BASSINGBOURN had another tough match in the Cambridge & District League Division One against Balsham before winning 68-67. To keep up the title challenge nothing less than a win would do and that was achieved with the hosts collecting five of the seven av

BASSINGBOURN had another tough match in the Cambridge & District League Division One against Balsham before winning 68-67.

To keep up the title challenge nothing less than a win would do and that was achieved with the hosts collecting five of the seven available points

A good finish on rink two saw Bass' pick up six shots to win 21-13, thanks to some fine bowling from Graham Parish (pictured).

However rink three saw a disappointing display from the hosts as they went down 18-10.

Although they lost on rink four, Bass managed to pick up five shots on the last three ends - which ultimately proved crucial, as they went down 18-16.

Joe Cipullo along with Dave Lester did not have their best nights on rink five but between them they put enough good woods together which always kept Bassingbourn in with a shout.

There was nothing to separate the two sides all night and at end ten Bassingbourn led by one shot 9-8.

Ken Clark at skip won three ends in the row and developed a five shot lead before Balsham broke this mini run picking up four shots on end 14.

On end 15 Bassingbourn responded immediately with a four but then it looked like disaster had struck the next two ends went to Balsham.

Going into the last end Bassingbourn were trailing by one but by the time it came to Clark's last wood Bassingbourn were holding three shots.

This was the last rink to finish and Lester quickly worked out the overall score and directed Clark to draw another shot which he did which made the score 21-18

On the same night Chesterton continued their recent good form with a six point win against Barrington.

They have slightly extended their lead at the top to 3.5 points but Bassingbourn have six games left and championship is in their hands as they a game in hand.

Bassingbourn's Meldreth League team did not have the same success as they went down 71-60 against Melbourn, with only Ken Cleaver, Bob Stephenson and Jamie Stewart on rink four recording a win.

There was better news for the Business House Mixed Pairs team who won 4-2 against University Press, with Andy Brown and Keith Stewart in good form.

Another busy week for Melbourn saw them face Barrington in the Cambridge & District Gilbert Cup.

The two away triples were skipped by Rod Sell and Jim Gillings. Sell was opposed by B Sewell and got away to a good start being eight shots up at the 10th end but could not hold on to this lead finishing just winning 15-14.

Despite losing the first two ends to J Raiola, Gillings came on strong winning 11 of the remaining ends to end nine shots up at 17-8

At home, Peter Dodds had another strong start but M Chapman came back to win by one shot and on the other triple Geoff Bridger had a steady game to win 17-11 to set up a quarter final against Chesterton.

Melbourn seem to have found life easier going in the Meldreth League as the weather has improved, and they collected five and a half points from their game against Great Shelford with a 74-60 win.