestoft T.S. take on G.M.C.’s Heywood another of the new teams this time round so for G.M.C’s captain, Chris Longley, who can chose from Adam Phillipson, Andy Hall, David George & Eddie Hobson it will be a learning curve.

Lowestoft T.S. has some very experienced players in their ranks players like Phil Dyer, Sam Bemment and captain Keith Peck I would expect that this will be a tight affair with both teams vying to get the upper hand but as I usually do when it looks like things will be tight. I go with the team with a bit more experience so I feel that the winners of this match will be Lowestoft Town select.

That means that Somerset’s Weston B will be taking on Heywood Weston have Debs & Mark Chudley, Aaron Stone & Ian Griffin in their line up so I don’t see Heywood getting a great deal out of this match either other than the experience they can bring to the table next time round. But wouldn’t it be nice if they could do something

When Lowestoft TS take on Weston B it will be for a place in the last 32 and like the other two matches in this group it should be tight affair right through to the final frame of this match but I think that Lowestoft TS will just have enough to get past Somerset B and start to feel those good vibrations as they celebrate the passage through to the knock out stage.

Table Thirty One
Warwickshire’s Nuneaton A take on Surrey’s Premier P.L. in the curtain raiser for this group in another of the tie ties that matches two good team up head to head. If this were a boxing match it would be billed as a heavy weight bout where the contestants will slug it out to the last one standing.

Nuneaton A have Ben Gilbey, Lee Steptoe, Neil Randle, Scott Varden & Steve Tedds whilst in the blue corner Premier Pool League side we have Goeff Kite Williams, Bill Noel, Fred Moller & George Reeves

When it comes down to it I think Nuneaton will be the ones who after a bit of a struggle will come out on top but they will need to patched up a bit before their next bout later on in the afternoon.

That means that Premier Pool League will be taking on the team of the moment, Leicester with their tails still in the air after winning 2 of the three majors so far this year. Leicester’s line up for this event is Andy Lee, Colin Treadwell, Gavin Lomax, Harry Patel, Lee Ross, Mark Selby, Steve Chambers, Steve Morris,
Steve Robertshaw, Tom Ford, Tommy Donlon, and Vinny Allen.

So I don’t see Premier P.L. having too much to complain about when they get beaten by Leicester. The only thing that Premier can control will be by how many they are beaten by if they play to their full potential then they might get to seven frames before they are sent to the bar to commiserate and complain about how unlucky they were to be drawn against Leicester. But unfortunately it doesn’t matter much who gets drawn against Leicester it’s a heartache when you get beaten..

Leicester will be looking at Nuneaton A as be the next team to come into their radar and once locked on Leicester won’t let go until the winning post has been reached. Nuneaton on the other hand will be throwing out chaff in an attempt to blind the radar and nip in underneath it to deal a fatal blow to Leicester’s defences.

Buoyed up by their successes Leicester have made the transition from a team to be wary of to a team to be frightened off and the confidence that comes knowing your opposition is running scared is worth a frame or two so when it comes down to it Nuneaton will put up a gallant fight but it will be Leicester that deal the knock out punch to join the knock out stage unscathed.

Table Thirty Two
And so we come to the final 3 group matches in this year’s knock out cup and like all the others there is an interesting mix of teams first up is Buckinghamshire’s Milton Keynes who will be taking on the last of Norfolk’s trio of teams South Norfolk and this one is probably the best of them. Sporting a line up consisting of Ben Annison, Carl Clack, Chris Minns, Danny Raisborough, James Hammond, John Kenny, Martin Wood and skipper Nigel Meal. That is a very strong group of players. Milton Keynes can call on Mark McGauley, Matt Newland. Paul Sedman. Jody Willers & Scott Willers.

With that sort of line up this should be a good match for neutrals to watch. I think that in the end South Norfolk will have enough fire power to leave Milton Keynes staring at the prospect of going out of the event at the hands of a new team.

This will mean that Milton Keynes will have to beat Dawley B and then hope that Dawley B beat South Norfolk in the final match of the group. Dawley have one of the biggest squads’ in the event so will have plenty of players to choose from.

I think that Milton Keynes will beat Dawley B to do what they can do to keep their hopes alive.

Milton Keynes will then have to wait and see if Dawley B can beat South Norfolk by just enough to topple South Norfolk but not enough to allow Dawley to go through instead of Milton Keynes. However, I think all the mathematics involved will be rendered useless as South Norfolk book the last remaining spot in the knock out section. But wouldn’t it be nice if it went to a three way play off.

Tom Fahy
Tournament Director