Match Day 19th June 2004
CONGRATULATIONS TO BARROW!
By Gerry Wolstenholme
On a day when the results were somewhat topsy-turvy, Barrow deserve all the praise for gaining their first win in the Northern Premier League First Division and they achieved it at the expense of a much-improving Blackpool side at Stanley Park. Congratulations to them for that achievement and a first victory will undoubtedly lead to more success as the season advances.
Not only did Barrow win, they won comfortably by nine wickets as they chased Blackpool's impressive 225-6 to which Steven Croft once again provided the main contribution, this time with 85, and Prash Aga kept up his good form with 47 not out. There were two wickets apiece for professional Rawl Lewis and Daryl Wearing. But Barrow rose to the challenge and superbly led by skipper Ian Allington, who made a magnificent 117 not out, they made short shrift of Blackpool's total and posted 226-1 to earn 12 points. Allington and Shaun Miller, who made 92, set up the victory with an opening partnership of 190.
The local derby between Fleetwood and St Annes was an interesting, if low scoring affair in that Fleetwood won with only four balls to spare. St Annes had scored 162-8 with Steve Twist making 45, Jimmy Adams and Duncan Whalley both making 22 and Dave Fish taking 4-52 and Tom Blundell 3-34. Fleetwood's reply was indebted to John Wright, 37, and Rob Clark, 47 not out, as they reached 163-6 to gain victory by four wickets.
But if the game at Broadwater was a low-scoring one, how about that at Windsor Park? Chorley made just 82 with three players in double figures, Michael Critchley top scoring with 25, Nick Woods making 13 and Billy Smith what turned out to be a valuable 11 not out at the end. Kabir Khan took 5-24 for Kendal and James Rafferty 3-21. Chorley then found themselves victorious by 20 runs as they bowled Kendal out for a meagre 62! Once again 25 was the best effort, this time made by Kevin Howarth while again two others reached double figures, Simon Little with 15 and Khan with 11. Stephen John was the main wicket-taker with 5-25 and Billy Smith continued his good day with 3-23 as Chorley pulled off what could well be the most unlikely victory of the season.
Innings of the day came from Netherfield's Gareth White as he made 159 not out from his side's total of 275-2 against bottom of the table Leyland who were then bowled out for 120 to lose by a massive 155 runs. White struck four sixes and 23 fours and went to the wicket early as opener Craig Walmsley was dismissed for two. But Walmsley shared the adoration for White's success as he acted as runner for the greater part of his innings and when the half-century, century and 150 landmarks were reached 'The Worm' acknowledged the crowd with a raised bat and a kiss of the Netherfield badge on his shirt! Chris Parry, shortly to depart for Lanzerotti, made 60 and Dale Benkenstein 46 not out as Netherfield batted just 49 overs before declaring. For Leyland Charlie Williams made a top score of 40 and Gill was unable to bat through injury as Scott Clement took 3-28 and there were two wickets each for Marc Hadwin and Stuart Nixon. The 15 points obviously kept Netherfield at the top of the table while Leyland remained rooted at the bottom.
Leyland Motors managed to hang on against Lancaster where the home side made 153 with David Heywood making 47 not out and Ian Parkinson 30. Motors, for whom David Makinson took 3-25, were down to their last pair and had to settle for a draw at 141-9. Surprisingly opening the innings, Iqbal 'Dennis' Lilley made 25 and was only shaded from being top scorer by 26 from Makinson while Atif Ashraf failed for once with only 21. Graham Barnes had a fine day for Lancaster as he took 7-39.
Darwen, having made 192-7, were unable to clinch victory against Morecambe who finished on a disappointing 101-7. John Cordingley made 46, Keith Semple 41 and Gareth Cordingley 40 in Darwen's total while Charl Langeveldt took 3-72 and Jono Gates 3-52.
