Match Day 1st June 2002
MORECAMBE MAINTAIN THEIR LEAD
By Gerry Wolstenholme
On Saturday last, Morecambe gained their sixth Northern Premier League win of the season to maintain their 10-point lead at the top of the table. Darwen also won so kept the pressure on the leaders while Netherfield's win over Blackpool meant that the two teams swapped places in the top four. At the bottom, Leyland Motors' defeat by Darwen and Preston's draw with Lancaster left Motors propping up the table while Preston moved off the bottom.
Leyland batted first at Woodhill Lane and thanks to professional Pieter Koortzen making 73 not out, they reached 179-5 from their 57 overs. However, it was not enough to prevent Morecambe gathering in the 12 points as Tommy Clough with 79 and hard-hitting professional Ramesh Powar, 73 not out, took the home side to 180-3 and a seven-wicket victory.
Darwen made short shrift of luckless Leyland Motors and the game lasted only 40.2 overs in total. Motors were dismissed for a meagre 44 as Andrew Mercer had his best senior day with startling figures of 7-19. Darwen's reply was a formality and although they lost two wickets, they quickly reached 46 and made sure of the 12 points.
At Parkside Road Blackpool suffered a second successive batting collapse and once again failed to reach three figures. They made 75 not out as Pieter Strydom took an impressive 6-32. Strydom then made 46 as Netherfield lost an early wicket but eventually cruised to 78-4 and a six-wicket win inside 21 overs.
Chorley faced only 53 overs at Kendal and made 138-8 with Kabir Khan taking 5-42. In reply Kendal managed to receive 57 overs and knocked off 140-5 to record their second win of the season. Terry Hunte returned to welcome form with the bat and made 90 not out.
Preston and Lancaster played out a draw at South Meadow Lane as the home side batted first and made 194-8 from 56 overs with professional Raouf Akbar top-scoring with 81 and his Lancaster counterpart taking 4-58. Lancaster's reply was a somewhat low-key affair and they could reach only 129-5 from 53 overs.
And finally, in an amazing game at Vernon Road St Annes overcame Fleetwood by 37 runs in a low scoring game. Batting first St Annes could manage only 109 all out and that came courtesy of late order belligerence from Joe Davies, 34, and Neil Bradley, 35. Alex Laird was the pick of the Fleetwood bowlers with 4-22. Fleetwood's reply began badly and then picked up to such a degree that, with plenty of overs remaining, they were 64-3. Then, astonishingly, they lost their last seven wickets for eight runs to finish on 72 all out thus losing by 37 runs. Adrian Darlington, on as second change, turned the game with a 5.5 over spell that brought him 4-6. John Wright with 21 made top score for Fleetwood.
Results in brief (home side in bold):
Chorley 138-8 (53 overs) (Khan 5-62), Kendal 140-5 (57 overs) (Hunte 90*)
Chorley 0 points, Kendal 12 points
Leyland Motors44 (23.5 overs) (Mercer 7-19), Darwen 46-2 (14.3 overs)
Leyland Motors 0 points, Darwen 12 points
Leyland 179-5 (57 overs) (Koortzen 73*), Morecambe 180-3 (39.2 overs) (Clough 79,
Powar 73*)
Leyland 1 point, Morecambe 12 points
Blackpool 75 (38.4 overs) (Strydom 6-32),Netherfield 78-4 (20.5 overs) (Strydom 46)
Blackpool 0 points, Netherfield 12 points
Preston 194-5 (56 overs) (Akbar 81, Munnik 4-58), Lancaster 129-5 (53 overs)
Preston 6 points, Lancaster 3 points
St Annes 109 (54.1 overs) (Laird 4-22), Fleetwood 72 (30.5 overs) (Darlington 4-6)
St Annes 15 points, Fleetwood 3 points
BAY 96.9 NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
7 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
79 |
| Darwen |
7 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
69 |
| Netherfield |
7 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
57 |
| Blackpool |
7 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
49 |
| Kendal |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
39 |
| Fleetwood |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
38 |
| Leyland |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
36 |
| St Annes |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
10 |
36 |
| Chorley |
7 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
35 |
| Lancaster |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
13 |
28 |
| Preston |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
10 |
22 |
| Leyland Motors |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
20 |
In the Second Division, the man of the day was Lancaster's Brian Phillips who hit 104 not out as his side rushed to 230-4 declared in only 40 overs. But they could not force a win as Preston held on at 155-9.
Bay 96.9 Northern Premier League Second Division
Results in brief (home side in bold):
Netherfield 144 (49.1 overs) (Mundin 50, Bullen 6-46),Blackpool 81 (39.1 overs)
(Clinton 4-8)
Netherfield 15 points, Blackpool 3 points
Kendal 86 (28.4 overs) (Holdsworth 4-17), Chorley 87-3 (34.4 overs) (Yardley 46*)
Kendal 0 points, Chorley 12 points
Leyland Motors 113 (36.2 overs), Darwen 114-5 ( 31.5 overs) (Bonner 40*)
Leyland Motors 0 points, Darwen 12 points
St Annes 50 (Sherlock 5-25, Gregson 5-10)(29.3 overs), Fleetwood 50-0 (7.4 overs)
St Annes 0 points, Fleetwood 12 points
Lancaster 230-4 dec (40 overs) (Brian Phillips 104*), Preston 155-9 (57 overs)
Lancaster 9 points, Preston 2 points
Leyland 113 (46.5 overs) (Hatton 51, Lee 6-25, Gates 4-54), Morecambe 102
(46.5 overs) (Jolly 4-15)
Leyland 15 points, Morecambe 3 points
BAY 96.9 NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE
SECOND DIVISION TABLE
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Netherfield |
7 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
64 |
| Morecambe |
7 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
62 |
| Lancaster |
7 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
62 |
| Fleetwood |
7 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
61 |
| Kendal |
7 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
38 |
| Leyland |
7 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
37 |
| St Annes |
7 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
35 |
| Chorley |
7 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
33 |
| Preston |
7 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
33 |
| Darwen |
7 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
27 |
| Blackpool |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
26 |
| Leyland Motors |
7 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
23 |
