The League and Island Championship winners also quieted the critics who at the beginning of the season said that they would struggle in the wake of a mass exodus of top players, some of whom had joined Hornets.

Shouts of joy went up with Robert Dill's strikeout of Dennis Pamplin for the final out and a massive celebration continued at the club as players gave each other congratulations and interim manager Michael Glasford received the now customary ice-water dunking.

Earlier, Blue Sox had clawed their way back from a three-run deficit in the fourth inning to tie things up at 4-4 heading into the sixth, where they took the lead for the first time.

Hornets did have a chance in that final inning, but left two men stranded on base.

Harold Minors did his utmost for Hornets going three-for-four with a home run, a triple and one RBI, but he alone could not stop the Blue Sox juggernaut.

For the champions, Braxton Stowe and Jamie Gaull each went two-for-three with Stowe knocking in two runs in aid of winning pitcher Robert Dill. Elliott Perinchief took the loss.

Other matches saw Bud decimate Flying Chefs 20-1, Arthur Andersen outlast Cooper and Lines 15-8, Snow Balls thrash Flyers 17-3 and Continental Casualties edge PM 15-13.

SOCCER SOC The elimination round of the FA Cup, which involves Second and Commercial division teams, will be played in midweek in October so as not to clash with Bermuda's home matches in the World Cup.

The schedule for the month of October sees the elimination round held on October 22 and 27 to enable the Sundays on the 18th and 25th to be free of domestic matches. The elimination round will involve a total of 10 matches, possibly with five matches on each of the two night dates.

The opening round of league matches will be held on Sunday with champions PHC starting away to Devonshire Colts. Somerset are at home to newly-promoted St.

George's while North Village entertain Boulevard at Bernard Park.

The other two matches see Hamilton Parish hosting Dandy Town at Wellington Oval and St. David's playing their first-ever First Division match at home to Hotels International, who have done away with the name Hamilton International after just one season.

The Islanders have a tough baptism as next Saturday night they meet PHC under lights before closing out their first month amongst the big boys by taking on Devonshire Colts at home.

Neighbours St. George's host North Village at Wellington Oval on November 11 before taking on the Zebras at home the following Sunday.

Boulevard also have a tough start to the season, with matches against Dandy Town and Hotels following their season opener.

This season four of the 10 First Division clubs will be playing their home matches in the east end with St. David's and Boulevard sharing Lord's and St.

George's and Hamilton Parish playing at Wellington Oval. Two seasons ago only Boulevard of that four were in the First Division.

BOWLING BOW Latest action in the Miller high Life Bowling League produced a number of lopsided results with Marlboro heading the list of winners with a 26-4 thrashing of Stevedoring Services.

Doug Hines was Marlboro's top roller, registering a 596 series and backed by Richard Zuill as their side had the night's second high team series of 2,767.

For the losers it was Gilbert DeCosta weighing in with a high game of 244 but he received little support from his team-mates.

Similarly Gosling's disposed of disposed of Signature Card 25-5 due to a steady team performance while their opponents struggled to find a groove.

The night's closest contest involved New Mix Ups against Spoilers, which resulted in a 20-10 victory by the former.

Other match-ups saw Tomp's Towing triumph 27-3 over Team Spirit and Tools and Equipment roll to an easy 26-4 win against Franklin Travel.

Thursday's schedule: Franklin Travel v Tomp's Towing; Signature Card v Tools and Equipment; Team Spirit v Mix Ups; Stevedoring Services v Marlboro.

GOLF GLF Bermuda's junior golfers received a boost recently when Chateau Elan Golf Club donated six sets of golf clubs to the Bermuda Junior Golf Association.

Making the donation to association president Dave Garland on behalf of the club was local representative Junior DeSilva.

The clubs -- three sets for girls and three for boys -- will remain the property of the association and will be loaned out to various juniors as part of the Golf Developmental Scheme.

"This is a magnificent gesture on behalf of Chateau Elan,'' said Garland.

"It's nice to know that companies selling golf products support the junior programs.''