Cue Masters @ Lucky Shots, Monday @ 6pm in Sweet Dreams

Well I guess I should start off by wishing everyone a happy 09, and hoping you’s all enjoyed the Christmas period as much as I did. However, enough of that cheery bull shit, the inter-leagues are starting back up, the festivities are over, and it’s time to knuckle down and get back to some oh-so serious Y!Pooling! As the shine of the new season wears off, for most leagues it’s a case of having to keep on scrapping through games and trying to put as many points on the board as possible, or face the horrific reality of being left out of contention for the WPC World Cup!

On the other hand, for a small group of leagues, particularly the two involved in this match up, (as well as PFN in the Eastern Conference - I wouldn’t include Xtreme 8 Ball in that group yet since they are still to prove their worth as a team with a 17-7 game record) – having picked up at least 9 points from their first 4 matches will realise that they have put a sizeable distance between themselves and the cluster of teams chasing play-off spots. Since 4 teams from each division will earn a spot in the post-season, Cue Masters have a 7 point and Lucky Shots a 6 point safety net going into this match-up. Although these deficits can easily be made up in a short matter of weeks these teams are now no longer just after a play-off berth; they are surely now seeking to win the conference outright, which makes this match all the more interesting.

I have to admit, as far as CM go, I’m really not very well informed regarding their players, but having beaten MP and SS already this season you’d think they definitely have the capabilities to beat this LS side. LS are capable of playing at just about as high a standard as any other league in WPC, but have shown this season already that they won’t always be on top of their game. I think they have good enough players to say that they should win this game and, being in now perhaps the slightly easier conference, kick on to grab the #1 seed spot come play-off time. Despite that, if that’s what they intend to do, they can’t afford many more (if any) performances like week one when they were totally dismantled by HS.

Everything about this match is pointing towards the draw – two very decent sides that aren’t performing amazingly well at the minute but are getting wins on the board. However, something tells me CM have ridden their luck a little already this season to get to where they are, and I’m compelled to take LS for the win on Monday.

Match Odds: CM (15/8) Draw (Evs.) Fav. LS (11/8)

Match Prediction: LS 4 – 2 CM LS win in 6

I should have the match report up before Wednesday. As for the other games, Jason’s already covered them in more depth than I can. Good luck to all the leagues starting back up and a warm welcome goes out to X8B and ORP. Thanks for reading. In a bit. Ogges.