Match Day 22nd May 2004
IT'S MORECAMBE BY ONE POINT
By Gerry Wolstenholme
All three leading teams won on Saturday but there were changes in position. Morecambe overcame St Annes and by batting first their 15 points took them one point ahead of still undefeated Blackpool and with Netherfield also winning they came into contention and leapfrogged Preston into third place. It is, therefore tight at the top as with only eight points separating the top four sides.
Morecambe had a roller-coaster ride against St Annes at Woodhill Lane as only Phil Dennison, 26, and Gareth Peddar, 20, of the top order made runs. But, batting at number nine the redoubtable Andy Bird fired 40 and with Jono Gates, 17 not out, and Peter Stephens, 12 not out, putting on what turned out to be valuable runs at the death, Morecambe totalled 176-9 from their 57 overs
Jimmy Adams, who was later to make a first-ball nought, was the most successful bowler with 3-38. Danny Hagen, 24, and Charlie Boucher, 27, set the St Annes reply off fairly well but with only four wickets down and the target in sight, wickets tumbled. Stephen Twist, 40, did his best and was ninth out but St Annes were all out for 156 to lose a dramatic game by 20 runs. For Morecambe Charl Langeveldt took an impressive 8-63 as he bowled unchanged for 25 overs.
Blackpool meanwhile romped home against Lancaster who batted first and made a reasonable 206-9 with Renier Munnik maintaining his good form with 54 not out and Lee Sparks providing the sparkle with a quick-fire 40. There were 30s from Colin Abraham and David Heywood but 206-9 looked just a little light on a good track. After losing a couple of early wickets Blackpool kept going and Steven Croft, 43, Tim Barry, 51, Steve Metcalfe, a very polished 46 not out on his first real innings at this level, and professional Justin Kreusch, 31 not out, took them to a comfortable victory by six wickets at 207-4.
Preston visited Barrow where the home side batted first and made 148 with Paul Wilcock top scoring with 29 and the promoted Guy Heffernan making 25. Only Rawl Lewis of the rest reached 20 as Manoj Parekh took 6-34 and Rhys Williams 3-36. Preston's reply hinged around Pervez Shah who made 61 not out and, ably assisted by Raouf Akbar who made 29 Preston made 149-8 to win by two wickets.
Chorley demolished unbeaten Fleetwood at Windsor Park as they made 201-5 from their 57 overs. Tom Smith reached his century in 166 balls with 15 fours and went on to make 107 and Michael Critchley made 34 not out as only Tom Blundell with 3-39 from 16 overs held any sway over the batsmen.
Fleetwood then reached 82-3 with the aid of a 44-run partnership from John Wright, 31, and Michael Clinning, 21, but then they collapsed and were bowled out for 115 to suffer defeat by 86 runs. The wickets were shared with Gaurav Dar the most successful bowler with 3-10.
Surprise of the day was perhaps Kendal's defeat of Darwen where the visitors made 228-7 thanks to a second century of the season from Kabir Khan, 44 from Gareth Ashburner and 30 from Kevin Howarth. Andrew Mercer took 4-80 in 20 overs. Darwen replied with 193 as Gareth Cordingley made 48 and Keith Semple 38 but only John Cordingley and Stuart Grant who reached the 20s made runs of the rest so it was defeat by 35 runs for last season's champions. James Rafferty took a senior best of 4-37.
