Vazon's shock of the season

VAZON A pulled off one of the upsets of the Captain's Challenge Premier Division season to hand the initiative to Dorset A. Previous leaders Happy Landings lost their unbeaten record when they suffered a 5-10 defeat to Vazon, allowing Dorset - 14-1 winners over the Chalkers - to open up a five-point gap at the top of the table.

'Vazon played very well,' said Martyn Le Page, the Happy Landings captain.

'We have a couple of new players for us this season and one of them is Jez Rowe, who used to play for Vazon, so we knew they would be up for the game.

'We were perhaps a bit complacent, as can happen when you are playing one of the lower teams, but credit to them; they managed to dominate us.'

With the season virtually at its halfway point, it looks like being a four-way battle for the title, with Dorset the marginal favourites.

Le Page acknowledged that the leaders would be difficult to overhaul but his team, which also includes another new signing in former island champion Mick Le Noury, will give it their best shot and he believed that the league would go right down to the wire.

'Last year we had a bit of a disappointing season because we were leading with about five weeks to go and then everything went pear-shaped in the last five games,' he said.

'We were hopeful for this season because we strengthened the team but other teams had strengthened, too. Mafia got Ady Holley back and also picked up Martyn Desperques; the Dorset, I think, have probably the strongest squad and Gremlins can never be ruled out. So we were looking at ourselves as definitely in the top four, but also with an outside chance of winning it.

Over the next month, Happy Landings, the only side to have beaten Dorset this campaign, will meet the other three title challengers in a period that could make or break their season.