BARRY BENDALL'S rink were the last-gasp heroes as Banister Park squeezed through to the second round of the Egham Trophy by the minimum margin against Five Rivers.

Bendall needed four shots from the final end of the match to snatch the verdict for the Eastleigh side - and his rink came up trumps, grabbing a 74-73 result without the skip having to bowl his second wood on the Stoneham Lane carpet.

Bendall triumphed 25-14 and Danny McEwan edged in 19-18 alongside him. Banister Park also had the bonus of a 15-13 victory from Ken Marsh at Salisbury but they were almost scuppered by the 28-15 away defeat suffered by Roy Alford against Mike Crook.

On Sunday, December 8, Banister Park face Victory, who disposed of Arun 88-68 thanks to the performances of Ian McKenzie (26-14), Dave Biggs (20-13) and Dorian Bishop (25-20). Colin Hayward was the only beaten Portsmouth skip, going down 21-17 to Angus Anderson.

Convincing verdicts from Val Cooper (25-10 against K Hamblin) and Eric Hopgood (23-10 against I Morrill) were the key to Palmerston's 84-56 triumph over Isle of Wight in a match where all four rinks were played at Fareham because of a clash of fixtures on the Islanders' green. Keith Gerrard (20-19 against J Picking) continued the Palmerston successs story but the Islanders replied through Roy Jemson (17-16 against Neil O'Donovan).

Palmerston's next opponents in this national mixed fours championship are Atherley who took all four rinks in a 108-64 win against Havant.

Richard Shelley (31-12 over Spencer Lloyd) and Colin Thresher (19-14 v Derek Turner) controlled matters at Hill Lane, Micky Barrett (30-15 against Barry Harman) and Denny Graydon (28-23 against John Mackney) shining at Havant.