LEADERS Little Waltham SC and champions Broomfield King’s Arms are looking nervously over their shoulders as the battle for the Ridley League title rumbles on.

With both taking nine points from tricky-looking fixtures, Waltham maintain a tense three-point lead over the reigning champions.

They had to give best in the main darts, but had enough all-round strength to repel the Black Bull’s challenge.

The King’s did the same at Felsted in a match that defied expectations. The visitors’ strong line-up suffered a second successive darts defeat, Graham Milbank (Chequers) hitting a 180, but put things right with a dominoes whitewash.

Into the mix, and now only three points adrift, come Chelmsford City A. Martin Compton had starts of 160 and 120, and a 101 finish against the Bird in Hand, but he’ll have been most chuffed with his winning role as stand-in partner to Les Parker in the last dominoes.

It’s so tight at the top, however, that the three points City conceded may yet be crucial.

Down among the Z men, City C found some comfort in their latest hammering.

Five of their six defeats on the dartboard might have gone either way, and two of the dommies games were also close-fought; but they couldn’t match the Cricketers’ finishing in a crisis. Del Kochan (Cricketers) had three 140s, a 134, 117 and 100 in his opening singles win over Joe Selby.

RESULTS – CCFC A 12, Bird in Hand 3 (singles/pairs 6-1, mixed 1-0, women 1-0, dominoes 4-2); Chequers A 6, King’s Arms 9 (5-2, 0-1, 1-0, 0-6); Cricketers 12, CCFC C 3 (6-1, 1-0, 1-0, 4-2); Lt Waltham SC 9, Black Bull 6 (3-4, 1-0, 1-0, 4-2); CCFC B v Chequers B, no result.