CAPTAIN Derek Bish and partner Nigel Fitch led from the front as Haverhill's title push continued with victory over Hedingham B.

Bish and Fitch won all three of their sets in a match for the first time this season to guide Haverhill to victory, who just need to win their last three matches to be crowned champions.

The town side are a point behind Wickham Bishops A with three matches remaining and July 30's clash with the leaders looks set to be decisive.

Haverhill's leading pair, Adam Fowle and Will Gold, were out of sorts in the match with Hedingham last week but despite dropping their first set of the season, still had enough quality to win the other two.

Stuart Read and Robert Jeffs also scored a valuable set in a match that could easily have gone in Hedingham's favour.

Bish and Fitch had to hold off a fightback from Steed Doe and Dave Porter to win their opener, 6-4.

The Haverhill pair dropped just one point in winning the first three games but were pegged back to 4-4 before they came through to win.

The match was soon level when Ian Malin and Dane Beagrie saw off Read and Jeffs, 6-2, but Fowle and Gold defeated Sidney Pinches and Paul McFaull, 6-3, to restore Haverhill's lead.

Fowle and Gold then surprisingly lost to Malin and Beagrie, 6-4, and Haverhill were in trouble with Bish and Fitch 4-1 down to Pinches and McFaull.

But the skipper and his partner pulled through by winning five games in a row to put Haverhill 3-2 up, and Read and Jeffs put Haverhill within one set of victory with a well-earned 6-4 win over Doe and Porter.

The points were clinched by Fowle and Gold as they comfortably saw off Doe and Porter, 6-3, having led 5-0, but Hedingham kept their own hopes of winning a losing bonus point with Pinches and McFaull's win over Read and Jeffs.

Those hopes were dashed by Bish and Fitch as they defeated Malin and Beagrie, 6-4, to confirm a 6-3 success overall.

n Haverhill are due to travel to struggling Lavenham C tonight and will have number one player Lewie Hensby back in the side for the first time since the opening day of the season.