Match Day 12th May 2001
HOLDERS OUT!
Gerry Wolstenholme
On a day of shocks in the first round of the Bay 96.9 Northern Premier League Nuffield Hospital Cup, holders Netherfield provided the main one as Fleetwood romped to an eight-wicket victory at Parkside. Blackpool, one of many people's favourites for the trophy, also went down at Leyland. And Morecambe suffered defeat at the hands of Lancaster while Chorley made hard work of winning a close tie at Preston. St Annes overcame Kendal in a titanic struggle and Darwen coasted to victory at Leyland Motors.
At Parkside Netherfield batted first and posted a not-inconsiderable 190-8 with Tommy Prime, missing his usual opening partner Craig Walmsley who damaged ligaments in a Thursday night football match, top scoring with 62 and Simon Dutton chipping in with 49. Stephen Hill had his best Northern Premier League return to date with an impressive 4-29. The total did not daunt Fleetwood and skipper John Wright, in good form at present, led from the front as he scored 59 and with professional Craig Pryor making 54 not out Fleetwood were home and dry with eight wickets to spare.
As Leyland the home side batted first and with contributions from all down the order made 182-6. Blackpool's reply centred around captain Mark Lomas but his 81 was in a losing cause as no-one could stay with him and, with Brian Tennant taking 4-26, the seasiders made only 168 to lose by 14 runs.
At Preston Tony Hesketh had to miss his side's tie due to a prior commitment to attend a wedding but he did get down to the ground in between times to see his side reach a modest 149-8 after openers Ian McDonnell and James Anyon had both posted 20s. But at one point this total looked enough as Chorley struggled to get near the target and with three overs remaining the odds were on a surprise Preston win. Tenacious captain Roland Horridge, however, had other ideas. He was still there and masterminded his side's victory by three wickets with 63 not out.
Meanwhile at Leyland Motors the home side could not prevent Darwen from making the day's highest score of 234-7 to which opener Chris Lowe contributed 81 and professional Keith Semple 58. The Motors side was never in the hunt and managed only 118 all out as the Cordingley brothers, Neil and Gareth, administered the coup de grace by taking 4-12 and 4-22 respectively.
Finally Lancaster batted first against Morecambe and with captain Phil Dennison making 65 posted 166-7. Morecambe's reply faltered and it was only the in-form Mark Woodhead's 74 that enabled his side to get anywhere near and defeat by eight runs was the outcome as Simm took 4-16
.
The next round takes place on Sunday 27 May and the ties are Fleetwood versus Darwen and Chorley versus Lancaster. Leyland and St Annes have byes into the semi-final.
Abbreviated scores (home team in bold):
Lancaster 166-7 (Dennison 65), Morecambe 158-8 (Woodhead 74, Simm 4-16)
Darwen 234-8 (Lowe 81, Semple 58), Leyland Motors 118 (Cordingley N 4-12,
Cordingley G 4-22)
Netherfield 190-8 (Prime 62, Dutton 49, Hill 4-29), Fleetwood 192-2 (Wright 59,
Pryor 54)
Preston 149-8, Chorley 152-7 (Horridge 63*)
Leyland 182-6, Blackpool 168 (Lomas 81, Tennant 4-26)
Kendal 173 (Little 52, Howarth 44), St Annes 175-9 (Khan 4-37)
MATCH OF THE DAY
Gerry Wolstenholme
A pulsating Nuffield Hospital Cup tie at Vernon Road on Saturday ended in stunning style as St Annes, chasing Kendal's 173 all out, had a roller-coaster ride to victory. At 80-5 it looked very much Kendal's game but then a 64-run partnership between Sean Bickerdike and Joe Davies put St Annes back in the hunt. Three quick wickets then swung the pendulum St Annes' way as victory looked unlikely at 137-9. But 17 year-old Zac Taylor and 16 year-old Aidan Cotton pulled it out of the bag and the winning runs came with just two balls remaining.A pulsating Nuffield Hospital Cup tie at Vernon Road on Saturday ended in stunning style as St Annes, chasing Kendal's 173 all out, had a roller-coaster ride to victory.
On the first gloriously hot and sunny day of the season Kendal won the toss and batted. It looked a bad decision when Stephen Cooper was bowled by Callaghan for four and then the prolific Terry Hunte drove to short extra cover where Adam Cotton took a stinging low catch of Joe Davies. Hunte made one and Kendal was 6-2.
