Pericardium now have a five-point lead atop Division One, after they thrashed Allsorts at the Sheephaven. All four players were in double figures, and a roundhouse was duly secured. Broken Hearts enjoyed a similar margin of victory over Atletico in the other heavyweight clash at the Carpenters, with the bonus point boxed off in round one, and again, all four in double figures. Nomads matched this last feat in their bonus-point win over Telstars – your correspondent registered a full house and 19, the week's top score. The week's tightest game was the One Tun derby, where Old Itonians made up a three-point deficit on the last round to draw 45-all with Barb. Seven of the eight players in this one notched double-figures, and the other one scored 9. Finally, Pineapple squeezed by the Five Bells in another tight one down in SW16, though the close defeat bonus point got the hosts off the mark for the season.
In Division Two Gray Monks took advantage of The Banana Splits' week off, to grab top spot with a hefty win over Mealy Bugs. Peter Ediss scored 19, also the top score in Division Two this week, while Mark Cooper also chipped in with 17 . Accies triumphed in the Royal Oak Derby, beating Ovalytes 38-30. Rosslyn Park beat London Scottish in what one wag termed the All The Way Out There Derby, led by Phil Evison's 14. Eclectics won a close one against Sons of the Dessert, Donald Yule again leading the way with 17. Wharfside's visit to Outcasts produced a win for the home team, with a remarkable footnote – Mike Chappell scored 16, with no two-pointers. Has anyone compiled a similar score solely in ones before? Do let us know if so. Also a mention for Wharfside's Emily Cooper - double figures on debut, well done.
Average scores this week: Division One 92.0 (45.6/46.4), Division Two 71.6 (37.4/34.2). Five wins to four for those going first, with one tie.
Week Eight's top game is undoubtedly Broken Hearts v Pericardium at the Carpenters – can David Stainer's pioneers defeat the mother country? In Division Two, the still unbeaten Banana Splits will hope that the week off hasn't broken their concentration, as they take on Eclectics.
| Pos | Pre | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Avg | CB | HB | 2s% | Pts | Form |
| 1 | 1 (-) | Pericardium | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 377 | 259 | 118 | 53.86 | 0 | 4 | 54.91 | 30 | W¹W¹WºW¹W¹ |
| 2 | 3 (+1) | Broken Hearts | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 362 | 290 | 72 | 51.71 | 1 | 4 | 56.70 | 25 | W¹LºWºW¹W¹ |
| 3 | 2 (-1) | Old Itonians | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 282 | 255 | 27 | 47.00 | 0 | 5 | 48.96 | 23 | W¹W¹L¹W¹Dº |
| 4 | 6 (+2) | Nomads | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 298 | 264 | 34 | 49.67 | 0 | 4 | 55.73 | 22 | W¹W¹WºLºW¹ |
| 5 | 4 (-1) | Allsorts | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 302 | 255 | 47 | 50.33 | 1 | 2 | 52.08 | 19 | C²WºWºWºLº |
| 6 | 5 (-1) | Atletico | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 284 | 264 | 20 | 47.33 | 0 | 2 | 53.13 | 18 | WºW¹WºL¹Lº |
| 7 | 7 (-) | Telstars | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 286 | 308 | -22 | 40.86 | 1 | 1 | 40.18 | 14 | WºWºC¹LºLº |
| 8 | 8 (-) | Pineapple | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 264 | 350 | -86 | 37.71 | 0 | 1 | 35.71 | 9 | LºLºLºLºWº |
| 9 | 9 (-) | Barb | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 223 | 285 | -62 | 37.17 | 0 | 1 | 35.42 | 7 | LºLºL¹WºDº |
| 10 | 10 (-) | Five Bells | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 229 | 287 | -58 | 38.17 | 1 | 0 | 34.90 | 1 | LºLºLºLºC¹ |
| 11 | 11 (-) | Waterloo Sunset | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 211 | 301 | -90 | 35.17 | 0 | 0 | 34.38 | 0 | LºLºLºLºLº |
| Broken Hearts | 55* - 42 | Atletico (F) |
| Olav Bjortomt 17 Jesse Honey 14 Ian Bayley 12 Sean Carey 12 | William De Ath 15 Robert Willer 14 Brian Wright 10 |
| Five Bells | 40 - 42 | Pineapple (F) |
| Mick Lancaster 18 Roger Barnes 11 | David Brewis 12 Neil Cole 11 Robbie Hudson 10 |
| Old Itonians | 45 - 45 | Barb (F) |
| Fred Filby 13 Adrian Field 12 Tom Dineen 10 John Grant 10 | Jonathan Warschauer 14 Jane Teather 12 Paul Hillman 10 |
| Pericardium (F) | 56* - 39 | Allsorts |
| David Stainer 17 Kathryn Johnson 15 Nic Paul 13 Quentin Holt 11 | Gavin Fuller 15 Stewart McCartney 14 |
| Telstars (F) | 43 - 53* | Nomads |
| Howard Pizzey 14 William Barrett 13 Bob Bunting 12 | David Lea 19* Andrew Frazer 13 Paul Steeples 11 Roger Bennett 10 |
| Pos | Pre | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Avg | CB | HB | 2s% | Pts | Form |
