THERE was an exciting climax to the 2008 south east of England racketball league campaign at Bexley tennis squash and racketball club yesterday.

The last match of the season paired reigning champions Bromley Canons One against current league leaders Bexley Two, with some of the region's top racketball players in action.

Bexley Two held a slender lead at the top of the table going into the encounter, so knew a win or draw would take the title.

Likewise, a victory for Canons would see them lift the crown.

Matches consist of four single and two double ties with each tie playing three games regardless, meaning 18 points were up for grabs.

The match started with the first round of singles and the results were: Zeb Young (Bromley) 2-1 Matt Badger (Bexley); Paul Slater (Bexley) 3-0 Darren Saunders (Bromley.

Second round singles: Ted Jeal (Bromley) 2-1 Mark Steeden; Scott Sumner (Bexley) 3-0 Sam Stabler (Bromley).

This put Bexley 8-4 ahead and needing just one victory from the six games to come to tie the match 9-9 and win the league.

The pairings put Badger and Sumner up against Jeal and Saunders, and it was the Canons pair who won 3-0 to pull the scores back to 8-7.

Slater and Steeden then paired up for Bexley to face Stabler and Young.

Bexley held game point at 14-12 in the first and were only a point away from securing the necessary one required.

However, the Canons duo dug deep to clinch the opening game.

Game two was more one-sided with the Bromley side winning 15-9 to set up a grandstand finish with the match score at 9-8 to Canons.

The entire season came down to the last game of the very last tie of the very last match of the season with echoes of Arsenal's 2-0 win at Liverpool in the 1989 when Michael Thomas when charging through the midfield.

Unsurprisingly, the final match was a very tense affair with each pair matching the other point for point.

At 9-9, Bexley managed to string together a sequence of good rallies and take the lead at 13-9 and then at 14-10.

In an energy-sapping rally Bexley managed to take the vital game with a Steeden winner in the back corner.

The match was drawn 9-9 with Bexley Two managing to hold on to the slender lead they held coming into the game and be crowned champions.