Wessex 2nds fought back to earn 10 points as they hosted league leaders Marlborough B.

Wessex thought they were on their way to a heavy defeat when strings one and two for the Wessex both lost. Justin Cox and John Walker going down 3-1 to Murray Kenneth and Mark Skull respectively.

Wessex’s lower order did manage to turn the tie around; Neil Marshman completely overcoming his run of poor form to take out Marlborough’s Welsh wizard Clive Morgan 3-1.

Then Steve Bessant produced another victory from the jaws of defeat, coming back from two down to beat Marius Baldrey 3-2.

That made the final match-up a between Wessex’s Paul Maddison and Tom Crompton a decider.

Maddison took the first leg before losing the next two but managed to earn a deciding leg with a win in the fourth. Crompton just had too much in the tank and took the fifth to give himself and Marlborough the win.

Wessex 2nds now need two good results in their final two games to avoid relegation.

Wessex 3rds picked up 18 points to move up the league against bottom side Trowbridge 2, seeing off the away team 4-1.

Wessex won their first four games starting with Howard Wilson who made quick work of Trowbridge’s Steve Connor 3-0. Martin Hill faced a bigger challenge against a well seasoned Jim Conway, finally beating him 3-1.

Sam Harper took another 3-0 against John Townhill to give Wessex the overall win for the evening. Dave Hutton grabbed another clean win beating Sam Fairfield 3-0.

Josh Watkins wasted a chance to take maximum points for the hosts falling 3-2 having been 2-0 up against Andy Whittaker.

In the First Division Cricklade only took seven points against Chippenham Olympiad. The result puts them 10 points ahead of Wessex 1 but Wessex have a game in hand and with 19 points on offer next week against Defence Academy.