DARWEN EASILY OVERCOME BLACKPOOL
By Gerry Wolstenholme
Darwen, after a wobbly start, comfortably defeated Blackpool at Stanley Park on Saturday as they reached 164-3 for a seven-wicket victory after Blackpool could only manage a modest 161-7 from their 57 overs.
Blackpool began in an all-too-familiar fashion as they were 0-1 after the first ball of the game when Andrew Mercer bowled John Caunce off an inside edge. Worse was to follow as in the second over Keith Semple had Chris Simcock leg before wicket, also for nought, and it was 4-2. Steven Croft and Mark Lomas then set about the rebuilding exercise but it was not easy as the Darwen bowlers kept a tight line and length and were backed up by some astute field placing.
Croft did the bulk of the scoring while Lomas kept the other end alive with the occasional flurry of shots. They had added 83 runs when Lomas could only offer a return catch to John Cordingley and he was gone for 35 made from 106 balls with three fours. Deon Kruis had made three when he despatched the first of two loose balls, a full toss, from John Cordingley down to the long-off boundary. The second, a long hop, followed immediately and Kruis obligingly hit it straight to the waiting Stuart Grant at point and it was 109-4.
Paul Danson made four before Andrew Mercer rearranged his stumps at 130-5 and then two wickets fell with the total on 144. Firstly Steve Mercer, having made a quick 10 and looked the most urgent of the batsmen, drove Andrew Mercer to mid-off where Semple took the catch. Then Croft, 83 from 145 balls with seven fours, was turned by Semple, got a leading edge and gave the bowler a gentle return catch.
There was just time for Darron Walton and Martin Hackett to scamper eight runs each and the innings was over at 161-7 with Andrew Mercer taking 3-36, Semple 2-44 and John Cordingley 2-29.
Darwen's reply began in similar fashion to that of Blackpool as the in-form Gary Jackson returned to the pavilion without a run on the board. He failed to move his feet when flashing at a wide ball from Kruis and Hackett behind the stumps gratefully accepted the catch. Mark Hadfield, three, went in similar fashion to a ball a little closer to his body and when Semple, 14 with three delightfully struck boundaries, was well held at slip by Danson off Kruis, Darwen were in trouble at 18-3.
The lightest of all rain showers took the players off the field for a few minutes only to return with the rain just a little heavier! But it all made no difference to Gareth Cordingley, often the scourge of Blackpool bowlers over the years, and Chris Lowe as the pair made hay against some ordinary looking Blackpool bowling. Dave Higham wheeled away for 17 overs for 50 runs and although there were some late changes with Danson and Ross Parker getting a bowl at the death when they had nothing to gain and everything to lose, nothing troubled the Darwen batsmen.
Gareth Cordingley finished on 81 not out from 129 balls with 10 fours, and when Lowe hit the winning boundary he had scored 59 not out from 115 balls with five fours and both were helped by some haphazard fielding by Blackpool and a performance that lacked any sparkle whatsoever. The 164-3 came with five overs to spare and the 12 points put Darwen back at the top of the table while Blackpool consolidated their position at the bottom.
Second Division results in brief (home side in bold):
Darwen, 225-7 (Bonner 50, Chatterton 45, Heys 42), Blackpool 164-5 (Griffiths 56*)
Darwen 9 points, Blackpool 6 points
Fleetwood 151-9 (Cartwright 5-37), Leyland Motors 155-9 (Jones 47, Gregson 4-42)
Fleetwood 5 points, Leyland Motors 12 points
Leyland 160-8 (Namajee 58, Cookson 42), Lancaster 161-8
Leyland 5 points, Lancaster 12 points
Netherfield 159-7 (Welbourne 100*), Morecambe 160-4 (Maje 56*, Mashiter 54)
Netherfield 2 points, Morecambe 12 points
Preston 186 (Clayson 47), Chorley 135-9 (Hotham 63, Winter 4-23)
Preston 11 points, Chorley 5 points
Kendal 172-7 (Ellery 62, Barton 57*), St Annes 176-0 (Boucher 107*, Taylor 63*)
Kendal 2 points, St Annes 12 points
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
DIVISION TWO
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Darwen |
11 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
118 |
| Leyland Motors |
11 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
104 |
| St Annes |
11 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
26 |
97 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
13 |
90 |
| Chorley |
11 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
15 |
85 |
| Preston |
11 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
25 |
76 |
| Fleetwood |
10 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
11 |
70 |
| Netherfield |
11 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
18 |
68 |
| Lancaster |
11 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
20 |
55 |
| Blackpool |
10 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
54 |
| Kendal |
11 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
32 |
45 |
| Leyland |
11 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
16 |
44 |
