DESPITE winning their last two matches, Banister Park need a miracle to avoid relegation from the Hampshire League Division 1.

Their latest success was 7-1 (78-70) against second-placed Rushmoor but Banister Park's chances of staying up were not improved since East Dorset - the team directly above them - also bagged seven points against table-proppers Chawton Park.

Banister Park's performance, however, did settle one issue: Victory are champions, as the Portsmouth club now have an unassailable lead with only one more round of matches remaining.

Banister Park's hopes of staving off the drop now depend on them defeating the champions in their final match and East Dorset losing to Rushmoor.

Focus feature in the Banister Park contest was the intriguing tussle between Paul May and his 'big' brother Leo of Rushmoor.

Playing at Farnborough, Paul, alongside Martin Gay, Roger Penney and John Halliday, squeezed in 19-18. The other Banister away rink of Cliff Higgins, Malcolm Comley, Derek Hall and Derek Read overcame Terry Cuming 16-14.

At Stoneham Lane Ken Prior, Neville Scovell, George Churcher and Steve Whitehead defeated Keith Langfield 25-15 while Rushmoor responded with Colin Moore beating Andrew Herring, Ken Foulkes, Brian Barber and John Joslin 23-18.

Last season's champions, Palmerston, fired a parting shot at the newly-crowned kings by defeating Victory 92-90 (6-2) in a last-wood thriller.

Neil O'Donovan's rink decided the outcome at Fareham.

They were one down at the head on their final end until an expert delivery from number three Fred Voller converted that into a three for Palmerston - and opposing skip Gary Starks was unable to rescue the situation. O'Donovan's men won 23-14 and their companion home rink fared even better with Roy Reader thrashing Tom Pullin 32-16.

At Portsmouth, Victory were the masters with Nick Fairall taming Andy McKain 32-18 and Phil Penn beating Tony Grant 28-19.

Home skips Bob Sprules (25-12) and Terry Chivers (22-21) plus a 20-11 away card from Mike Grimsdale put East Dorset in charge against beleagured Chawton Park (80-63).

Results: Rushmoor 70 (1) Banister Park 78 (7), Victory 90 (2) Palmerston 92 (6), East Dorset 80 (7) Chawton Park 63 (1).

Points: (all played nine) Victory 54, Rushmoor 44.5, Palmerston 39, East Dorset 37, Banister Park 32, Chawton Park 9.5.

Final fixtures: (Saturday, March 5) Victory v Banister Park, Rushmoor v East Dorset, Palmerston v Chawton Park.