Honiton achieved a fine 3-1 win over league leaders Ottery St Mary last week at Mountbatten Park.
It was actually the first ever victory recorded against their local rivals since joining the league five years ago, and it came after they suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hand of the Otters just three weeks ago in the reverse fixture.
It also comes after a poor run of defeats in the first half of a season reduced in length and numbers because of the pandemic.
After finishing runners up to Ottery in 2019, the last full season played, Honiton had hoped to challenge for the title this season and started well with victories over Wellington and at the Village Inn.
However, they then lost matches at Pig On The Hill, Isca, Chudleigh and Ottery and found themselves just above the bottom slot. One factor is the fixture list that saw them have only one home match before the Ottery win, which was the first of five to be played at the Park, and the hope is that they can now climb to a more respectable position in the league.
In the match against Ottery, the visitors got off to a good start when the Captains met in the Singles and Chris Bigmore lost 13-8 against John Thatcher in a tight tussle.
Honiton came back to even the match at the halfway stage by winning the Triples. Ron Hutchinson with Den and Carol Williams overcame Rose Thatcher, Paul Puddicombe and Keith Tizzard 13-9 in their game.
The Doubles round was completely dominated by Honiton and saw Bigmore and Charlie O'Reilly take their game 13-2 against Puddicombe and Tizzard. That was followed by the Williams pair winning 13-4 against the Thatcher duo. A good win for the club and three much needed league points.
DEVON LEAGUE P Pts
Ottery St Mary 7 15
Isca 7 13
Pig On The Hill 7 11
Chudleigh 7 10
HONITON 7 9
Wellington 6 7
Village Inn 7 3