INTERLEAGUE KNOCKOUT CUP 2008

[AndyG]

Draw is out

Group 4
Brighton A
Cambridge K.S.R. (9am start! )
Penrith

Brighton got to Q Final last year
Penrith are often there but never qualified from their group.

Much easier draw than Trent Trophies A we got last time in Yarmouth, but we'll need to be on top form to get past Brighton in this group.

Group 11
Q Club
Ely
Godalming A

Godalming A - often get out of their group but not much further.
Q Club - No ranking on the EPA site

Ely should be favourites in this group

Group 23
Trent Trophies B
Pocket Rockets B
Cambridge Elite (late start!)

Trent Trophies B - Haven't been there the last couple of times but have got through the group stage in previous years
Pocket Rockets B - Got through the group stage last year

Elite should go through but neither team is going to be a pushover

[AndyG]

EPA PREVIEW

Tom Fahy reckons only Ely will get past the group stage, with the 2 Cambridge teams coming 2nd

Table Four
Sees one of the interleague’s big boy in action, Sussex’s Brighton A who’s line will come from Damian Campsey, Dean Torode, John Cairns jnr, John Gillard, Moray Dolan, Paul Bailey, Paul McNeil, Pete Ashman & skipper Steve Ringsell that’s not their full team but it’s enough to show you that you are going to have to be on form to take anything out of that lot.

That said, Cambridge K.S.R. look to be the best equipped team of the group to have a go at Brighton with Andy Greenley, Dom Cobley, Ed Savory, James Mayes, Julian Vargas, Lautro Vargas, Martin Early & Steve Griffiths , some of that lot are experienced county players (That is a little generous! + Ed, Lat and Steve aren't going and he has missed off our current county players, Neil W, Benny and Mel ) so there will be no reason to think they can’t give as good as they get. Well, up to a point anyway, but I see Brighton winning this one

This means that Cambridge K.S.R. will be taking on Cumbria’s Penrith and I must admit that despite being frequent visitors to the event they are a team I know very little about but they will be picked from Alex McLelland, Brian Hetherington, Ian Spurrell, John Elliott, John Martin, John Tompkins, Matthew Brannon, Phil Leary
& Richard Forrester. Having been here a few times I would have thought I’d know about them.

My feelings on this one are that Cambridge K.S.R. will prove to be too strong for Penrith and will win the tie with a few frames to spare.

Penrith will have to pick themselves up from their first match defeat pretty sharpish because although losing in the Interleague is a very depressing thing but you have 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.

The pressure cooker in this case will be facing a rampant Brighton and try as I might I can’t see Brighton allowing Penrith too many opportunities to win frames. If you don’t win frames you can’t win matches so this one in my view goes to Brighton so they will be the group winners at a canter.

Table Eleven
This is an interesting group in that of the three teams in the group two will feel they should win it. For the third team it’s their first time here so they should look to this group as a learning experience. Derbyshire’s Q Club in their first visit here gets to take on Cambridgeshire’s Ely. Ely will be thinking about winning this one well to set them up for when they play their next match. Q Club have no recognised stars in their line up which is made up from Daniel Woodings, Dave Fernandez, Gordon Murray, John Chambers, Kyle Bowler, Les Mahood, Mell Adams, Paul Bradford, Paul Grainger, Rob Chambers, Rob Ebbutt, Tom Elliott and Wayne Taylor so they will rely on a team effort to give them the strength they will need to get past Ely.

Ely will be banking for solid performances from the likes of Alan Issacson, Chuck Selllars, Dale Parson, Iain Aldous, James Parker, Jamie Jamieson, Jimmy Chambers, Josh Barker, Mark Turner, Paul Stelmaszuk, Phil Harrison, Richard Wharton, Rob Cork, Simon Rose, Stu McPherson and Terry Foster. My feeling on this one is that Ely will just have the edge in every department over Q Club and it will be pretty much one way traffic. I can’t see Q Club having the power to win this match and assuming that Ely do win with ease. Q Club will know they have been in a match where the opposition were just too good for them..

Q Club will then have to take on Surrey’s Godalming who won’t be any easier to beat than their first opponents, Godalming have to choose from Andy Sutherland, Darren Dodds, Dave Tootill, Douglas Howard. Ed Hudson, Gary Austin, Lee Hudson, Mark Mault, Max Brooker, Michael Cook, Nick Booth, Paul Bunyard, Sean Harvey and of course skipper Steve Brooker That little grouping will ensure that Q Club will have to fight for everything they get but in the end I would expect Godalming to have a bit too much fire power for Q Club. This weekend will give the Derbyshire side grounding on just how good some of the teams really are.

This will set up a thrilling head to head between Ely& Godalming and this where Phil Harrison, Richard Wharton, Ian Aldous & Rob Cork of Ely will have to subdue Godalming’s Max Brooker, Nick Booth, Andy Sutherland & Dave Tootill 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 a loss can be recovered from is where we will eventually see a winner and in my view Ely will be the ones who come out on top.


Table Twenty Three
Staffordshire’s Trent Trophies B get group 23 underway with a match against Northamptonshire’s Pocket Rockets B in what I see as a one sided group. The Trent Trophies team will be hoping Chris Evans, Dean Rush, Jamie Symons, John Clowes
Jon Hughes, Kieron Bolton, Mark Buckley, Ollie Booth, Rob Harding, Ryan Cope and Sam Capperwill produce performances that will see them past Pocket Rockets B.

Pocket Rockets B may have a trick or two up their sleeves, in their team are Adam Burns, Colin Buckby, Craig Haynes, Dave Tennant, Gary Francis, Graham Flanders
Hnigel Roberts, Jamie Burns, Justin Wynne, Mark Seaman, Michael Wilson, Stuart Bond & Wayne Gardner.

Mixed in that line up are some county players and the odd international but that won’t worry Trent Trophies B shouldn’t be phased by the Pocket Rockets B team given their A team line reads like a who’s who of pool.

This match has the look of a battle written all over it for Pocket Rockets B because I feel that Trent Trophies B may appear to be a string team their record suggests they are a front line team in their own right.

The match, I feel, will be slipping away from Pocket Rockets B from the start and given that Pocket Rockets B will always be playing catch up against Trent Trophies B it won’t be too much of a surprise that the frames will run out before Pocket Rockets B catch up.

Cambridge Elite from Cambridgeshire will then take on Pocket Rockets B in the second group match, Cambridge Elite will not prove that much easier opponents than Trent Trophies B did. Cambridge Elite sport some pretty big players in their line up, Mick Conlon and Simon Rivers being the most obvious ones and if Pocket Rockets B fails to deal with them then Cambridge Elite will have 4 frames in the back. They are backed up Adam Armstrong, Barry Lindsay, Ian Norris, Jim Munnelly, Johnathon Middleton, Mathew Bradford, Michael O'Boyle, Silvas Kides & William Scott.

Whether the overall strength of Cambridge Elite is enough to give them a comfortable passage to victory is unclear. Despite Pocket Rockets B’s best efforts to keep their pool playing weekend together I can only see Cambridge Elite coming out on top of this tie.

This will set up a final group match between Trent Trophies B & Cambridge Elite and should be an interesting tussle. Interesting in how each of the teams decides to counter the others threats. Trent Trophies B has an overall strong team whereas Cambridge Elite have a couple of gun slingers who could take the Trent Trophies B team out on their own.

When it comes down to the final few frames of the match I think the greater all round strength of Trent Trophies B will come to the rescue of the Staffordshire outfit and the will get across the finishing line and securing yet another last 32 spot

[orrible]

Is Silvas Kides going lol.