Howard increased their position at the top after a 9,1 victory over Cumberland. The match of the night was the first of the evening. Dean Chipperfield rolled back the years to take the first leg over Simon Forest with some tremendous backhand smashing,  11,9, the scoreline  and then looked on course with a 7,2 lead in the second before the Howard player found his range to squeeze home 14,12. The third was just as close, with Dean Chipperfield edging it 14,12. The Howard player had to really dig deep and powered home 11,7, 11,4 to win in five. Abbie Hurley played well in patches, taking a leg over Simon Forest and losing three close legs to Mick Ling. Steve Carter also took a leg off of Mick Ling but couldn't stop the consistent play of Alan Watson and Simon Forest. Dean Chipperfield was defeated in four by Alan Watson but got some consolation on the night with a 11,5, 11,9, 11,9 three leg victory over Mick Ling.  The doubles was a tight affair with Abbie Hurley & Dean Chipperfield teaming up and they looked on course at one point, only to  lose in the decider to Alan Watson & Simon Forest, 11,3 final leg

Written by: David McAulay