CHELTENHAM secured important breathing space in the WEPL Premier Two Glos/Wilts drop zone, completing a 59-run win at Royal Wootton Bassett thanks to a fine knock from Chris Williams and excellent opening spell by Will Hope.
No other results were possible in this division as rain saturated grounds across the region, making this win even more valuable for Cheltenham who ended a run of five successive defeats to edge up a place to seventh and move 27 points clear of the bottom two with seven rounds of games to go.
Cheltenham, who lost the toss, racked up 201-8 from 41 overs, Williams compiling a patient 63 from 71 before Max Shepherd (36 not) and Stanley Brown (32) made vital late contributions.
Hope then gave his side the perfect start with the ball, capturing three quick wickets en route to superb final figures of 3-17 from seven.
And with Brown, Shepherd and Sam Didcote taking two wickets apiece, there was no escape for the home side as Cheltenham banked 19 valuable points.
Golden Hill are back on top of Premier Two Bristol/Somerset courtesy of a 102-run victory in a rain-reduced 20-over contest at Downend completed while previous leaders Bishopston were rained out when in a strong position at home to Ilminster.
The visitors, who lost the toss, made the most of a short boundary on an already small ground to reach 203-5, captain Daz Ahmed crunching 48 off 28 (five fours, three sixes) and Harry Thomas 47 from only 17 (three fours, five sixes).
Ahmed then led the charge with a fine opening spell of seam which included taking an extremely sharp return catch to account for the dangerous Ben Ford, eventually finishing with 3-15 from three.
And although Ollie Jackson briefly threatened to bring Downend back into contention by plundering four successive sixes in an entertaining cameo of 24, it all came to an end early in the 15th over, Haseeb Noori claiming 3-9 from three overs of spin.
No results at all were possible in the Gloucestershire division while in Bristol & North Somerset, just one match was completed with Knowle succumbing by 124 runs at leaders Congresbury.
In Premier One, Bedminster squeaked in by one wicket in a real thriller away to Bridgwater.
The home side reached 202-9 from 41 overs, former Afghanistan U19 star Abid Taniwal bagging 3-40, before Bedminster were set a revised challenge of 171 in 30.
And they got there with two balls to spare, surviving a couple of late scares, with Ollie Meadows and Joe Phillips both hitting 34 while there was a crucial unbeaten 26 from Gloucestershire’s Tom Smith.