Brampton Heath sealed promotion into the Scratch League second division with a convincing 6½-1½ away victory at relegation-threatened Priors Hall.
Harry Brown (3&1), Guy Loveland (one hole) and David Gottsch (4&3) grabbed the opening three ties, Ben Jones halved with home club champ Michael Chambers, before Alec Francis confirmed promotion on the 17th.
Although Callum Farr got the first full point for Priors in the next tie, Brampton’s Jack Brown and Fraser Carnihan completed an emphatic victory with a couple of 3&2 wins.
Although Callum Farr got the first full point for Priors in the next tie, away skipper Fraser Carnihan recorded a 3&2 win before Jack Brown completed the scoring in a high quality match with Ronnie McIlwain.
The 2013 county champion smashed four birdies an eagle on the front nine before adding two more birdies in a 3&2 win to remain unbeaten this year.
The Corby club’s hopes of avoiding the drop received a boost after Whittlebury Park crashed to a 5½-2½ home loss to Cold Ashby, who are now safe.
Despite winning the first and last ties, as well as picking up a half in game four, Whittlebury lacked the killer instinct in the other matches as the visitors held their nerve.
Ashby trio Mark Conway, Gavin Cope and Greg Croxton all triumphed on the 18th hole, while Stuart Nicholas and Bob Clayton enjoyed more convincing wins.
Wellingborough set up a division one title decider at Peterborough Milton next weekend after relegating Overstone Park with a 8-0 home thrashing.
Paul Saunders (5&3), Adam Sherlock (3&2) and Mark Davis (6&5) quickly gave Wellingborough the advantage before Jon Harris and Ryan Connolly sealed the team victory on the 15th hole.
Richard Brown and Kyson Lloyd were both successful with one hole still to spare, while Ryan Evans wrapped up the perfect day with an eagle on the 12th hole in the final game.
After moving above Milton on points difference, Wellingborough will clinch their first Scratch League crown since 1984 if they avoid defeat at the reigning champions on Saturday.
Overstone’s hopes of survival effectively disappeared the previous day as they went down to a 6-2 reverse at relegation rivals Staverton Park, who had lost 5-3 at mid-table Northants County 24 hours earlier.
Russell Brown, Jamie Greaves and David Walshe grabbed early points for Staverton before Jim Tricklebank got the visitors on the scoreboard with a 2&1 win.
James Barker added another away point on the 18th hole, but a narrow loss for Richard Dalton and heavy defeats for Alan Woan and Taylor Sargeant meant Overstone came away with nothing.
In division two, Rushden confirmed their place in the second division for next season in style as they defeated Collingtree Park 6-2 at home – a result which relegated Kettering.
Competing over the full course for the first time in a match, Rushden got off to the perfect start as Rob Price (3&1) and Steve Alexander (5&3) won before the next two games were tied.
Ian Dickerson and Chris Ward (both 3&2) confirmed the home victory, while Chris Adams added another point on the 18th hole.
Collingtree, whose only win came from Brendon Moss, bounced back three days later as they prevented Northampton from completing an unbeaten year with a one-point home victory over the champions.
After Paul Dimmock’s early half, Ray Draper (3&2), Moss (4&2) and Andy Billson (one hole) earned home wins, before Ray Connolly sealed victory for Collingtree by edging out Lewis White on 18.
Handicap League
Group A
Brampton Heath sit top of the table on points difference after a convincing 16-2 home success against one of their closest rivals Northampton.
Once Guy Loveland and Ricky Stockwell won the opening tie by four holes and Gary Ray and John Sweeney took the next game by the margin of five, the result was never in doubt.
A strong start made the difference for Wellingborough in their away contest with Kettering as they recorded a 12-9 victory.
Lawrence Berryman and Glen Gulla (four holes), Steve Crawley and Dino Cirelli (six holes) and Glenn Harris and Chris Herring (two holes) took the first three ties for the visitors.
Jack Murray and his partner grabbed a seven-hole home win and Colin Mitton and Richard Sharp (two holes) bagged another victory, but Kettering’s hopes of a remarkable comeback disappeared with a half in the other tie.
Group C
Overstone are the first team through to the semi-finals after confirming top spot in Group C with a 18-0 home success against Embankment - their sixth victory in six outings.
Ryan Hill and Garry Tindle clinched the opening game by eight holes, while Adam Bull and Sean McGrae wrapped up a comprehensive home win with a six-hole success.
Despite not being able to qualify for the last four, there was still plenty at stake when Oundle hosted local rivals Peterborough Milton.
And it was the visitors who claimed bragging rights as Gerald McCay and Paul Sproat snatched a 9-4 win for Peterborough by taking the final game by seven holes.
Group D
Farthingstone left it too late to get anything from their away match at Delapre as a big win for Andrew Masters and David Camps in the final tie couldn’t prevent a 11-8 defeat.
Four narrow wins in the opening quartet of games set the tone for Delapre before Gerry Gait and Alan Jones effectively sealed the victory by taking the penultimate match by five holes.
Staverton’s home match with Cold Ashby ended in a remarkable 4-4 draw as both sides won two games by a couple of holes, with the other two ties finishing all square.
Intermediate League
Group B
Peterborough Milton moved level with reigning champions Wellingborough at the top of Group B after winning 5½-2½ at Northampton.
Howard May (2&1), Rob Munro-Hall (two holes), Howard Boylan and Neil Brown (both 3&2) collected wins for Milton, while three matches were halved. Northampton’s sole point came from Ben Howell (3&2).