| 1 | 2 (+1) | Gray Monks | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 319 | 220 | 99 | 53.17 | 1 | 4 | 60.94 | 25 | W¹WºW¹W¹Wº |
| 2 | 1 (-1) | Banana Splits | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 272 | 200 | 72 | 45.33 | 0 | 0 | 39.06 | 24 | WºWºWºWºWº |
| 3 | 3 (-) | Eclectics | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 283 | 253 | 30 | 40.43 | 0 | 1 | 33.93 | 21 | L¹WºWºLºWº |
| 4 | 4 (-) | Rosslyn Park | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 255 | 233 | 22 | 42.50 | 0 | 2 | 44.27 | 18 | WºW¹WºL¹Wº |
| 5 | 6 (+1) | Accies | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 253 | 265 | -12 | 36.14 | 1 | 0 | 33.04 | 17 | LºWºLºWºWº |
| 6 | 5 (-1) | Ovalytes | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 222 | 222 | 0 | 37.00 | 1 | 1 | 34.90 | 14 | C²LºWºWºLº |
| 7 | 8 (+1) | Outcasts | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 198 | 210 | -12 | 33.00 | 1 | 1 | 19.79 | 14 | LºLºC²WºWº |
| 8 | 7 (-1) | Sons of the Dessert | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 264 | 260 | 4 | 37.71 | 1 | 0 | 32.59 | 13 | WºWºLºLºC¹ |
| 9 | 9 (-) | Mealy Bugs | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 218 | 259 | -41 | 36.33 | 1 | 0 | 32.29 | 5 | LºWºC¹LºLº |
| 10 | 10 (-) | London Scottish | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 220 | 291 | -71 | 31.43 | 0 | 0 | 28.13 | 4 | LºLºWºLºLº |
| 11 | 11 (-) | Wharfside | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 156 | 247 | -91 | 26.00 | 0 | 0 | 21.88 | 0 | LºLºLºLºLº |
| Accies | 38 - 30 | Ovalytes (F) |
| James Collenette 12 John McDonnell 11 | Patrick Hurley 12 |
| London Scottish | 29 - 43 | Rosslyn Park (F) |
| Phil Evison 14 Hugh Springall 12 |
| Mealy Bugs | 34 - 54 | Gray Monks (F) |
| Michael Dawson 12 | Peter Ediss 19 Mark Cooper 17 Paul Sinha 14 |
| Outcasts | 34 - 21 | Wharfside (F) |
| Mike Chappell 16 John Saunders 10 | Emily Cooper 10 |
| Sons of the Dessert | 36 - 39 | Eclectics (F) |
| Stuart Solomons 12 Traci Whitehead 12 | Donald Yule 17 |
| Pos | Division 1 | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | Broken Hearts (C) | 20 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 52.90 | 14 | 84 |
| 2 | Pericardium | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 50.95 | 9 | 77 |
| 3 | Nomads | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 50.15 | 12 | 72 |
| 4 | Atletico | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 47.85 | 8 | 62 |
| 5 | Allsorts | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 47.35 | 4 | 54 |
| 6 | Old Itonians | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 45.55 | 9 | 53 |
| 7 | Telstars | 20 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 42.00 | 5 | 37 |
| 8 | Barb | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 38.70 | 5 | 27 |
| 9 | Pineapple | 20 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 37.65 | 4 | 22 |
| 10 | Waterloo Sunset | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 37.40 | 1 | 13 |
| 11 | Five Bells | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 38.10 | 1 | 11 |
| Pos | Division 2 | P | W | D | L | Avg | B | Pts |
| 1 | Gray Monks (W) | 20 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 48.75 | 9 | 77 |
| 2 | Banana Splits | 20 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 43.65 | 3 | 67 |
| 3 | Rosslyn Park | 20 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 39.85 | 5 | 57 |
| 4 | Eclectics | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 40.80 | 4 | 54 |
| 5 | Accies | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 38.25 | 3 | 51 |
| 6 | Sons of the Dessert | 20 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 39.40 | 6 | 48 |
| 7 | Mealy Bugs | 20 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 39.10 | 4 | 40 |
| 8 | Ovalytes | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 38.20 | 4 | 38 |
| 9 | Outcasts | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 34.05 | 7 | 29 |
| 10 | Wharfside | 20 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 29.70 | 2 | 14 |
| 11 | London Scottish | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 29.90 | 1 | 13 |
| Pos | Table | P | W | D | L | 2s | Pts |
| 1 | Sussex | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 100 | 14 |
| 2 | Oxford | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 74 | 11 |
| 3 | Mastermind Club | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 111 | 9 |
| 4 | London | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 95 | 8 |
| 5 | Beds & Herts | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 85 | 8 |
| 6 | Cambridge | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 78 | 4 |