DEANERY celebrated a Town & Country Southern League and Echo Trophy double in 1979, but the title race could hardly have been tighter with the Southampton club pipping 1978 winners Havant by 0.04 of a point on the season's average.
The season was badly affected by the weather with a whole host of matches being washed out. Rained off four times, Deanery won nine of their 11 matches, having only managed to take the field twice by mid-June. Disappointingly, the final round of matches was washed out, culminating in an anti-climatic finish to the summer. 
The overall lack of matches played was reflected in the 1979 season's averages, with Ian Watson (335) the only Deanery batsman to exceed 300 runs. Havant opening pair Roger Gilliatt (390) and Trevor Hicks (386) were the leading SL run scorers, with Waterlooville's Ian Farley (379) two boundaries behind.  Hyde Ramblers' Bob Laishley bowled and bowled, taking 46 wickets, with Derek Tulk and Don Whitlock taking 36 each. Bowling restrictions came next !

HYTHE & DIBDEN thrashed Lymington by eight wickets with 15 balls to spare to win the 1976 New Forest CA Sydney Wyatt Cup at Lyndhurst’s Bolton’s Bench.
With schoolteacher Roger Moyle and Terry Rawlins taking two wickets each, they restricted Lymington to 80-6 and polished off the target with plenty of time to spare, Brian Buck (25), George Knights (21*) and Hedley Wooldridge (20) leading the way.
The victorious Hythe team (not in order above) was Brian Sexton (captain), Phil Wastell, Brian Buck, Terry Rawlins, George Knights, Hedley Wooldridge, Mike Swanton, Roger Moyle, Mike Pick, Phil Pick, Steve House.