Southbourne proved their worth with a 10-4 victory over one of their main Section One contenders, Poole Park. Mike Newton, Bill Smith, Richard Poole and Brian Jones (22-12) played the kingpin role for the Towermen.

And skip Alan Bliss made a crucial contribution to Southbourne’s final tally of 81-75, when, on the 18th end, six down he drew shot, and went on to win 24-16. Dolphins’ main threat came from Pat Ravelin’s crew (29-18).

It was a case of bottoms up as all three clubs at the foot of the table won.

Southbourne’s nearest rivals Alexandra Park crashed out 83-74 at Knyveton Gardens. Reg Davis, Dave Swindells, Deric Pritchard and Chris Hollier (24-14) topped the Gardeners’ winning rinks.

But Paul King’s squad (27-16) denied the hosts a maximum.

Electric gained an 11-3 (81-75) win over a depleted Boscombe Cliff side. Sparkies’ mains supply came from John Diaper, Noel Pennington, Richard Haynes and Rob Burchell (24-15).

Bournemouth halted their poor run with a 12-2 win at Ringwood. Top score for the visitors came from Colin Bingley, John Cuff, Kevin Saunders and Gerry Potts (28-17). Lee Croad (20-17) held on for the Foresters’ two points.

Branksome Park returned to winning form after Geoff Shand, Doug Mitchell, Barry Stone and Tony Golding (27-9) set the Squirrels on course for a 14-0 (94-60) victory over Wimborne.

SECTION TWO: New Milton regained top spot with a 91-78 triumph over Fordingbridge. Roy Nicoll, Mike Cox, Allan Herring and Roger Herlihy (24-14) headed New Milton’s three winning rinks. Bob Mellor’s quartet (27-16) gave the Turks a little delight.

West Moors dropped to second despite their 10-4 (86-85) win at Kings Park. The main Moors men were Tom Downes, Peter Langford, Paul Beards and Dave Paget (23-13).

A last-end 16-15 win for Braeside skip Eric Lamb turned out to be the consolation prize as the Carpetbaggers were turned over 99-67 at Lymington. Vernon Cox’s crew (27-14) performed best in the Lymos’ 12-2 victory.

Poole Park A rallied to gain a 12-2 (88-75) home win over Southbourne A. Dolphins’ main contributors were Bob Walford, Peter Martin, Graham Mould and John Potter (28-13).

Broadstone-Wessex moved out of the drop zone after their 10-4 (83-70) win at Pelhams. Mick Caines, Dave Edwards, Clive Smith and Trevor Smyth (28-9) starred for the Wessex men.

SECTION THREE: Redhill Park retain pole position despite their 10-4 defeat at Braeside as all three of the top sides lost.

With three rinks all very close at the finish, the 28-15 success from the Braeside combination of Bert Deverill, John Mills, Terry Cox and Alan Watts proved to be the deciding factor in the final 90-81 tally.

Moordown’s challenge suffered a setback after a 12-2 defeat by visitors Knyveton Gardens A. Russell Foote’s soldiers Biddy Parkinson, Bob Osler, and Adam Broome (25-11) swept the Gardeners to a 79-60 triumph.

Boscombe Cliff A dropped to fifth after suffering a 12-2 home defeat to Swanmore. Geoff Symonds, Tony Norte, Dennis Durnford and Barry Coates (29-14) took top honours in the Swans 88-58 win.

Richmond Park skip Brian Devine held on 17-16 at Swanage to deny the hosts a maximum haul. Steve Leaton, Dave Thomas, Derek Smith and Dave Hogsflesh (26-18) delivered the ‘Purbeck Punch’ as Swanage strolled to a 91-72 victory.

The basement battle at Iford Bridge resulted in a three-rink victory for Branksome Park A. John Warby, Bryan Morgan, Geoff Judd and Joe Staddon (23-12) laid the foundations for the Squirrels’ 80-66 win.

SECTION FOUR: Steve Riddington, Bill Archer, Mike Tappenden and Arthur Baxter (26-12) worked the oracle for West Moors A, who cruised to a 90-55 over visitors Argyll. The visitors’ only two points were earned by defiant skip Dave Cleave (18-17). There was no such saviour for Broadstone-Wessex who lost 14-0 (58-96) at home to Highcliffe. For the second week in a row Graham Stride, Ken Collier, John Emerson and David Vincent (29-9) claimed top billing in a Highcliffe victory.

In-form team Poole Park, meanwhile, crumbled 12-2 (94-66) at fortress Christchurch. Roger Thacker, Gavin Smith, Colin Clark and John Waller (26-10) helped keep Priory’s home record intact. Poole’s points came courtesy of Ray Smith’s rink (24-13).

Bournemouth A replicated their first team’s performance with a 12-2 victory over Ringwood A. Maurice Little, Maurice Haynes, Jim Dustan and Dave Sewell (34-11) featured in the Marauders’ 100-61 romp.

SECTION FIVE: Wimborne A are now 30 points ahead of the field after recording an eighth win of the season. This week’s victims were Kings Park, who managed to hold on to two points thanks to Royals’ skip Colin Colebrook (19-18). Kevin O’Connell, Mike Foy, Roy Campbell and John Armfield (31-15) were the backbone in the Minster’s 95-66 triumph.

For the second time this season Boscombe Cliff were unable to field three league teams. The Cliff conceded an easy 14 points to Ferndown, whose members were left twiddling their thumbs on a Saturday afternoon.

Even with a 25 per cent reduction, Mike Lindsay, Paul Robins and Alan Reynolds (24-8) still claimed top honours in New Milton’s 12-2 (77-54) win over Knyveton Gardens. The Gardeners’ two points came from Norman Blow’s squad (25-10).

Relegation-threatened Pelhams A are now in touch with the main body after collecting a 10-4 win at Redhill Park. Pelham skips Dave Hilton and Barry Duxbury shared the responsibilities, and the honours by both winning 23-11.

SECTION SIX: Leaders Lymington collected 11 points from their 84-64 win at Highcliffe. The main contribution for Lymos were Richard Nunn, Graham Munden, Bill Waller and Terry Green (29-12).

Poole Park C stayed in touch following an impressive 107-72 win over bottom-club Southbourne C. Gordon Wheatley, Ron Newbury, Ken Sharp and John Bennett (37-14), headed the Dolphins three high-scoring winning rinks.

In the relegation battle at Argyll, Ben Brown’s quartet of Arthur Lawrence, Tony Jones and John Crowe won 32-16 to set up the hosts’ 93-68 triumph over Iford Bridge.