Second defeat in row for Maritime but top Super Lge

MARITIME lost by the narrowest of margins for the second match in a row when they were defeated at home by Exeter Eagles, but with second placed Winchester Warriors also losing by the same margin, they kept their four-point lead at the top of the premier division.

The Eagles flew into a 4-0 nil with some impressive displays, none more so than by Matt Dickinson (29.34) before Neil White (26.99) halted the slide when winning 4-1.

Glyn Wells (22.02) emerged a 4-0 winner followed by a 4-1 success for Mark Turner (21.36) but any hope of a surprise victory was dashed when the visitors won the ninth and decisive point before Billy Evans (23.03) won the last for Maritime in four straight legs.

Porters Patriots won 5-4 to relieve their relegation worries when defeating Rowing Club and have moved to within one point of their Paignton rivals who sit just above the two relegation places, but Porters do have a match in hand.

MAXIMUM MAN: Phil Stewart kept his nerve in the deciding set and gave Porters a 5-4 victory when winning 4-1, aided by three scores of 180.

John Mann (27.83) emerged a 4-0 winner and was Porters only success from the first three encounters before Antony Hayman (28.23) brought the sides level with a 4-0 win in 19, 16 and 18 before finishing the fourth leg in 18 with a checkout of 122.

Porters moved in front when Andy Bates (22.88) and Reg Matthews (19.26) both won 4-1only for the visitors to bounce back and level at 4-4.

Phil Stewart (27.70) kept his nerve in the deciding set to win 4-1 in 16, 18, 20 and 17, aided by no fewer than three maximum scores.

Ker St Social Club consolidated their second placed position in division one with a 6-3 win away at Railway Boyz (Exeter).

Tony Gordon (20.66) opened their account with a 4-0 victory and doubled their lead when Dave Algar (22.96) emerged a 4-1 winner.

The hosts won the next two to bring the teams level only for Ker St to restore their advantage and win the match with victories from Gary Phillips (24.17), Kelvin Rowe (20.60), Kevin Johnson (20.11) and Ryan Harris.

A poor start by Porters Pretenders which saw them lost the first four exchanges cost them defeat, albeit by only a 5-4 margin.

Steve Brocklesby (20.17) halted Porters decline with a 4-2 success and they moved to within one of point of drawing level after 4-3 victories from both Paul Palmer (24.39) and Scott Wapshott (20.52).

Unfortunately, they lost the match when Galaxy won the penultima set as Mark Shears won the last (27.08) with a man of the match performance winning 4-0 in 16, 18, 16 and 24.