BASINGSTOKE Town Spades and Hyde Abbey A played out a very tight match in the battle for the runners-up spot in Whitchurch Bowls League Division One last Wednesday.

Hyde Abbey won away by one shot, 41-40, and now lead the Spades by two points but have played one match more.

Howard Park A beat Alton 60-41 and Alton Social had success over Oakley A (54-39) but still look likely to be relegated.

Marnell B can do nothing more in Division Two, having played all of their matches, but if Andover A win their last match with maximum points, they will be promoted.

Howard Park C are relegated after losing to Andover 53-49, while Hook Hares, Whitchurch Blacks and Old Basing Cavaliers fight on for one more week to see who will join them.

Division Three is still a melting pot to see who will join Town Diamonds in the second tier.

With one match remaining, Friary and Old Basing Roundheads will fight it out to see who is relegated.

Littleton Lemurs and Oakley C are still in the hunt for the runner-up place in Division Four.

The quarter-finals of the Stan Hardman League took place at Howard Park and Odiham and there was a quite extraordinary situation as Farnborough pulled out because their ladies were playing in a North Hants competition.

In the play-offs, a lady has to play in each of the three positions, so they only had to field three ladies of any ability to at least compete.

In the other match at Odiham, Cove beat Alton Social 54-46 in what was a very close game.

With 16 of the 18 ends played, both teams were holding a winning rink with one drawn.

In this league, to win a team has to win on two rinks regardless of the scores. Unfortunately, Alton could not hold off the final pressure applied by Cove, who will now go on to play Basingstoke Town in today’s semi-final at Odiham.

Of the matches played at Howard Park, the closest encounter was between Whitchurch and AWRE, with the result decided on the last end.

After 17 ends, AWRE were a shot ahead on one rink, four shots behind on the second and all square on the third.

The final end saw Whitchurch win on all three and hence go through to play Hook Sapphires today at Odiham.

In the match between Medstead and Town, the latter were ahead on all three rinks at the tea interval. However, in the second half, Town managed to forge ahead on two rinks and so play in today’s final.

With all of their matches played, Town head Basingstoke and District Bowling Assocation League Division One by 1.5 points over Alton Social, with Oakley in third with one match to play against Howard Park. With a five-point win, Oakley could still take the title.

At the bottom, Andover have to play Kingsclere to see if they or Howard Park are relegated with Whitchurch.

In Division Two, Old Basing are promoted along with St Mary Bourne.