National Interleague at Great Yarmouth - 4th & 5th April:
The Dr's Surgery is open!!
It’s great that both Waterloo teams will be back in action at the Big One in April. The teams have both improved a lot over the years so there’s no doubting our potential, what we are lacking of course is a pedigree in these competitions, the kind of pedigree exhibited by superstar teams like Trent Trophies A, Leicester, PJ’s Stourbridge, Imperial / Frank Smith, Brighton, Sheffield and Dawley.
Waterloo 1 begins its campaign this year in a fantastically exciting group. That’s Group 9, and it also involves Medway and Barking Phoenix. From an outsider’s point of view, this is a truly interesting set-up – I imagine each rival captain read the draw and said the same thing: “If we play the way we know we can, we can win this group, but if we don’t, so can either of the other teams.” There is little to split the three of them. Pedigree goes with Barking Phoenix, but they have a tendency to underachieve, and have lived for too long in the shadow of their defunct offspring, the Elite. Medway, meanwhile, are the custodians of the Rochester legacy, but Rochester is no more and some of their top players have opted to return to the host team. Having said that, not all of them have, which makes things unpredictable … You’d have to prize this group open with a knife, but hopefully that will give Waterloo 1 that extra bit of drive to come out and win the group.
If that group is the epitome of equilibrium, Group 2, which includes Waterloo 2, is a masterclass in polarisation, at least on paper. After all, Dawley A are former champions (and I remember us playing them before, back when there was just the one Waterloo team, God they are a noisy bunch!). By contrast I have never heard of Fritchley, no idea where they come from, and have no way of really rating them. On paper they are underdogs (damned paper), while Waterloo 2 sits in the middle of these two on the form charts.
So much for us, what about the rest? Let’s take a walk around the tables and see what the action is like.
Group 1, which always contains the defending champion, is this year’s group of death, the only real superstar group of the draw. The unbeatable Trent Trophies A should win it, but both Leeds and Colchester A can hold their own. If Leeds have their star players, like Daz Appleton and Rob Wilson and Andy Richardson, they could shock the Stoke potters, which would make life difficult for Colchester A. But it wasn’t too long ago that Colchester beat Trent Trophies A in the group stages and Leicester in the semi-finals on their way to a Yarmouth final, which they lost to Sun Valley. They’ve not scaled those heights since, but they are good, and the noise from Table 1 (we were playing close by the last time Colchester played Trent Trophies, and they knew how to cheer on their boys, that’s for sure!) might prove distracting to the Waterloo 2 boys playing next door. In any case, Trent Trophies remain the team of the moment. Gareth Potts, Adam Davis, Lee Kendall, Darren Shone and the others really do enjoy Yarmouth, and it’s not necessarily because of the strippers on Saturday night!
Group 3 has no such glamour. Gravesham A, Milton Keynes C and Witney have nothing to call between them. I opt for Gravesham A to squeeze this one ahead of Witney, with the Bucks boys coming in last.
Group 4 features our London colleagues Barnet, and I expect them to win the group. Neither Leek B nor Gloucester has the firepower to match them. Leek should pip Gloucester for second place.
Beverley A are not a tremendous side but they should win Group 5 ahead of Dover and Bideford.
Nuneaton A should squeeze Group 6 ahead of City of Leicester, and then Halifax A.
Back in October, Reds Elite from Coventry lost to both PJ’s Stourbridge and Waterloo. The former was expected, the latter wasn’t. Even so, they should bounce back to hammer their opponents in Group 7. Wolverhampton Wednesday B and Central Cornwall. Wednesday should draw on their vast experience in the comp to come second ahead of the Cornishmen who are new to the event.
Twice champs Leicester will cruise Group 8. Tommy Donlon, Tom Ford, Vinny Allen, oh, and Mark Selby … Coventry’s Reds I ran Leicester close in a group match last year, and they will fancy another shot at the big boys, but the best they can legitimately hope for is second, ahead of Leek A, a decent team, in third.
Tolworth, with Steve Petty and Frank Strivens among the stars, are one of the best teams going. They form the backbone of the Surrey A and B sides which dominated the recent inter-county finals, and they are runaway favourites for Group 10, which leaves dark horses Crewe – previous giant-killers here – out in the cold. Against such opposition perennial hopefuls Leicester City have no chance.
Wigan and Dinnington contest Group 11. I think Wigan will win but Dinnington’s form recently has been top drawer and a semi-final last year was no fluke. Walsall A also has a top pedigree in this competition, but I can’t see them making any dents in either Wigan or Dinnington this year.
Then, in Group 12, I think and hope the under-achieving Milton Keynes A will win the group, with the Luton Lions beating Hammersmith for second spot.
Sun Valley have a top record and are among the country’s best teams. With Baydon Jackson and Clint I’Anson in their line-up they have earned that accolade. The Nottingham outfit should ease past Cambridge WMC and Shrewsbury B in Group 13, with Cambridge my tip for second place because there are many decent players in Cambridge even if this isn’t the elite team from that city.
Group 14 gives one of the great under-achievers, Croydon, a chance to shine. They could and should have enough to beat Cornwall’s Allan Davis, but I think the Cornishmen will be able to see off Biggleswade for second place.
There’s a name in Group 15 which should scare everyone – Morley International. Now, this may or may not be the same team that became Triangle and briefly dominated Interleague pool, but let’s be honest, no team bearing that name can be ignored. So, for me, it’s Morley ahead of Cumbria’s Whitehaven, and newcomers Easington easily last.
