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).
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