THE whitewash of the Isle of Wight in their opening Middleton Cup match came as no surprise to Hampshire manager Peter Kemp.

Following the 145-98 victory at Southampton Sports Centre (as reported in Monday's Echo) Kemp confessed: "I'd have been disappointed if they'd done anything less.

"Isle of Wight are improving as a side and are now no pushover but you've must look for a maximum against them. I'm well aware that each point is so valuable after our experiences recently."

Changes were made on several rinks for this match and the Hampshire players were well aware they may be dropped for the next fixture if they did not perform - a policy that has been adopted for the whole of this season.

Kemp added: "I was pleased with the changes. Graham Standley's rink, for example, gained a victory after three defeats last year so that justified the changes there."

Buckinghamshire gained a comfortable victory over Oxfordshire in the other group game and provide Hampshire's opposition at Chesham on Saturday.

Bucks have been strengthened by the recruitment of former internationals and Middlesex skips Steve Halmai and Gary Smythe, prompting Kemp to say: "This is a crunch match. I'd like to lay the Chesham bogey after five defeats there in recent years." Hampshire are unchanged at Chesham.

Kemp's men romped away against Isle of Wight and were 14 shots ahead after five ends but tottered slightly in mid-game. This coincided with the downpour that caused play to be suspended for 90 minutes but at least five shots were also squandered towards the end when the game was already won and lapses like that could prove costly in a tighter game.

Scores: (Hampshire first) Graham Standley 28 Darren Griffiths 12, Iain Foster 22 Ken Hamblin 20, Russell Morgan 23 Bruce Marks 10, Nicky Jones 28 Peter Clayton 19, Peter Ward 24 Peter Furmidge 18, Julian Haines 20 Peter Dunstan 17.

Other Group 3A score : Oxfordshire 94 (3) Bucks 110 (19).

An excellent weekend for Hampshire continued in the preliminary round of the Top Rink competition when the rink of Dean Morgan, Iain Foster, Peter Ward, and skip Julian Haines outgunned Oxfordshire's National Fours champions Andy Prew, George Moon, Greg Moon and Les Gillett 19-18. They now face Sussex on June 20.

Hampshire return to Chesham on Sunday when the respective county under-25 teams meet in their two-rink county competition.

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