Results in brief (home sides in bold):
Blackpool 222-6 (Croft 86, Aga 47*), Barrow 226-1 (Allington117, Miller 92)
Blackpool 3 points, Barrow 12 points
Chorley 82 (Khan 5-24), Kendal 62 (John 5-25)
Chorley 15 points, Kendal 4 points
Darwen 192-7 (Cordingley J 46, Semple 41, Cordingley G 40), Morecambe 102-7
Darwen 10 points, Morecambe 4 points
St Annes 162-8 (Twist 45, Fish 4-52), Fleetwood 163-6 (Clark 47*)
St Annes 4 points, Fleetwood 12 points
Lancaster 158 (Heywood 47*, Leyland Motors 141-9 (Barnes 7-39)
Lancaster 9 points, Leyland Motors 6 points
Netherfield 275-2 dec (White 159*, Parry 60, Benkenstein 46*),
Leyland 120 (Williams 40)
Netherfield 15 points, Leyland 0 points
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Netherfield |
11 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
26 |
115 |
| Darwen |
11 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
18 |
108 |
| Chorley |
11 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
19 |
104 |
| Fleetwood |
11 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
25 |
101 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
15 |
98 |
| Preston |
11 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
20 |
94 |
| Blackpool |
11 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
20 |
89 |
| St Annes |
12 |
1 |
2 |
1* |
3 |
3 |
2 |
30 |
85 |
| Kendal |
11 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
25 |
73 |
| Leyland Motors |
11 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
28 |
69 |
| Lancaster |
11 |
1 |
0 |
3* |
2 |
4 |
1 |
35 |
69 |
| Barrow |
11 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
34 |
59 |
| Leyland |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
24 |
30 |
* includes 5 point for a tie
In the Second Division Robin Adams of Barrow led his club to a double as he scored 96 and C Adams 58 not out as they chased Blackpool's impressive 205-8, Jamie Reddy 56, and passed it with only four wickets down at 204-4 so it was a very good day for the Cumbrians.
Best of the day came from Netherfield's Danny Welbourne who made 125 not out from 241-4, which meant a win by a massive 169 runs as Leyland were dismissed for just 72.
Sean Bickerdike was another centurion as he made 102 not out as St Annes defeated Fleetwood by 10 wickets, no mean feat considering that Fleetwood had made 186, Chris Stanhope making 77, and David Booth taking 7-32. Andy Kellett made 76 not out in St Annes' 189-0.
Lewis Edge was in the runs again for Morecambe as he made 57 out of 177-7 that gave his side a close six-run victory over Darwen who replied with 171.
Results in brief (home sides in bold):
Blackpool 205-8 (Reddy J 56), Barrow 206-4 (Adams R 96, Adams C 58*)
Blackpool 4 points, Barrow 12 points
Kendal 141-9, Chorley 142-2 (Mawdsley 77*, Hotham 43*)
Kendal 1 point, Chorley 12 points
Lancaster 175 (Abraham 46, Marshall 43),
Leyland Motors 144 (Dawson 4-50, Dennison 4-62)
Lancaster 15 points, Leyland Motors 5 points
Morecambe 177-7 (Edge 57, Bonner 4-53), Darwen 171 (Clark 57, Crane 40)
Morecambe 15 points, Darwen 5 points
Netherfield 241-4 (Welbourne 125*), Leyland 72
Netherfield 15 points, Leyland 1 point
Fleetwood 186 (Stanhope 77, Booth 7-32),
St Annes 189-0 (Bickerdike 102*, Kellett 76*)
Fleetwood 3 points, St Annes 12 points
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
12 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
125 |
| Chorley |
11 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
124 |
| Morecambe |
11 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
121 |
| Darwen |
11 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
22 |
101 |
| Barrow |
11 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
29 |
87 |
| Netherfield |
11 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
32 |
85 |
| Fleetwood |
11 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
24 |
84 |
| Lancaster |
11 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
22 |
70 |
| Blackpool |
11 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
31 |
65 |
| Leyland Motors |
11 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
30 |
63 |
| Leyland |
11 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
35 |
52 |
| Preston |
11 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
23 |
45 |
| Kendal |
11 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
1 |
22 |
43 |
ACTION REPLAY:
FLEETWOOD WIN IN FINAL OVER
St Annes 162-8, Fleetwood 163-6
By Gerry Wolstenholme
In a tense local derby at Broadwater on Sunday, Fleetwood restricted a strong St Annes batting line-up to just 162-8 from their 57 overs and then replied with 163-6 to win by four wickets with four balls of the game remaining.