One of my dark horses every year is Renegade A from Berkshire, but they rarely show their full potential. I still think they should win Group 16 but they cannot afford to be below par as Chorlton, from Greater Manchester, is a decent team. It will pounce on any bad performances from Renegade so they will need to be on form. Burnley are the outsiders in this group.
Preston South finally made a final, and what a final, last October, so at last they can be legitimately ranked among the country’s elite. Make no mistake, they are contenders, with Gareth Hibbott and Lee Clough playing so bloody well, which makes veteran campaigners Lye and Stourbridge, plus underdogs Medway B, cannon fodder in Group 17.
Brighton A are a top team, with Morray Dolan and all that, but they have a tough draw in Derby’s Corn Exchange. This could be a cracker, as Corn Exchange are past masters at upsetting ‘better’ teams. I’ll go for Brighton, of course – how couldn’t I? – but it will be close. Riverside, which plays from Neil Toms’s club in Ware but doesn’t boast that kind of professional talent in its team, will struggle in this company. This is Group 18.
I’ll go for Kettering in Group 19, ahead of the Leicester Lions and then Premier Pool League. Kettering aren’t as strong as they used to be but experience should see them through here.
Oxfordshire’s Bicester Select are my tip for Group 20. It’s not a great group but I think they have the ammo to beat St Albans Saints into second place, and Eccles into third.
Group 21 is a real underdog cracker, with three good if unspectacular teams battling it out, in the form of Bracknell and Ascot A, St Johns and Romney Marsh. Sheer grittiness means I am going for Romney, never a team of superstars but always good group performers. St Johns (the Surridge family) should get second ahead of Bracknell.
Ipswich have lost some players recently but they should still win Group 22, ahead of Dawley B and Folkestone A in that order.
Weston-super-Mare is a surprisingly good breeding ground for pool players and Weston A have established themselves as a top team, so they should win Group 23. I don’t know how to call second place, with Lowestoft Town Select battling it out with Norman’s Elite, so a toss of the coin gives it to Lowestoft.
Chesterfield will win Group 24. Brighton B are good, and so are Stafford A, but I predict the group to end up in that order.
Group 25 is almost impossible to call. Pocket Rockets B are not a B team at all but some of Northamptonshire’s finest, Andover could be any one of two teams bearing that name, and Worcester Fox are unknown to me. Hmm – let’s go for Andover, ahead of the Rockets.
In Group 26, we see Trent Trophies’ feeder league, Afford, staking its own claim, and I think it will do a decent job if it. Northampton Village Pool League A has been coming to Yarmouth for years and shouting out to observers that it has dark horse potential, but it always lacks the killer bite, and for me Afford have too much experience. I think Afford with outdo NVPL A. Regency have not been at the finals for years. How good are they? I don’t know.
Group 27 also contains an excellent line-up. These are mainly near-but-not-near-enough teams. Ely have the best pedigree, with Phil the Farmer in the team. Clacton A, though, have some stars of their own, not least Darren Collison. Then there are the Surrey Warriors, one of the top 30 teams in the country. Surrey will be mightily unlucky to come in last in this tight group.
Yorkshire’s Punchbowl are worth a look as they are one of the Sheffield offspring. This team should field Terry Hunt, John Waller and Phil Cartwright so I fancy them to beat Taunton LVA in Group 28, with Tolworth II trailing in third place.
In Group 29 we have another offspring of a famous parent in the form of Accrington, whose team is comprised largely of former All’oas. I fancy the Lancastrians to beat the White Rose OAPs in a good old fashioned War of the Roses, with Derby likely to be last in this group.
Birmingham’s vastly experienced Small Heath, perennial campaigners and always a threat, will win Group 30, with the Nuneaton Lions finishing above Crawley in second spot.
Braintree A is another Essex team with a secret weapon – Rob Hill. Will he be playing? That might prove to be the decisive factor in Group 31, as they face an intriguing clash with the impressive South Norfolk. Let’s assume he will be and go with Braintree. Calverton and Arnold, another old hand, is the weak link here.
Finally, there’s Group 32, and this is where PJ’s Stourbridge comes in to the equation. This is actually a bloody good group. I have a real fondness for Gosport A (old times on the Region 7 tour and all that) but I fear they will finish last behind the mighty PJ’s and the talented Norwich A.
So, who will win the competition?
Trent Trophies A will win. This is the weakest Interleague line-up for years, at least on paper. I can’t see how it can be anything other than business as usual for the big guns.
Leicester are as usual the only serious threat to the Trophies.
PJ’s are brilliant but will probably implode at the semi-final stage.
Preston South will be buoyed by their recent successes but not have the strength in depth to go so far again.
Brighton A may reach the semi-finals.
Morley International? Ah, memories, but nothing more, sadly. In fact, the only team in the country, except Leicester, that I think has the depth and the confidence to trouble the Stoke boys is London’s Frank Smith, and they are not even here.
If I am going to call a dark horse this year, then it is going to have to be Tolworth. They are itching for success after being such a solid team for so many years. Surrey’s recent dominance of the inter-county set-up must be a factor in their confidence as Tolworth contributed to that success in a big way. Their players may have just come of age, but even so, they have to be a 33/1 shot in this company, where Trent Trophies are such overwhelming favourites. Indeed, the most difficult challenge for Trent Trophies might very well be getting out of the groups. If they achieve that OK, they will as always just get better and better as the weekend progresses.
No doubt I will be wrong on all counts. I leave you with the following call to arms:
