Sport
2 August, 2026
Chill in the air as pool brings interesting twist
The confident and cocky combatants of the Country Club Two side awaited in their home among the gum trees for the arrival of the RSL team who were dourly determined to deflower the unconquered CC2.
THERE were to be two interesting matches on a chilly winter’s evening to mark round 14 of the Inter-Hotels Pool Competition.
But match-of-the-round status definitely belonged to the home of the Rollers and Floggers where the clash of the titans at the apex of the pile was terminated by a prodigious personal presentation of pool prowess.
The confident and cocky combatants of the Country Club Two side awaited in their home among the gum trees for the arrival of the RSL team who were dourly determined to deflower the unconquered CC2.
The home-side opened the match in confident style when captain Harley Durward refused to allow Sam Postlethwaite to play a tune on his cue.
But the Diggers hit back with the subtlety of a tomahawk missile as their captain Mitch Phillips invoked an early astronomical illumination by seven-balling Will Jackson.
Kyle Postlethwaite almost produced an encore exhibition against Jake Male, but the Club’s Grant Doyle was to restore calmness and cohesion to their cause when he won his opening frame against Daniel Needs to have the match level at the end of the first round.
At the top of the second round, Harley put his team’s proboscis to the fore when he banished Sam to the bar, (coming from one who would know, a popular place for a muso).
Then, after restoring his trousers to a more acceptable position, Will extracted revenge to level his match with Mitch.
However, Kyle played a cadenza on Jake, their only success for the round as Daniel was sent packing by Grant in the final frame.
The desperate Diggers were now trailing by three games to five and all hope rested on the shoulders of Mitch in the only frame required in the third round
And he was to be successful by eliminating Will and he then went on to partner Sam triumphantly against Will and Simon Elliott to square the match at five games apiece with just the one doubles frame remaining.
What was to occur henceforth will remain the stuff of Country Club legend for millennia to come.
To the baize stepped Harley the hatchet man to break the balls and, as teammates and foes watched on in stunned amazement, the match was over quicker than Donald Trump can change his mind.
The balls disappeared repeatedly until the table was barren and the rest of the players could pack up their cues.
The demoralised Diggers drifted off into the night, stunned by the scintillating solo effort that had culminated in their six games to five defeat.
In their bastion on the hill, the Sporting Club warriors hosted the Farmers’Arms One side and, while the result was to be predictable the Farmers’ boys did not have it all their own way.
The match appeared to be over midway through the second round when Geoff Watts squared his match with Dayle Pitt.
That was after Ned Gorrie had decimated Jesse Cook, including a seven-baller that produced some extra rear-end radiance to augment that produced by the Lord Nelson light towers.
Earlier, Hayden Perry and Ben Medlyn had opened their accounts against Mitch Glidden and Cheyenne Wright respectively.
But the Club’s refreshments must have suddenly proved more alluring for the thirsty visitors from the Parisian quarter as Mitch and Cheyenne both fought back to level their matches at the end of the second round.
The drought for the floundering Farmers was to continue in to the third round as Geoff succumbed to Dayle and Hayden followed suit against Mitch.
Suddenly we had a match on our hands with the score now tied at five games apiece.
It was now up to the laconic Ben to resurrect their flagging fortunes against Cheyenne in the final frame of the singles and this he did with aplomb.
Henceforth re-invigorated the Farmers’ boys went on to win both doubles and walk away with the points after an eight games to five victory.
At the Farmers’ Arms Hotel, their number Two side cheerfully welcomed the tourists from the wilds of the Avoca Forest.
The match was all square after the first round with the visitors’ Ben Pell and Shaun McNaulty opening their accounts against Luke Pole and Jack Swanton.
Keith Turner and Peter Anderson had gone under to Jack Hodges and Alayne Cunningham.
The third round was to prove decisive, however as Ben and Shaun closed out their matches and Keith was to square his.
But there was much rejoicing and merriment when the alluring Amazon Alayne roasted, fried and freeze-dried the hapless pizza Pete to record her first victory for the season.
With her team distracted by this monumental occasion the Loganites went on to win both doubles to secure the match by seven games to four.
Ladder
Country Club Two 225.6
RSL 221.7
Country Club One 120.3
Farmers’ Arms One 125.8
Logan 82.7
Sporting Club 47.2
Farmers’ Arms Two 30.7
Read More: St Arnaud