POOL: THE Fox and Hounds, Ewood, are in search of SEVENTH heaven.

For the kings of pub pool retained their status as Thwaites' Champions of Champions twice over as BOTH pool teams enjoyed success in this year's competition.

But that should come as no surprise - the Fox and Hounds have had their name on the trophy for the last SIX years.

This year's competition took on a completely new format, with the winners of the four Thwaites' leagues playing in a mini-tournament rather than a straight knockout competition. But it didn't change the outcome as A-team captain Keith Bannister explains: We were a bit wary of the Oddfellows because they were joint favourites, but in the end both our teams turned them over."

B-team representative John Hayes was also in high spirts: "We expected to lost against our A-team but not many people could see us beating the Oddfellows - even they were totally convinced they would win.

"We did far better than we expected - we beat everyone except the Fox and Hounds A team."

But Keith, nicknamed "Captain Carlsberg" by landlord Derek Howarth, is quick to point out that although it was a close 5-4 first leg victory for the A-team, their understudies were "battered" 9-0 in the return leg - a statistic John is less willing to divulge.

The pub have also scooped the Blackburn and District Sunday League title after beating Cabin End in an outstanding league fixture.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.