Defending Commercial A Division champions Robin Hood inched to within a whisker of completing a successful defence of their league title following last Saturday's 2-0 shutout win over St.George's All-Stars at Bernard Park.

Comfortably perched on 40 points atop their respective division, Hood presently hold onto a nine point cushion over second placed Tuff Dogs, third placed MR Onions and fourth placed North Village Rams, who all have 31 points apiece.

Hood can now effectively wrap things up by snatching a single point off Onions in their final fixture of the 2002/03 season this Saturday.

Mathematically, Rams are the sole team that are still have a slim chance of reeling Hood in for the league title as they have three games in hand. But in order for Rams to pip Hood for the championship they must first pray and hope for Onions to defeat the Merrymen, win all of their remaining fixtures and then bag at least 15 goals along the way.

Rams, meanwhile, had their match against Lobster Pot at White Hill Field last Saturday postponed due to an unprepared pitch.

Elsewhere, Tuff Dogs climbed into second spot despite being held to a scoreless draw against BAA Wanderers at BAA Field, while Onions sank Vasco Mariners even further into the relegation zone with a 5-2 thrashing at St.John's Field.

Steve Smith, Keith Donald and David Turner all converted for Onions, while two own goals further served to compound Mariner's woes. Paul Frias and Andrew Bento replied for Vasco, who remain two points adrift of nearest rivals Lobster Pot with only one match remaining.

At Malabar, Key West Rangers blasted relegated Prison Officers 11-2.

Tillman Darrell and Craig Critchlow both notched fine hat-tricks while Roderick Lewis, player/coach Ricky Mallory, Vernel Cann, Peter Rickards and Richard Wilson all chipped in with a goal apiece for Rangers who - despite handing their lowly opponents another comprehensive beating - still remain in fifth spot in the tables. There was no further information provided on Officers goalscorers.

In B Division action, runaway champions PHC Raiders thumped Dockyard Falcons 8-0 at Malabar Field.

Raiders striker Keith Bell notched his 14th, 15th and 16th goals of the season to move level with Devonshire All-Stars' Kenny Dill and Wanderers' Jahmall Mills in the race for the season's top goal poacher award.

Mark Wade got Raiders off to a flying start when he burst through the Falcon's defence and converted in the ninth minute of play. Bell then doubled Raider's lead 2-0 two minutes later before Allen Fray scored the first of his two strikes to make it 3-0. Bell was then off again on a celebratory run moments before half-time after pouncing to give his team a commanding 4-0 lead at the break.

Dennis Wainwright made it 5-0 shortly after the restart as Raiders resumed their all-out assault on the Falcons' goal, before Bell completed his fine treble in the 61st minute. Fray then added to the home team's misery mid-way through the second half before Colin Thompson rounded off the rout four minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Valley held onto third spot in the tables thanks to hard fought 3-2 win over Devonshire All-Stars at St.John's Field.

Jay Eve spearheaded Valley's attack by netting a superb hat trick, while Blaine Tucker was also on target. Jeff Richardson scored two goals in reply for All-Stars who suffered their fourth loss of the season while Paul Hollis also managed to get his name on the scoresheet.

At Somerset Cricket Club, Somerset Extros defeated Pest Control 3-1. There was no further information on this match.

Wolves, meanwhile, won by default over Devonshire Lions while Somerset Eagles also prevailed over Prospect/Fire by default.