Boscombe Cliff eased to an 81-73 win over nearest Section One rivals Southbourne. Graham Matthews, Brian Frith, Craig Paterson and Alan Geary (22-16) topped Cliff’s three winning rinks, while Stan Jordan’s quartet picked up five shots on the last end to win 22-20.

Brian Jones’s rink (18-16) gathered in two points for Southbourne.

Knyveton Gardens regained second spot after their three-rink victory at Meyrick Park. Bournemouth’s only success was supplied by Vic Druce (21-18), with honours shared by Gardeners skips Chris Hollier (22-19), who collected four shots on the 20th end, and John Kellow, who recovered from 15-13 down to win 18-15.

It went down to the wire at Branksome Park, before Ringwood emerged (10-4) 72-71 winners after Peter Ward (18-16) fended off a spirited fightback by Squirrels’ Paul Tidby. Ted Hanger’s crew (22-16) accounted for the hosts’ top skip Roger Button (20-15).

Alexandra Park’s recovery continued with a 14-0 (100-80) win over Lymington. Steve Chalker trailed 21-16 but won 24-23, while Vern Singleton, Alan Burden, Alan Miller and Doug Rumble thundered in with a 31-19 win.

Poole Park’s combo of Billy Shylock, Maurice Foord, Paul Spetch and Peter Willats (29-7), meanwhile, set up a 90-75 victory over lowly West Moors. Alec McKenzie’s last-end 18-18 tie made it 11-3 for the Dolphins.

Fordingbridge’s reign at the top of Section Two came to an end after Boscombe Cliff’s Mike Proctor, Peter Maher, John Cave and Bob Sprules went on the rampage to win 36-4. Ben Fellows’s quartet salvaged two points for the Turks (83-59).

New Milton regained their position at the head of affairs despite losing 10-4 at Electric. John Ellis, Nicky Fay, Barry Blake and Ray Cooke (30-16) flicked the right switches for Electric to win 77-70.

Two winning rinks and one tie saw Southbourne to an 11-3 (87-69) triumph at Pelhams. Top for the Tower men were Martin Shepherd, Chris Bloomfield, Huw Evans and John Challis (28-11).

Broadstone-Wessex, meanwhile, missed out on an opportunity to go top after their 12-2 defeat at Wimborne. Minster men Eddie Hawkins, John Sweet, Doug Smith and Chris Nappin (22-13) led the hosts to an 89-74 victory.

Elsewhere, Swanmore missed a chance to get among the leaders when losing 10-4 to visitors Kings Park. Seton Smith, Paddy Roche, Ray Williams and Eric Knight (26-12) were the noble men for the Royals (80-63).

• The formbook was ripped up when Redhill Park overcame Section Three leaders Braeside 10-4. Colin Seale (21-15) rescued two points for the Carpetbagg-ers, but the wily Eric Jones led his crew of Gordon Allen, John Williams and Fred Wiseman to a 21-12 win and, ultimately, a 77-64 triumph for the Rangers.

Poole Park seized the opportunity to take over the leader’s mantle with a 14-0 win at West Moors. Mike Bennett, Ray Smith, Richard Sawyer and Graham Mould (35-15) shaped the Dolphins’ 109-62 final tally.

Knyveton Gardens, meanwhile, rediscovered the winning formula as Adam Broom’s rink of Roy Fenton, Ken Budd and Peter Figg (36-9) failed to hide their emotions as the Gardeners racked up a 98-57.75 win over Highcliffe.

Knyveton skip Bob Osler got in on the act by claiming a last-end 25-24 success.

Moordown slumped to their ninth defeat of the season when losing 12-2 at Iford Bridge. Dave Webb, Barry Short, Mike Emsley and Alan Doughty were the main pillars in the Bridge’s 96-47 win.

Braeside A saved the day for the Carpetbaggers by defeating Richmond Park on all four rinks. Ken Ellam, Brian Hacker, Peter Crocker and Peter Lloyd banked a 26-16 win towards Braeside’s winning total of 88-63.

• Section Four trailblazers Branksome Park A stayed top even though they lost 12-2 at Christchurch. Despite a 20-13 win by Alan Parram, Christchurch emerged 82-72 winners, with the Priorites’ top return coming from Ron Woodcock, Joe Spicer, Tony Connor and John Waller (23-14).

Argyll closed the gap on the leaders by collecting 12 points at New Milton. Bill Taylor, Colin Harrison, Mark Howard and John Roberts (27-10) led the Cliff dwellers to a 78-73 victory. Derek Tansley’s crew (30-11) put up a resolute performance for Milton.

Swanage, meanwhile, slipped out of the top three following a 90-64 defeat at Poole Park. The only solace for Swanage came from Dave Hogsflesh (18-15) as the Dolphins squad of Mick Wallis, Maurice Bower, Adrian Dicker and Ron Newbury (34-8) showed the way.

Wimborne A took over in third spot after turning over Ferndown on their own patch 12-2 (85-76). The top Minster men were John Longman, Richard Edmonds, Roger Gallup and John Armfield (25-16).

• Section Five leaders Southbourne B remained top despite going down 10-4 at Highcliffe. The Castle guard of Stuart Lane, Colin Evans, Geoff Humphreys and Doug Blunden (26-10) steered Highcliffe to an 87-76 victory.

Broadstone-Wessex closed the gap with a 12-2 triumph over Knyveton Gardens, with Dave Tregunno, Bernard Sturgess, Malcolm Peters and Alan Godwin (30-10) featuring in the hosts’ 89-73 win.

The closest of finishes at Ringwood saw Foresters skips Cyril Archer (24-14), Mick Miller (17-17) and Ted Fay (16-16) fail to cover Pelhams’ winning rink of Arthur Fish, Dave Shutler, John Welton and Roy Pearce (20-9). This resulted in a 10-4 (67-66) win for the Kinson club.

Elsewhere, Boscombe Cliff B crumbled to a four-rink defeat by Redhill Park A. The biggest contribution to the Park rangers’ 86-53 success came from Alan Taylor, Brian Walters, Denis Rawlings and Ben Trimby (30-13).

n Although suffering a 10-4 defeat at Kings Park, Branksome Park actually extended their lead at the top of Section Six as nearest rivals Swanmore lost 12-2 at Richmond Park. The star turn for HQ was John McAuslene, Rob James, Mike Smith and Wally Draper (25-8), who paved the way for Richmond’s 82-57 victory.

The Squirrels’ winning rinks, meanwhile, were topped by Mike Everett’s quartet (18-14), but a resounding 35-9 from Peter Saunders, Barry Goodwin, Des Milnes and John Monk set the Royals on course for a 104-63 winning tally.

Another ton-up saw Argyll move into second place after hammering Iford Bridge 10-4 (118-79). Alan Godfrey, Alan Gosling, Geoff Halstead and Rod Thomson (38-12) set off the demolition charges.

The basement battle at Southbourne, meanwhile, resulted in a 10-4 win for Poole Park. In a tight finish, the 18-11 return by Gary Shepherd, Cliff Smith, Ray McIntyre and Derek Hawes gave the Dolphins the edge (80-79).