Netherfield continued their big scoring as they declared after 50 overs against Leyland Motors at Parkside. Their total of 264-5 was thanks to 123 from last week's bowler of the week Craig Walmsley who batted for 162 minutes, faced 147 balls and struck two sixes and 13 fours. He put on 164 in 148 minutes with Dale Benkenstein who made 88 in 74 minutes from 68 balls with four sixes and seven fours as, of the eight bowlers tried, Iqbal 'Dennis' Lilley took 4-48. Faced with such a total, Leyland Motors' task was a difficult one and with Phil Hartley taking 4-6, Marc Hadwin 3-32 and Craig Parry, keeping wicket, taking four catches, they managed only 116 all out to lose by 148 runs with Atif Ashraf once again top scoring, this time with 53. F Patel's 24 was the next best effort
Scores in brief (home side in bold):
Barrow 148 (Parekh 6-34), Preston 149-8 (Shah 61*)
Barrow 4 points, Preston 12 points
Lancaster 206-9 (Munnik 54*, Sparks 40), Blackpool 207-4 (Barry 51, Metcalfe 46*,
Croft 43)
Blackpool 12 points, Lancaster 4 points
Chorley 201-5 (Smith T 107), Fleetwood 115
Chorley 15 points, Fleetwood 2 points
Kendal 228-7 (Khan 104, Ashburner 44, Mercer 4-80),
Darwen 193 (Cordingley G 48, Rafferty 4-37)
Kendal 15 points, Darwen 6 points
Morecambe 176-9 (Bird 40), St Annes 156 (Twist 40, Langeveldt 8-63)
Morecambe 15 points, St Annes 5 points
Netherfield 264-5 dec (Walmsley 123, Benkenstein 88, Lilley 4-48),
Leyland Motors 116 (Ashraf 53, Hartley 4-6)
Netherfield 15 points, Leyland Motors 2 points
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
7 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
68 |
| Blackpool |
6 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
67 |
| Netherfield |
7 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
19 |
62 |
| Preston |
7 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
60 |
| Chorley |
6 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
54 |
| Fleetwood |
6 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
14 |
50 |
| Darwen |
6 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
48 |
| Kendal |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
44 |
| St Annes |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1* |
2 |
2 |
2 |
23 |
38 |
| Lancaster |
6 |
0 |
0 |
2* |
2 |
1 |
1 |
22 |
37 |
| Barrow |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
22 |
34 |
| Leyland Motors |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
18 |
30 |
| Leyland |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
18 |
* includes 5 point for a tie
In the Second Division Blackpool's Robin Bracewell had a good day as he made 44 not out and took 6-40 and with Ross Parker taking 3-33 and Prash Aga making 51, Blackpool's 183-4 gave them a six wicket victory over Lancaster who made 180
Probably the most exciting game was at Vernon Road where St Annes made 227-4 with Andy Kellett getting 94, Sean Bickerdike 57 and Adam Taylor 52. Morecambe made a valiant effort in reply and fell just two runs short of victory at 226-4 with Gulam Maje once again batting well for 72 and Nick Milner making 60 not out.
Barrow's Mike Hughes was the day's top scorer with an excellent 122 and with Ian Kermode making 56 not out, Barrow finished on 235-4. Preston however held on for a draw with R Dixon making 47 out of 182-8.
Fleetwood's Mark Wilkinson turned in a good bowling performance with 5-49 but it turned out to be in a losing cause as Ian Mawdsley, 44, and Ross Demming, 46 not out, took Chorley to 181-7. Fleetwood were then bowled out for just 93. But it was not the lowest total of the day for Kendal were bowled out by Darwen for 90 with the wily Dave Bonner taking 4-8. Darwen limped to victory at 91-7.
Best bowling of the day came from Netherfield's R Miller who took 7-46 as Leyland Motors were bowled out for 136. A Hampshire's 53 was the best effort in Netherfield victory by four wickets at 141-6.
Scores in brief (home teams in bold):
Chorley 181-7 (Demming 46*, Mawdsley 44, Wilkinson 5-49), Fleetwood 93
Chorley 15 points, Fleetwood 3 points
Kendal 90 (Bonner 4-8), Darwen 91-7
Kendal 3 points, Darwen 12 points
Lancaster 180 (Bracewell 6-40), Blackpool 183-4 (Aga 52, Bracewell 44*)
Lancaster 4 points, Blackpool 12 points
Leyland Motors 136 (Miller 7-46), Netherfield 141-6 (Hampshire 53, Jones 41*)
Leyland Motors 2 points, Netherfield 12 points
Barrow 235-4 (Hughes 122, Kermode 56*), Preston 182-8 (Dixon 47)
Barrow 10 points, Preston 5 points
St Annes 227-4 (Kellett 94, Bickerdike 57, Adam Taylor 52),
Morecambe 226-4 (Maje 72, Milner 60*)
St Annes 8 points, Morecambe 5 points
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
7 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
72 |
| Chorley |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
68 |
| Morecambe |
7 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
67 |
| Darwen |
6 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
55 |
| Barrow |
7 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
23 |
53 |
| Netherfield |
7 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
23 |
41 |
| Blackpool |
6 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
17 |
39 |
| Fleetwood |
6 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
17 |
38 |
| Lancaster |
6 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
16 |
37 |
| Preston |
7 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
14 |
35 |
| Leyland |
6 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
21 |
34 |
| Leyland Motors |
7 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
15 |
33 |
| Kendal |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
12 |
17 |
ACTION REPLAY:
BLACKPOOL KEEP ON THE WINNING TRAIL
Lancaster 206-9, Blackpool 207-4
By Gerry Wolstenholme
With regular skipper Ian Parkinson out with a broken thumb, his replacement Luke Phillips won the toss and decided that Lancaster would bat on a Stanley Park that looked in pristine condition for runscoring. His side let him down slightly as, promising much in the early stages, they managed to reach 206-9, a total perhaps 30 runs short of what would have been defendable. And so it proved as Blackpool paced their reply to perfection and won by six wickets at 207-4 with four overs and five balls of the final 20 overs remaining.
