ALCESTER had a disappointing start to the Heart of England League, losing home and away to Raven.

In the away leg Raven made home green advantage tell with five wins from eight.

Alcester got off to a disastrous start with a 5-21 card, and never looked as though they would pull it back.

The visitors lost by 28 shots with best for Alcester, John Alderson's 21-11, supported by new skipper Renny Bannister at 21-13, and Dave Hovell with 21-15.

Things went from bad to worse in a return fixture played in heavy rain which wiped out home advantage.

Although the first four got off to a reasonable start with three wins (Dave Hovell 21-13, Peter Barber 21-13, and Dave Roberts 21-15), the remaining players never got to grips with the green and turned in a dismal performance, going down to a shock home defeat by 13 points.

Alcester's Northfield League promotion hopefuls got off to a flier with an unbeaten opening day win over visiting Royal Oak.

Peter Barber 21-0, Dave Roberts 21-4, Jean Bannister 21-5 and Renny Bannister 21-6, were best for Alcester but every player made a good contribution to send Royal Oak packing by a massive 98-shot defeat and record 10 league points.

The Yardley Wood team started with three wins.