There followed a 90-run partnership between new recruit Simon Little and ex-Worcestershire recruit Kevin Howarth. The latter was the more fluent and when Zac Taylor took up the attack he was driven for four boundaries in his first over. But when Howarth had made 44 he edged Dave Taylor through to Sean Bickerdike and Kendal had lost its third wicket at 96
Pakistani professional Kabir Khan, five, came and went quickly courtesy of an inch perfect Gareth Evans throw from the deep and captain Dave Fallows followed him to the pavilion for nought at 113-5. He attacked Adam Cotton only for Zac Taylor to take a superb tumbling catch at long off. Simon Little was next to go after he had decided that he had to step up the pace but having hit one six he drove Adrian Darlington to long on where Joe Davies took off goalkeeper-style to hold a catch on the boundary edge. Little's 52 had come from 128 balls and contained one six and four fours.
From 135-6 Kendal's innings drifted to its conclusion as the St Annes bowlers prevented the batsmen getting into their stride. Darlington bowled Ian Schmidt for 10 and Richard Ellwood was leg before wicket to Davies for seven. Callaghan then wrapped up the innings in two balls; first he bowled 'Shed' Potts for seven and then had Stuart Parkin leg before wicket first ball. This left Alan Fawcett 11 not out and Kendal's innings closed at 173 in 42.2 of the scheduled 45 overs.
For St Annes, Callaghan had 3-18, Davies 2-22, Darlington 2-35, Dave Taylor 1-30 and Adam Cotton 1-20.
The St Annes reply also began badly for Darlington was leg before wicket to the speedy Howarth for five when the total was only six. Thirty more runs came before Howarth whipped through Joe Davies' defence and he was out for eight. Thirty-six for two became 36-3 within a couple of minutes when Callaghan played one of the most irresponsible shots a professional could play. Having already been dropped in the gully by Fallows, he had been beaten by Ellwood's first ball of the over and to the second he danced down the track to be stumped by the proverbial mile for 18.
The rebuilding of the innings was left to Russ Bradley and Adam Cotton but Ellwood was bowling tightly and runs could not readily be found. The total had advanced to 54 before Potts bowled Russ Bradley for eight and then at 80, a strangely subdued Adam Cotton was caught by Hunte off Potts for 13.
Then came a spirited 64-run partnership between Sean Bickerdike and Joe Davies. Both batsmen were looking for runs as St Annes needed to score at five and a half runs an over to secure victory. Kendal's fielding became somewhat ragged, Hunte dropped a high swirling catch at point, before the return of the professional seemed to have won the game for Kendal.
The total was 134 when he had a stunned Davies leg before wicket for a well made 34 and then, next ball, Neil Bradley charged down the wicket to be also given out leg before wicket. Three runs later and Khan comprehensively bowled Dave Taylor for nought and at 137-9 with six overs and one ball remaining St Annes was staring defeat in the face.
But the two youngsters, Zac Taylor and Aidan Cotton, would have none of it and from tentative beginnings grew confidence and they steadily accumulated the 37 runs required for victory. Seventeen runs were required from the last two overs. Five singles and one four left eight needed from the pacy Khan's final over. Only five balls were required as from the fifth ball of the over, a no-ball to boot, Zac Taylor edged the boundary that brought about a stunning one wicket victory for St Annes.
The two batsmen returned to the pavilion to rapturous applause and the Kendal players left the field wondering how they could have let an opportunity of easing into the semi-final, via a second round bye, escape them.
The Kendal bowling was led by Khan who took 4-37 but Ellwood's 1-20 from nine overs, three of which were maidens, was the best of the attack. Potts had 2-25 and the unlucky Parkin 0-30 from three overs as he was the one who suffered at the hands of Bickerdike and Davies.
St Annes can sit back now and await a semi-final clash at Leyland on Sunday 10 June.
Bay 96.9 Northern Premier League Blackledge Trophy scoreboard:
Morecambe 145 (Mills 4-30), Lancaster 147-1 (Phillips 88*, Cunliffe 48*)
Leyland Motors 131 (Totham 74*, Davies 4-13),Darwen 132-2 (Heys 48)
Fleetwood 202 (Latus 85), Netherfield 189 (Haddrick 79, Easley 4-26)
Chorley 173-6 (Catterall 68), Preston 174-7 (Mann 45)
Leyland 117, Blackpool 120-0 (Aga 51*, Mercer 44*)
Kendal 91, St Annes 95-5