John Wright put St Annes in to bat and his decision was immediately justified as the admirable Tom Blundell had Danny Hagen spectacularly caught by a diving James Ellis behind the stumps for six with the total on 16 and then he bowled Charles Boucher with a beauty for 11 and it was 19-2.
Jimmy Adams and Stephen Twist then put on 67 runs in 52 minutes with the professional allowing his skipper to make most of the running and Twist responded with some delightful cover drives. Blundell struck again when the total was 83 when he bowled Adams, who played a one-handed shot at a ball that beat and bowled him for 22. Twist went on to make 45 before he played a lifting ball from Dave Fish to Rob Clark at point and that was 101-4. And it was 101-5 in the same over when Fish bowled Adam Cotton without the batsman scoring.
The middle of the innings then went into decline as the batsmen failed to get away some very accurate Fleetwood bowling, particularly from young Blundell. Russ Bradley was struck a nasty blow on the elbow by Fish who promptly added insult to injury by bowling him with the next ball for one and it was 103-6. Davies could not seem to get the ball away and although Duncan Whalley made 22, it was not enough to ignite the innings. Fish had him caught by Wright from a skier to mid-wicket at 131-7 and then Davies, partly through frustration, tried a suicidal single to Wright at mid-on. He was still yards short of his crease as a diving Wright hit the stumps with his underarm throw and Davies was gone for 18 at 135-8.
Thanks to Richard Thomas, nine o not out, and Dave Taylor, a classy 14, St Annes managed to limp to 162-8 at the end of their innings. Fish took 4-52 and Blundell 3-34 from 12 accurate overs while Steve Hill bowled much better than his 0-42 from 20 overs suggested.
St Annes were encouraged by the start that they made when Fleetwood replied for Thomas had John Whalley caught at slip by Twist before a run was on the board and then at 14 Twist induced Wayne Clarke, five, to give Davies a catch at point. Michael Clinning looked in good form and with Doug Marillier also driving fiercely things began to look up for Fleetwood. But that was ended by a sensational piece of fielding. Marillier, 16, hit a ball from Taylor like an exocet missile through mid-on and it was past Adams when the West Indian dived full length and caught the ball one handed and held on as he crashed to the ground and that was 39-3.
The assured Clinning and Wright then added 40 runs before Michael Baer trapped the former leg before wicket from a shooter for 29 at 79-4. Although Wright was dropped from a difficult chance to Davies at backward point off Baer when he had made 27, he and Rob Clark, also given a life on six from a much easier chance to Davies off Baer in the same position, Fleetwood passed the 100-mark with few alarms. But at 108 Baer found the edge of Wright's bat and Twist at slip took the catch and the Fleetwood captain had gone for 37.
Adam Sharrocks only made two but he ran well with Clark as the pair took the total to 133 before Baer trapped Sharrocks leg before wicket. St Annes sensed that they might just be an outside chance of something from the game but Clark, 47 not out from 73 balls with five fours, and James Ellis, who resisted 28 balls and made eight not out, took their side to victory in the final over. The winning run was a push for a single by Clark, the first run from 15 successive balls from young Baer whose final figures of 3-26 from 14.2 overs were well merited. Thomas bowled nine overs for just 17 runs and one wicket while Taylor had 1-15 and Twist 1-40.
