DUE to involvement in the County Fours quarter-finals, the top clubs in division one of the Persimmon Homes-Ideal Standard Bowls League had to postpone games allowing RI Amateurs to come within striking distance of the lead.

Further postponements may be required as Paul Mooring (Bert Keech) and Frank Turner (Haxby Road) have teams in the semi-finals where victory wins them a place in the national finals at Worthing.

Only four teams are now directly involved in the relegation battle after victories for Dunnington over Burnholme 7- and Dringhouses 7-1 gave them a ten-point gap over the bottom group.

RI Corinthians suffered their first defeat of the season 6-2 at Harrogate but still look strong favourites for the division two title.

An 8-0 win for Heworth Cons over Stamford Bridge puts them in second place with a chance of a second consecutive promotion after they went undefeated in division three last year.

A poor run for Poppleton Road WMC has dropped them into the bottom two but they have several games in hand.

In division three, Fulford Cons registered their first win 6-2 over Wetherby and Holgate WMC beat Acomb 8-0 to end the latter's run of four consecutive victories.

Persimmon Homes-Ideal Standard Bowls Competitions - Williamson Cup second round on Wednesday, July 2: Retreat v Bert Keech, Stamford Bridge v Burnholme, Dunnington 'A' v West Park, Shipton v Nestl Rowntree, Heworth Cons v Osbaldwick, Holgate WMC v Poppleton, Minster v Holgate, Haxby Road v Bootham.

Freedom & Fellowship Cup first round, Wednesday, July 2: Bishopthorpe v RI Amateurs, Scarcroft v Copmanthorpe, Acomb v Dringhouses, Fulford Cons v Clifton, RI Corinthians v Stewart or Harrogate, City Amateurs v Selby, Tockwith v Poppleton Road WMC, University v Vickers.

Singles Round One, Tuesday, July 1 (6.45pm) - West Park: W Pearson v D Wadsworth, J Stroughair v B Gray, M Robertson v L Jackson, P Witherwick v N Ryder, G Eagles v D Williams.

Clarence Gardens: R Tiplady v J Ciplinski, D Preece v A J Dalby, D Sykes v G Walker, S Gill v K Lippett, T Stevens v B Walker.

Scarcroft: T Quainton v D Poynter, L Redhead v R Coulson, G Dalby v A Brookes, H Rhodes v J Emmerson.

Falconer Street: A Thornton v E Wilkinson, W Brookes v A Dunbar.

First named responsible for arranging marker.

Fours First Round, Friday, July 4 (6.45pm) - Scarcroft: A J Dalby v L Jackson, G Dalby v J Stroughair, B Cooper v P Reeves, M Bulmer v B Gray.

Clarence Gardens: A Dunbar v J Caulfield, G Bunce v R Coulson, D Fentiman v K Ryder, J Emmerson v G Scruton.

Updated: 09:54 Thursday, June 26, 2003