YMCA emerged as 21-19 winners over Preston B in a very hard-fought and close Weymouth & District League Division One contest after they won the final leg of the doubles.

Preston B started well, and with Miranda Edwardes (7), Terry Whitworth (6) and Roger Lovell (4) putting them 15-9 up with only three singles games to play.

However, YMCA fought back with the excellent Brian Hansford (9), Ken Brake (6) and Andy Webb (3) helping bring the game back to 15-15 with one singles game to go.

In a tense finale, Brake just edged out Edwardes in the final leg as YMCA led 18-17 going into the doubles and they managed to hold their nerve and win the final leg to secure victory.

Springfield A were without averages-topping Jeff Rigby but were still too strong for Colliton X and eased to a 27-7 win. Tim Scott secured a maximum for the victors with Paul Arnold (7) and Andy Pipe (8) both losing to Tony Loveridge (6).

Despite the 29-13 scoreline in favour of Budmouth A, there were some very close games and the boys had to fight hard to keep pressure on Springfield A at the top of the league.

Josh Clark (8) suffered Budmouth’s only defeat of the night with Mike Spracklen (6) coming from 2-1 down to shade the fifth set 11-8. Spracklen also had a five-setter with Nathan Calton (9) but was defeated after losing the the decider 11-3.

Meanwhile, Park District A had the edge in a number of close legs which resulted in a clear 26-17 win over Budmouth B.

Young Ben Howe (8) got the better of Richard Wilshere (8) and Ray Cody (8), both 11-8 in the fifth and just missing out to Geoff Ware (7) 11-9 also in the fifth. Cody edged Rob Hawes (7) 11-9 in the fifth as did Wilshere 11-8 in the fifth from 8-4 down as Park maintained their title challenge.

Budmouth C travelled to in-form Shipton Gorge B and fell to a 30-3 defeat.

To their credit, Budmouth showed great character in sticking to their task against a much more experienced team. As for Shipton, they showed that they will be in the mix at the top of the table at the end of the season.

Ella Stanton (2) came closest to a win for Budmouth in taking Brian Cammell (9) to five sets. Rosa McKechnie scored their other point against Graham Albertella.

Preston A had a good night at Colliton C, winning 25-14. Derek Shilliday (8) top-scored for Preston including two five-setters, where he came from two sets down against Katherine Bundy (5) to lose 12-10 in the decider and was two sets up before fending off Peter Loakes (8) in the fifth.

Preston’s Peter Stopforth (7) also came from two sets down against Bundy but, unlike Shilliday, was able to get over the line in the decider 14-12.

Springfield B beat Wyke A 28-14 in a close-fought match, in which the former eased to victory.

This was highlighted by the doubles with the home pair of Chris Whitefield (9) and Paul Manvell (7) winning the final leg 13-11.

Whitefield and Paul Arnold (9) remain top of the averages after claiming all three matches.

Preston E won the last two singles matches and the doubles for the loss of one leg, coming from behind to beat leaders Springfield D 20-14.

Dave Moth (7) and Paul Hammond (9) were evenly matched, as were Chris Harris (4) and Barry Thomas (7).

A hard-fought draw between the youth of Budmouth E and experience of Preston D saw scores fluctuate during the evening.

Preston were 20-18 ahead before the doubles saw Sophie Storey (6) and Holly Calton (7) come through a tight match 3-1 to salvage a 21-21 draw.

Storey inflicted Roger Winstanley’s (8) only defeat (11-6 in the fifth) and Ashleigh Browne’s (5) good progress continued with a five-leg victory over Dave Clegg (7) but with a close 13-11 defeat in the fifth leg to Stan Smith.