THE Crown Jewels put in a gem of a performance at the pool table as they came back from 2-0 down to beat Hurricane Potters in a nine-frame thriller.

It looked like business as usual for Mark Dickens’s seasoned title contenders on Monday night after singles wins for Mark Piercey and John Hosein gave the Potters an early lead in their home tie at the Hurricane Room in King’s Cross.

Despite the early setbacks, however, the Crown Jewels sparkled into life on the now more familiar blue baize and turned the tide thanks to brilliant potting under pressure from Cain Stubbs and Graham Brannan, before a victory in the opening doubles match of the evening for Cliff Fairhead and Shaun Pollard gave the Islington side a 3-2 lead.

But the Hurricane Potters have become a formidable force in the top-flight of the Chalk Farm Pool League for a reason, and they regained control to move within one frame of victory after the pairings of Ben-loulou Raphael and Piercey, and Hosein and Colin Cottrell dominated their respective doubles matches.

The topsy-turvy drama was, though, far from over. Pollard beat Jamie Dugdale to level the game at 4-4. And Fairhead then sank the final black ball of the night to earn the Crown Jewels a famous 5-4 win.

The result leaves the Crown Jewels fourth in the Division One table having pocketed two wins from their opening three games. King’s Cross Gunners are third after a 5-4 victory over second-placed Cousins Patriots.

Champions King’s Cross Hurricanes again top the table after Alp Sezer’s side beat The Crown 6-3 to make it three wins out of three, and open up an early five-point lead.