BLACKPOOL TRIUMPHANT
Blackpool 178-6 St Annes 163-5
Gerry Wolstenholme
An entertaining Bay 96.9 Northern Premier League Slater Cup first round tie at Stanley Park on Saturday ended in a win for the home side by just 15 runs. Batting first Blackpool made 178-6 in its 40 overs with Paul Danson being the main contributor with 51 and in reply St Annes managed only 163-5 with professional Dave Callaghan still there at the end with 77 not out.
The first action of the day came in the second over when a ball from Roger Banks completely deceived Martin Pickles to bowl the opening batsman for a duck with the total just three, all from extras. Stand-in opener Darren Walton was then joined by skipper Mark Lomas and the pair added 50 runs in 11 overs before the latter was leg before wicket to Callaghan for 22.
Walton went on to make 39 with the aid of one or two sweetly timed drives before he tried to pull David Taylor over square leg, did not go completely through with the shot and was well caught by Gareth Evans on the boundary edge. That was 79-3 in the 21st over. And it was soon 89-4 as David Bartholomew, one, edged a ball from Adam Cotton to wicketkeeper David Whalley who atoned for his two earlier misses, off Walton and Lomas by taking the catch.
Gavin Armstrong joined Paul Danson who was battling to keep the scoreboard moving against some tight St Annes bowling. Armstrong struck one good straight drive but when he had made 11 he was leg before wicket to Taylor and Blackpool was 109-5. Left-handed Chris Barrow joined Danson at the crease and, with the aid of one or two lusty blows, he rapidly began to catch his partner. But Danson made it to 50, added only one run and was then bowled when essaying a rather adventurous shot against Joe Davies in the final over. His runs had come from 82 balls with only one boundary.
Barrow took a single off the remaining balls and finished 39 not out, from only 28 balls with one six and two fours, and Lamb made one not out as Blackpool closed at 178-6. For St Annes Taylor with 2-38 was the most successful bowler with Davies, 1-29, Callaghan, 1-30, and Adam Cotton 1-33 being the other wicket takers.
St Annes reply got off to a bad start as three wickets were lost for 19 runs by the eighth over. Adrian Darlington was the first to go when he had made nine. He pulled a rank long hop from David Brooks to mid-wicket where the ever-alert Bartholomew casually took the catch. Evans who had not got off the mark followed him to the pavilion when he edged Marcus Sharp through to wicketkeeper Martin Hackett. And Joe Davies became the third St Annes casualty when, after striking one boundary, he too was caught by Hackett off Brooks for four.
Professional Dave Callaghan had watched the last two wickets from the other end and he and captain Russ Bradley then set about rebuilding the innings. Once again the bowling was tight and there were not many runs to be had and the scoreboard moved along slowly and 102 runs were required from the final 20 overs. The requirement was then reduced to 77 from the final 10 overs as Blackpool made it increasingly difficult for the St Annes batsmen to score runs.
There were 55 runs needed for victory when Russ Bradley was dismissed. He had kept up with his more illustrious partner and had made 41 from 89 balls with two fours when he fell leg before wicket to Walton. Enter Adam Cotton and perhaps with his big-hitting St Annes last hopes of winning the game. He set off in his usual fashion and had only made five when he hoisted Pickles straight to long-on where Lamb put down the easy catch. Forty-nine runs were needed off the last five overs and then 35 from the final three overs.
Fortunately for Blackpool the missed catch was not too costly for Cotton had only made 19 when he hit a full toss from Pickles towards extra cover where Brooks stepped across and took the catch. This left an awful lot of pressure on Callaghan and he was unable to score the necessary runs to give his side victory. Blackpool mercurial Marcus Sharp had to bowl two of the final three overs and to score 12 runs an over from his bowling was going to be no easy task. And so it proved as he kept runs down to a minimum. Callaghan did pull Pickles for one boundary in the penultimate over but it was not enough as St Annes ended 15 runs short at 163-5. Callaghan's 77 not out had come from 92 balls with five fours and Sean Bickerdike ended with a token three not out. St Annes had to accept defeat with the professional still at the wicket and five wickets in hand as the Blackpool skipper Mark Lomas manipulated his bowling and set his field to perfection.
Latus Trophy First Round:
Fleetwood's Nick Coultas was undoubtedly the star of the day as he hit the first-ever double century in the competition, blasting the luckless Leyland bowlers for a magnificent 207 out of Fleetwood's record score of 360-6. Leyland had little or no chance of overhauling such a total and had to settle for a modest 157-3 with Gill making 62.
Two of the other ties ended in close fought contests, Darwen conquering Preston by just nine runs and Blackpool (the previous Sunday) scraping home by one-wicket over St Annes. Lancaster and Morecambe roped to victory over Kendal and Leyland Motors respectively while Netherfield and Chorley must play again due to rain.
The draw for the second round is now Morecambe v Chorley or Netherfield and Darwen v Blackpool. Fleetwood and Lancaster have byes into the semi-finals.
Latus Trophy First Round:
Abbreviated scoreboards (home team in bold):
Kendal 93, Lancaster 94-3 (Phillips 41*)
Fleetwood 360-6 (Coultas 207), Leyland 157-3 (Gill 62)
Leyland Motors 124-9, Morecambe 125-1
Netherfield 193-4 (Thornborrow 41*, Jones 40) v Chorley - match abandoned
Darwen 129, Preston 120 (Harrison 47*)
St Annes 107 (Marsland 4-32), Blackpool 110-9 - played Sunday 15 July.
