Match Day 3rd August 2002 TITLE COULD BELONG TO DARWEN By Gerry Wolstenholme With the top two teams meeting at Birch Hall there was a good chance of something more definite developing in the Northern Premier League title race. And with leaders Darwen winning and third-placed Netherfield failing to win, the race for the title took a decided turn in Darwen's favour. At Birch Hall it was a low-scoring contest with the home side batting first and making a modest 129 all out with Keith Semple scoring 52 and Peter Stephens taking 6-53. Morecambe's reply stumbled and stuttered and with Andrew Mercer continuing his good form they could only manage 116 to lose by 13 runs. Mercer's 6-27 gave him 64 wickets for the season and sees him rapidly homing in on Dave Bonner's 69-wicket club amateur record. Netherfield meanwhile could not force victory at St Annes after their batsmen had posted a total of 188-9 with Craig Walmsley scoring a rapid 45 at the start of the innings. Geoff Love served up a magnificent spell of top quality off-spin bowling to finish with 7-54. St Annes in reply looked in a good position with the final 20 overs to be bowled but once top scorer Love, 64, was out, it was downhill all the way. The result was that they hung on at 166-9 for the draw that did neither side any great favours. It left St Annes next-to-bottom and left Netherfield with a mountain to climb if they are to retain their title. Perhaps the shock result of the day came at Stanley Park where Leyland Motors were the visitors. And they batted first to total only 115 all out with Oliver Newby taking 4-37, Stephen Croft 4-32 and Marcus Sharp picking up three wickets. Ashraf made a top score of 59 for Motors. Blackpool's reply followed the usual pattern of some of their recent innings, that of collapse. It was 95-9 at one point but Sharp and Martin Hackett fought hard and took them to the brink of victory, needing just six runs from the final over. But a run out did for them and it was 112 all out and defeat by three runs. Peter Cummings was the main destroyer with an impressive 5-34. Kendal entertained Preston - but not for long for the game lasted just 53.5 overs. Kendal were bowled out for only 83 with Raoul Akbar taking 5-43. Almost unbelievably this proved 29 runs too many for Preston who could muster only 54 all out. Kabir Khan took 5-32 and Kevin Howarth 4-21. Another side bowled out for under 100 was Lancaster who could make only 81 in reply to Fleetwood's 116-8. The game started late due to wet conditions and it was only Paul Hague with 50 not out that saw Fleetwood to their total. The evergreen Graham Barnes bowled as well as ever and took 5-57. Lancaster fell 35 runs short of their target as Dave Fish took 4-26 and he was supported by Steve Hill and Hague, both of whom took three wickets. If Kendal and Preston had a short game, there was an even shorter one at Fox Lane where the home side were dismissed for just 35 with Chorley's Stephen John returning the third-best ever figures in the Northern/Northern Premier League history. He took an astonishing 9-12. Chorley lost two wickets in making the 36 for an eight-wicket victory. Results in brief (home side in bold): Leyland Motors 115 (45.4 overs) (Ashraf 59, Croft 4-32, Newby 4-37), Blackpool 112 (59.3 overs) (Cummings 5-34) Leyland Motors 15 points, Blackpool 3 points Darwen 129 (57 overs) (Semple 52, Stephens 6-53), Morecambe 116 (50.3 overs) (Mercer 6-27) Darwen 15 points, Morecambe 3 points Kendal 83 (34.1 overs) (Akbar 5-43), Preston 54 (19.4 overs) (Khan 5-32, Howarth 4-21) Kendal 15 points, Preston 3 points Fleetwood 116-8 (44 overs) (Hague 50*, Barnes 5-57), Lancaster 81 (34.4 overs) (Fish 4-26) Fleetwood 15 points, Lancaster 2 points Leyland 35 (21 overs)(John 9-12), Chorley 36-2 (12 overs) Leyland 0 points, Chorley 12 points Netherfield 188-9 (57 overs) (Walmsley 45, Love 7-54), St Annes 166-9 (54 overs) (Love 64) Netherfield 8 points, St Annes 4 points BAY 96.9 NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE DIVISION ONE Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts Darwen 16 5 5 4 0 0 2 13 172 Morecambe 16 2 9 0 1 2 2 5 152 Netherfield 16 2 4 4 1 2 3 19 126 Kendal 16 5 1 2 1 3 4 14 126 Blackpool 16 3 2 2 2 6 2 16 103 Chorley 16 2 4 1 3 4 2 12 100* Fleetwood 16 2 2 2 2 6 2 23 95 Preston 16 3 0 1 0 9 3 13 74 Lancaster 16 1 0 4 4 5 2 31 74 Leyland 16 1 2 0 1 9 3 20 72 St Annes 16 1 1 0 6 5 3 25 70 Leyland Motors 16 2 0 2 1 9 2 20 67 * 5 Points deducted ACTION REPLAY NETHERFIELD JUST MISS OUT: ST ANNES HANG ON Netherfield 188-9 St Annes 166-9 By Gerry Wolstenholme In an enthralling game at Vernon Road on Saturday Netherfield just failed to take the final St Annes wicket and the game ended in a tense draw that did neither side many favours. Netherfield