WITTON made up valuable ground in the OVALWORLD SUPER LEAGUE when they defeated Fishwick Ramblers 5-1 while the rest marked time with draws apart from Stacksteads who took four points off Lostock.

Apart from a poor start in their opening fixture, Witton have won three successive games that have yielded 13 points.

On paper the win over Ramblers looked easy, but the Preston club have had the misfortune to lose a remarkable nine games by one point.

However, this was not the case this time although Harold Parker did run Mark Green close in a thrilling 21-19 score.

Before that Colin Campbell opened their account with an impressive 21-12 win over county regular Peter Hawkes.

Bobby Brown kept Ramblers hopes alive with an excellent 21-12 reply to make it 2-1 at half time.

After the break it was one-way traffic as Brian Hoole 21-9, Mick Lee 21-11 and Aldo Staffa 21-12 all won with points to spare to register their biggest win of the season.

They now look forward to a tough test next week against neighbours and reigning champions Alexandra who had to settle for a share of the spoils at Frenchwood 3-3.

The Preston club look more formidable this term and matched the champions in every respect as the aggregate scores ended like the games, on level terms.

All six ties were very close and in the first half Frenchwood took the honours as Mick Nelson squeezed home 21-19 and then Mark Simpson with a last-gasp winner 21-20.

But Alex captain Vincent O'Donnell replied 21-16 to make it 2-1 at the interval.

Second half games were a replica of the first, but this time Alex had the edge as Alan Cottam won a thriller 21-20 along with Terry Connell 21-19 before Rob Taylor 21-16 levelled the scores. Stacksteads continued their good start to the campaign with a well-deserved 4-2 win over a strong Lostock line-up.

But names or reputations count for nothing with the Stacksteads team who saw off the top three Lostock men in a scintillating first half performance.

Louis Stevenson began the onslaught with a 21-11 win over Barry Sutton followed by Frank Herbert 21-16 against Tom Fishwick and Geoff Alderson who defeated Bob Cowling 21-12.

Lostock came back in the second half thanks to Dave Barnish and Dave Darley before Keith Connor 21-16 sealed the match.

Sunnybank can be pleased with a draw at Bamber Bridge who were hoping to extend their lead in the division.

Things did not go too well at first as Keith Illingworth and Frank Harrison 21-18 and 21-13 respectively, gave the homesters a solid start.

At least Simon Haworth reduced the first half arrears with an exciting 21-19 win.

Sunnybank successes in the second half came from David Haworth 21-17 and Jack Pilling 21-18 while George Gregson replied 21-15 for Bamber Bridge.

Ighten Mount deserved the draw against pre-season title favourites St Annes who have yet to impress as champions-elect.

All three home winners - Greg Chippendale 21-11, Alan Fitzgerald 21-14 and Tommy Dewhurst 21-15 - won in impressive style to secure the result.

Results: Bamber Bridge 3, Sunnybank 3; Frenchwood 3, Alexandra 3; Ighten Mount 3, St Annes 3; Stacksteads 4, Lostock 2; Witton 5, Ramblers 1.

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

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