GLOBE Bowling Club, Accrington have opened up a 15 point lead at the top of the Thwaites-sponsored Premier League. They gained an excellent 7-7 draw at Turton.

Alan Topham had a 21-3 home win with narrow 21-17 and 21-19 victories for Barry Hall and Alan Knowles respectively.

Graham Wood 21-11, and Andy Pilkington 21-12 had good wins for the leaders with Colin Crompton winning 21-16 to give the visitors a share of the aggregate.

Colne Cricket move up into second place following their 12-2 home win against Rishton Con.

Last year's champions Darwen Subs had a narrow 8-6 home win against R Utility. Good home wins for Subs from Allan Eccles 21-7 and John Bentley 21-10 gave the home side a good start, Keith Scaife 21-13 and Mick Whelan 21-15 had good away wins before Subs' Fred Whittle won 21-15 and Chris Pollard 21-29 for the visitors made the match all square at 3-3, the home side winning the aggregate.

East Lancs moved up the table after their 10-4 away win at Greenhill, Craig Slater 21-14 had a good win for the visitors with East Lancs taking their games very narrowly, Nigel Pickles won 21-18 and Neil Spencer and Paul Brett both recorded 21-19 wins. Alan Marsden 21-16 and Bill Gaskell 21-18 were the home side's winners.

St Andrew's had a 10-4 home win against Colne British Legion, Mark Stuttard 21-7 and 21-11. Home wins for Peter Harrison and Philip Wilkinson gave the home side a good start with Mick Woodworth also winning 21-14. Roy Singleton 21-16 and Ken Wilson 21-18 had good away wins for Colne British Legion.

Results: Colne Cricket 12 Rishton Con 2; Darwen Subs 8 R Utility 6; Greenhill 4 East Lancs 10; St Andrew's 10 Colne British Legion 4; Turton 7 Globe 7.

Fixtures for Sunday (11am start): Bar Lane v East Lancs; Colne British Legion v Rishton Con; Colne Cricket v St Andrew's; R Utility v Greenhill; Darwen Subs v Turton.