DRAX Ladies edged a 5-4 away win over Rowntrees in ladies division one of the York Badminton League.

Julie Smyth and Gayle Bradley took the three vital Drax wins for a total of 90-50 but Michelle Hall and Janet Kraft took the match-winning rubber with a 15-9 17-14 victory over Brenda Drummond and Joyce Palmer.

University Staff Club Ladies scored a 9-0 maximum win over Knavesmire in ladies division two.

Sally Locker and Lynn Terry were the pick of the Staff Club pairs with three straight wins for 90-30.

A close men's division three game saw University Staff Club just win out 5-4 against Fulfordgate. Gary Hall and Matt Hobman took three Fulfordgate wins for a total of 103-72, but Paul Waites and Keith Locker took the final rubber with an 11-15 15-13 15-6 win over Pete Wilkinson and Alan Roberts.

Clifton 'A' beat Rowntrees 'A', who were a pairing short, 9-0 in mixed division one. Karen Broster and Richard McIntosh were the pick of the Clifton pairs returning 62-31, including a 0 and 10 over Steve Andrew and Joyce Palmer.

York RI 'B' continued their domination of mixed two with a 9-0 home win over Millthorpe. Phil Dyson and Sarah Thompson had one of their best returns of the season with three straight wins for a total of 90-18.

Selby 77 continued their improvement with a 6-3 home win over Huntington 'A'. The best display came from Huntington's Clive Debenham and Sharon Ross, who took two wins and narrowly lost out 15-7 10-15 8-15 to Justine Vickers and Rex Pocklington.

Pocklington 'A', confirmed champions of mixed three, carried on their excellent form with a 6-3 away win over Clifton 'C'. The best display, however, came from Clifton's Mark Screeton and Karen Hindmarsh, who took all three Clifton wins for a total of 98-64, including a tough 15-6 8-15 15-11 win over Chris Kunkel and Sally Howat.

Huntington 'B' entertained Drax 'E' in mixed five and ran out 7-2 winners. John Deighton and Carolyn Arden top-scored for the home side with three straight wins for 90-29, while the Drax pairing of Shaun Firth and Linda Johnson were rewarded for their efforts with a 7 and 12 win over Keith Nicholson and Marie I'Anson.

Three days later Drax 'E' fared better when they visited Fulfordgate 'B' and won 7-2. Ann Slinger and Phil Aspinall took three Drax wins for a total of 102-62, while Peter and Anita Wilkinson took two home successes only to lose out 13 and 12 to Slinger and Aspinall.

Terrys went down in two mixed division six matches, losing 0-9 away at Selby Jubilee 'B', where the home pair of Simon Benson and Karen Shooter topped the averages, with three wins for 92-30.

However, in the 5-4 loss at Middlethorpe the Terrys' pairing of Ian Forman and Judy Wilson took three wins for a return of 109-73.

Updated: 12:09 Thursday, April 25, 2002