Lancaster made a lively start with Craig Atkinson making 12 of the first 17 runs before he swept Chris Taylor and Steve Mercer at backward square leg held onto a comfortable catch. Colin Abraham, dropped behind the wicket early in his innings by Mark Griffiths, and David Heywood then took runs steadily before the spin of Paul Danson slowed them down. The pair had taken the score to 73 when Danson took his first wicket as he lured Abraham, 30, down the track for the batsman to loft a catch to Martin Pickles at extra cover. And Danson struck again at 98 when David Heywood, 32, pulled a long hop straight to Tim Barry at square leg.
Barry then got in the action as bowler as he trapped Luke Phillips leg before wicket from his first ball and that was 99-4. It was 110-5 when Danson took his third wicket, that of David Lord, who had already clubbed a four down to wide long-on. He tried to repeat the stroke but only succeeded in hitting Steven Croft at mid-on where he took a head high catch and Lord was gone for four.
There followed the best batting of the innings from Renier Munnik and Lee Sparks with the latter taking the lead with some delightful shots. He outscored his professional who was going along at a more sedate pace as he cut, pulled and drove and contributed 40 of the 70 runs that accrued for the sixth wicket. Blackpool's professional Justin Kreusch dismissed him when he hit the block hole and then the stumps as Sparks was bowled for a fine 40 made from only 44 balls with one superb short arm jab for six and five fours.
The rest of the innings was left to Munnik who had been left behind by the more adventurous Sparks but he lost his partners steadily. Ian Dawson went to the first ball he received when he swung across the line and was bowled by Barry at 181-7. Craig Heywood, missed behind from the ball prior to his dismissal, looked as though he had escaped when a ball appeared to rebound from the wicketkeeper's pads onto the stumps but he was apparently bowled for five and that was 189-8. Kreusch bowled Simm for one at 190-9 and it looked as though Munnik might miss out on his half-century as there was only Graham Barnes left for company. But Barnes did him proud and made five not out while Munnik reached 54 not out from 94 balls with five fours as Lancaster closed on 206-9. Barry had 3-30, Danson 3-56, Kreusch 2-47 and Chris Taylor 1-35.
Blackpool began their reply circumspectly with Pickles and Mercer making 15 in the first 10 overs before the former hit Dawson to mid-on where Simm took the catch and he was gone for 10. Steven Croft joined Mercer and he immediately struck Dawson for two boundaries and looked to be continuing in the form that brought him a century last weekend. The total had reached 46 when Mercer, 18, was caught by Lord off Munnik and this brought in the experienced Tim Barry.
He and Croft fairly rattled along and put on 56 in 41 minutes before Croft gave Simm the charge and ended up being yorked for a fine 43. Barry went on to make 51 from 81 balls with the aid of seven boundaries struck mainly straight and through extra cover before, first ball after the drinks break, Simm caught him at deep square leg off Dawson.
By the time Barry was dismissed, Kreusch was enjoying his first knock as Blackpool's professional but as 17-year-old Steve Metcalfe came to the wicket he was quite happy to let the youngster have the lead role as he showed that he meant business from the very start. He had previously only had one brief innings at this level but he was not overawed and he proceeded to produce some of the best shots of the day. He fairly raced along and with Kreusch ever looking for the singles the pair put on a match-winning 73 runs in just 48 minutes and 14.5 overs.
Metcalfe made an excellent 46 and sprinkled it with seven sparkling fours from the 49 balls that he received including a pull to the boundary for the winning runs. Kreusch finished with 31 not out and Blackpool at 207-4 had won by six wickets to take 12 points that kept them in the top two.
