BOSCOMBE Cliff clinched a staggering seventh straight Section One title after a comfortable 12-2 victory over Branksome Park.

Michael Hutley, Charlie Munden, Mike Squires and Chris Daniels (33-10) were the backbone of Cliff's 97-61 success.

Poole Park settled for third spot after sharing rinks with Alexandra Park, with Vern Singleton, Pat Rod, Derek Ames and Alan Miller (26-15) assuring Alex of 10 points and the runners-up spot for the second year in a row.

Knyveton Gardens quietly slipped into fourth spot after winning on three rinks at Ringwood (83-65). The Gardeners' glory rink of Peter Habgood, Rob Watkins, David Swindell and John Kellow (32-16) rounded things off with a last-end hot-shot.

Bournemouth appear to have extricated themselves from a relegation battle after a 74-72 win over Wimborne. The pivotal moment came when Bob Curtis picked up four shots on the last end to win 18-17, enabling Bournemouth to win the match 12-2.

Captain Dean Hopkins' rink (28-18) kept Southourne's hopes of survival alive when the Tower men overcame a determined Lymington side 9-5 (81-79).

For the last game Southbourne need a win against Bournemouth, with a Wimborne, Ringwood or Branksome Park slip-up.

SECTION TWO

NEW Milton's 12-2 (98-52) win over Iford Bridge assured an immediate return to Section One for the New Forest side and confirmed relegation for the Bridge. Fittingly, it was one of the most consistent rinks of the league, Roy Nicoll, John Thorpe, Roger Herlihy and Brian Jones (30-7), which paved the way for New Milton's success.

Five teams are fighting it out for the remaining promotion spot - West Moors, Fordingbridge, Boscombe Cliff A, Wessex and Braeside.

Of these, Fordingbridge were the only side to lose, going down at home 4-10 to Braeside (66-99), thanks mainly to Peter Lloyd's quartet (31-11).

West Moors shared rinks with visitors Pelhams, with Paul Beard's outfit (30-18) ensuring 10 points for the hosts.

Wessex and Boscombe Cliff A also won 10-4 against Electric and Branksome Park A respectively. Wessex top skip Chris Howard (20-13) outshone the Sparkies and Bob Sprules's rink (22-14) led to Branksome's downfall (78-74). Branksome look to be the favourites to join Iford in a quick return to Section Three.

SECTION THREE

THE only issue settled in this division is that Wessex A, despite winning 12-2 at Moordown, are relegated to the lower division. Moordown and Christchurch are the leading contenders for the other drop spot after the Priorites returned from Swanage with just two points (97-64). Max King's squad (36-11) turned on the power for the Purbeck Club.

Pacemakers Southbourne extinguished any flickering hopes that Kings Park might have held by winning on three rinks (90-2), with Frank Warren's quartet (25-11) gaining top honours.

Despite sharing rinks with their nearest rivals Redhill Park, Richmond Park's regular glory boys, Colin Johnson, Tony Lipscombe, Alan Broadhurst and Craig Paterson (22-12), contributed to a winning total (76-71).

Argyll's faint hopes of promotion were kept alive with an 11-point haul at Highcliffe (67-63). Argyll's Chris Hawkins, Peter Hemming, David Cleave and Brian Oliver (19-15) came out as the top rink in an extremely tight match.

SECTION FOUR

WITH the two front-runners, Knyveton Gardens A and Poole Park A both losing, West Moors have entered the frame after picking up 11 points at Swanmore. Bob Graham, Bill Archer, Mike Tappenden and Arthur Baxter (25-13) contributed most to the final tally (71-65).

Poole Park A never settled on the magic carpet, as Braeside cleaned up on three rinks (90-73) headed by Roy Butler, Mike Beard, Mike Bull and Pat Day (23-12).

And there were strange happenings at Knyveton Gardens as the leaders lost on three rinks to New Milton, with skip Mike Akerman dropping a hot-shot to Knyveton skip Peter Figg, before almost redeeming himself by collecting seven shots on the last end. With the match all square across the boards, New Milton skip Ray Green had the luxury of not having to bowl his last wood for overall victory (81-80).

Poole Park B are returning to Section Five after losing out 10-4 at Milford-on-Sea (77-69), David Hall's rink (28-6) keeping the host's survival hopes alive.

Two other relegation candidates, Wimborne A and Ferndown, battled it out with the Minster Men coming out on top 12-2 (88-75). Percy Swinson's rink (24-10) helped keep Wimborne A just ahead of Milford.

SECTION FIVE

BOSCOMBE Cliff B emulated their first-team's achievement by becoming champions of Section Five. Cliff won by four shots overall (81-77) against Knyveton Gardens B, whose top rink of Tom Gooch, Ray Elrick, Don Priddle and 15-year-old skip Adam Broom (33-11) just failed to cover the leaders' three winning rinks.

Kings Park A, Ringwood A and Bournemouth A are all vying for the second promotion spot, with Kings Park moving above Ringwood A after beating the Foresters 10-4 (84-82). Andy Darch's rink (27-17) turned the result in Kings Park's favour.

Bournemouth gave themselves an outside chance of promotion by winning on three rinks at Southbourne B (85-64), Bill Sadler's rink (31-12) leading the Meyrick marauders.

Richmond Park A's winning rink of Dan Crone, John Deacon, Brian Pearce and Richard Prowse (29-10) covered Redhill Park's three winning rinks by one shot (76-75), gathering in eight points for the HQ team.

Pelhams A lifted themselves above Highcliffe by picking up 12 points against the same side, winning 77-70. Barry Duxbury's quartet (23-14) were the pick of Pelhams' rinks.

SECTION SIX

NO issues were settled in this division, but West Moors have burst through to top spot after thrashing Wimborne 101-52. The star performers, Mike Cockram, Cyril Martin, Bert Sadler and John Price (29-11), headed four winning rinks for the Moors.

Argyll A lost out to visitors Lymington A 71-79, with Lymo's top rink (22-12) skipped by Arthur Baker paving the way for 11 points.

Branksome Park B are hovering in third place after a 10-4 success at New Milton B. Branksome's main contributors to the 80-64 triumph were Wally Barker's quartet (29-15). Swanmore A faded from the promotion picture after losing at Iford Bridge A (86-67), where Norman Caulfield, Colin Rattue, Dave Twinning and Brian Levy (22-11) manufactured Iford's third win of the season .

The basement battle between Ferndown A and Southbourne C resulted in a three rink successes for hosts Ferndown (86-65), Roy Rayner's boys (25-15) claiming top honours for the Ferndown club.