ALEXANDRA put the Ovalworld Super League championship well and truly in the melting pot when they defeated long-time leaders St Annes Ex-Serviceman's Club 5-1.

Several results altered course for the title chasers, not least Railway Lostock who chalked up their third 6-0 clean sweep in the last four fixtures when they romped home against bottom club Fishwick Ramblers.

But the total eclipse of Frenchwood 6-0 by Ighten Mount put paid to the title hopes of the Preston club, who have enjoyed their best-ever season in the division.

After having languished in the lower regions for several years, Frenchwood have become a force in the division, but this latest result leaves their league ambitions in tatters for this year.

Ighten Mount were obviously pleased to record their first clean-sweep and make a significant improvement in their points total.

This leaves the championship between the current top three and with just a couple of points between them everything is set for an exciting finish. The three remaining fixtures are absolutely vital but the key match could be the St Annes Lostock clash in two weeks time.

But current champions Alexandra have now gone eight games undefeated and fully deserved the honours against St Annes.

Home captain Vincent O'Donnell got them away to a great start when he returned his best score - 21-10.

Reg Horman followed up 21-13 and Alan Cottam 21-17 completed the first half romp to make it 3-0.

The second half was quite a tussle as Harry Hargreaves overturned a 9-1 deficit to win 21-17 and Terry Connell won 21-15.

Consolation for St Annes was returned by captain Terry Wood who played very consistently to win 21-15.

Railway Lostock were pleased with a full house at Fishwick Ramblers after a couple of very close games.

Barry Sutton squeezed home by the narrowest of margins to win 21-20 and Dave Barnish was also pressed hard to win 21-19.

The rest of the scores were comfortable for Tom Fishwick and John Neville, both 21-5 and Dave Darley and Andrew Harley, both 21-15.

Ighten Mount continued to enjoy their first campaign in the division with a hard-earned clean sweep 6-0 over much-improved Frenchwood. Steve Crossley maintained his lead in the merit table with his seventh win from 10 starts 21-16.

Ken Topham remains a point behind following his best of the day 21-11.

Fred Bulcock and Eric Beaver both finished well to win by the same 21-18 margin while Alan Walsh scored in similar fashion 21-17.

Anchor man Alan Fitzgerald had a thrilling contest with Steve Edwards, but in a nip and tuck game took the honours 21-20 to seal a memorable result.

Four poor results have ruined the season for Witton who could so easily have been in with a title shot.

Once again, they disappointed when they went down 5-1 at Bamber Bridge who it must be said, are a formidable outfit on home turf.

Keith Illingworth and Frank Harrison, who won 21-13 and 21-14 respectively, started the romp for the homesters.

Phil Parkinson and Cyril Helm both returned the same 21-17 and Mark Helm won 21-15.

Colin Campbell lifted the gloom with a remarkable 21-6 success that earned the solitary consolation for out-of-sorts Witton.

Rose N'Bowl Stackteads edged out neighbours Sunnybank 4-2, but both teams have lost their momentum as the season progressed.

Three consecutive defeats in June put paid to Stacksteads' ambitions, while Sunnybank had a tragic run of eight games without a win. But the victors began with much promise as they took a 2-1 lead into the interval.

Simon Haworth 21-16 and Fred Barlow 21-14 won with points to spare with a reply from Louis Stevenson 21-16.

However, the second half was one-way traffic as John Tattersall romped home 21-13, Jim Heys 21-17 and finally Frank Herbert, who took the match decider by just one point 21-20.

Results: Alexandra 5, St Annes 1; Bamber Bridge 5, Witton 1; Ighten Mount 6, Frenchwood 0; Ramblers 0, Lostock 6; Stackteads 4, Sunnybank 2.

Fixtures for Sunday: Alexandra v Ramblers; Bamber Bridge v St Annes; Ighten Mount v Stacksteads; Sunnybank v Frenchwood; Witton v Lostock.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.