Hampshire Over-45s enjoyed a successful weekend at Stage One of the 2007/08 Inter-County Championships at Chichester, to book their place in the Southern Area Division One promotion play-offs next February.

Facing what looked like a tough group and travelling without usual no 1. Geoff Lees, away on 'business' in Dubai, the squad dug deep to turn in a whole series of terrific performances, overcoming Hertfordshire (3-2) and Essex (4-1) on Saturday, before succumbing to honourable defeat against hosts and favourites Sussex (1-4) on Sunday morning.

Highlight of the weekend must surely have been victory by the irrepressible Simon Dakeyne over former England international Philip Ayton by the extraordinary scoreline of 8/10, 10/8, 10/8, 10/8, but there were many other notable performances to savour. Jon Floyd and his Abshot teammate (and current East of England Over-55 Champion) Paul Reader both turned in heroic performances on the Saturday to turn the crucial matches against Herts and Essex respectively, while in the same ties Scottish international legend Chris Wilson displayed extraordinary grit and determination to overwhelm both his opponents by a 3-0 margin. Major contributions also came from former captain Richard Atkinson who, in the last throes of exhaustion, clinched a vital 3-2 win to give his side an unassailable lead against Herts, and current captain and emergency no. 1 George Kousseff who claimed important additional points to boost the final team total.

So an enjoyable and rewarding weekend, and a clutch of autographs and other treasured memorabilia for debutant Dakeyne to add to his fast-growing collection.