Northampton remain on track for promotion to division one after picking up their fourth win in five outings with a 5-3 home success against Collingtree.
Most of the damage was done in the opening ties as Lloyd Skidmore (3&2), Ross Skidmore (7&6), Dean Roberts (7&5) and Andy Limbert (4&2) gave Northampton a strong advantage.
Although away youngster Reece Greenhill triumphed on the 18th and the experienced duo of Ray Connolly and Brendon Moss clinched the last two games, it was only after Matt Bearman had sealed the home victory with a 4&3 win.
Kettering’s hopes of staying in the second tier suffered a blow as they went down to a 5½-2½ home loss to Kingsthorpe.
Despite a comprehensive win for Dean McIntyre, a 3&1 success for Charles Ward and a half for Stuart Bell, there was little to cheer about for the hosts as Kingsthorpe took all the other ties.
Gavin Hitchcock (5&4), Steve Jackson (2&1), Kris Spence (4&3), Mark Bazeley and Jack Walding (both 3&2) secured the away points.
Peterborough Milton took a large stride towards retaining their division one crown as they recorded their second away win of the season with a 5-3 victory at Overstone.
Ian Symonds and Dominic Ralfs were both successful on the 14th hole for Peterborough, Richard Cole came through 2&1, while Rory Edwards picked up a half point.
Although James Barker and Richard Dalton collected home points, Phil Hughes guaranteed at least a draw for Milton with a half, before Tom Burgh sealed victory in the final tie against Tom Anderson.
Brampton Heath moved two points clear of Farthingstone at the top of the division three table after defeating Cold Ashby 5-3 at home.
Although Gavin Cope took the opening match 3&1, the only other bright moments for the visitors came with narrow wins for Jack Hall and Greg Croxton in games two and seven respectively.
The hosts dominated the other ties as Harry Brown (7&5), Nathan Bull (3&2), David Gottsch (4&2), Nick Herridge (6&4) and new county champion Jack Brown (5&4) sealed the team’s fourth victory of the year.
Oundle will seal promotion into the third division with a win at Daventry on Sunday after thrashing their closest rivals Cherwell Edge 7-1 at home last weekend.
After losing away to Cherwell the previous month, Oundle were determined to avoid a repeat as David Turner (7&5), Gary Rice and Dean Montgomery (both 4&3) secured early wins.
Home club captain Denis Price lost 2&1, but it made no difference to the overall result as Ashley Smith and Steve Oldham both triumphed at the 16th, before David Young and Sean Turner completed the scoring on the closing hole.
Daventry will go into the Oundle game with apprehension after becoming the first team to lose against Stoke Albany this season as they crashed to a 7-1 reverse at the bottom club.
Kim Davis (7&6), Paul Davis (6&4), John Knibbs (5&3), Colin White (2&1), Steve Donald (one hole) and Andy Logan (two holes) secured wins for the hosts, while the other two games were halved.