batted first and made 188-9 to which St Annes replied with 166-9, losing their ninth wicket in the final over. Craig Walmsley was the early Netherfield star as he set off like a house on fire. And it was the surrounding houses that suffered for he peppered their gardens with a flurry of sixes to which he added four fours so that by the time he was out for an exciting 45, he had made all but 17 of the runs on the board. He was smartly stumped by Duncan Whalley when advancing down the track to Mark Winder. For those square on it looked a close call but the batsman was happy with the decision. Pieter Strydom continued to attack while Tommy Prime watched from the other end. And it was Prime who was next to go, leg before wicket to Geoff Love who throughout bowled an excellent line and length in addition to getting surprising lift. Prime had made 19 and Netherfield were 100-2. It was soon 107-3 as Strydom, surely one of the classiest batsmen in the League, went as he pushed tentatively forward at his Border team-mate Love to be smartly caught off bat and pad by wicketkeeper Whalley who nipped around the stumps.Strydom's 38 had come from 60 balls with four fours and two sixes. The innings then declined and slowed as John Mason, nine, and Ben Haddrick, nought, fell to Love, the former caught and bowled and the latter caught at slip by Russ Bradley. But Grahame Clarke was still there and in typical fashion he hit four huge sixes and one four as he went to 39 from 45 balls. He was then bowled by Love who had in fairness kept him slightly becalmed when down at the south end. Danny Welbourne made seven and perished in the chase for late runs as he too was stumped by Whalley off Twist, Paul Stewart made a dashing 21 before Whalley struck again off Love and the pair made it two in two when David Wheatman was also stumped the following ball. Scott Clement made three not out and Marc Hadwin one not out as the innings closed at 188-9. Love who at one point had 5-34, finished with 7-54. St Annes' reply began badly as Adrian Darlington fell in the second over when he was caught by Walmsley at point off Clement for one. And it was 20-2 when Jack Kelliher was caught in the gully by Strydom off the same bowler. Love and Twist then added 50 runs for the third wicket before the latter was bowled by Mason for 18. Russ Bradley perished for nine but with 20 overs remaining St Annes were seemingly in control at 98-4 with the professional still at the wicket. But Love failed to continue his early form in which he had struck eight good boundaries and he was only able to pick up 16 singles as he moved on to 64. By the time he was seventh out, caught by the ubiquitous Walmsley off Clement, he had lost Sean Bickerdike, leg before wicket to Strydom for seven and Joe Davies caught off the faintest of edges by Prime off Strydom for nought. Duncan Whalley tried to get St Annes back on track but when he was out, bowled by Hadwin for 18, there was only one way forward for the home side and that was to survive. Although Winder was leg before wicket to Hadwin for two, Adam Taylor, 12 not out, and young Michael Baer, who had earlier bowled a good spell when the Netherfield attack was on, survived to leave St Annes at 166-9 and four points from a draw. Netherfield's eight points left them trailing Morecambe by 26 points, and leaders Darwen by a massive 46 points. Second Division results in brief (home team in bold): Leyland 180-9 (50 overs) (Mercer 88, Dhar 5-48, Fairhurst 4-39), Chorley 113-8 (43 overs) (Fairhurst 47, Tennant 5-67) Leyland 8 points, Chorley 4 points Fleetwood 34 (19.1 overs)(Dennison 6-16, Jordan 4-17), Lancaster 35-0 (7.3 overs) Fleetwood 0 points, Lancaster 12 points Blackpool 189-6 (50 overs) (Cragg 49, Brookes 44), Leyland Motors 112 (34.4 overs) (Brookes 9-51) Blackpool 15 points, Leyland Motors 1 point Darwen 79 (32.3 overs) (Oates 5-26),Morecambe 81-2 (19.3 overs) (Mashiter 42*) Darwen 0 points, Morecambe 12 points St Annes 117 (44.5 overs), Netherfield 86 (49.4 overs) (Tummutalli 5-26, Booth 4-37) St Annes 15 points, Netherfield 3 points Preston 209-3 dec (47.1 overs) (Mann A 106*, Peet 74), Kendal 45 (25 overs) (Patel 5-19) Preston 15 points, Kendal 0 points BAY 96.9 NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE DIVISION TWO Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts Lancaster 16 3 6 2 0 3 2 15 148 Morecambe 16 3 5 2 2 2 2 16 139 Fleetwood 16 1 5 5 0 4 1 22 121 Netherfield 16 4 2 0 4 2 4 17 121 St Annes 16 2 5 1 1 5 2 8 111 Chorley 16 2 4 1 1 7 1 10 97 Leyland 17 2 2 3 2 6 2 17 93 Darwen 16 0 5 0 3 5 3 11 86 Leyland Motors 16 1 4 1 0 8 2 8 83 Preston 16 3 0 2 2 7 2 18 81 Blackpool 17 2 1 2 3 8 1 21 78 Kendal 16 0 3 1 2 8 2 15 65

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