Match Day 29th August 2005 CONFIRMED - IT'S ST ANNES' TITLE By Gerry Wolstenholme St Annes' victory over Preston on Monday clinched the title for them as their 37-point advantage cannot now be overhauled. Congratulations to them on their first League title since 1996 and only their third overall after they won the initial championship in 1952, going through that season unbeaten. The fight for the other top four places continues as wins for all three of the chasing pack means that any one of them could yet clinch the runners-up spot with Netherfield, 21 points ahead of their nearest challengers, favourites to do so. At Vernon Road Preston were bowled out for 129 with Shane Harwood taking his tally to 93 for the season with 4-42 and Michael Baer taking 3-51 as Mario Ventura made 45 and Lukman Vahaluwala 35. Preston subsided from 101-1 to their 129 all out. St Annes won comfortably by eight wickets making 132-2 with Adrian Darlington scoring 42, Gareth Evans 36 and Ian Austin 35 not out and Ventura was Preston's wicket-taker with 2-22. At Broadwater Blackpool pulled out an unlikely win when they defeated Fleetwood by 30 runs. Batting first the visitors totalled 180 with Justin Kreusch making 62 and Tim Barry 47 as Steve Hill and Mahendra Nagamootoo both took three wickets, for 58 and 66 respectively. Fleetwood then reached 105-1 before Kreusch stepped in and took 8-52 as Fleetwood's last nine wickets surrendered for only 45 runs to leave them 150 all out. Netherfield chased Kendal's 186 and won by seven wickets with 190-3. For Kendal Terry Hunte made 51, Ikram Ullah 43, 'Tony' Yasin 23 and Simon Little and Oliver Killiner both contributed 16 while Marc Hadwin had 3-64 and Pierre de Bruyn 3-27. But de Bruyn, 75, and Craig Walmsley, 71, effectively won the game for their side with a fine opening partnership and although they were dismissed along with Gareth White for 10, Netherfield lost no further wickets. Darwen batted first at Birch Hall and with Keith Semple making 101 not out they made 195-4 as Billy Smith, 2-40, and Ian Critchley, 2-72, shared the wickets. Chorley were then bowled out for 85 to lose by 110 runs with Ian Critchley's 35 being the best effort, followed by 14 from Ghurav Dhar. Semple took 3-21, Gareth Cordingley 3-18 and Neil Cordingley 2-25. Andrew Makinson top scored for Leyland Motors with 33 not out and Tom Reece made 26 as their side totalled 133-8 with Adam Parker taking 3-24 and Steve Pallett 2-43 for Leyland. David Makinson then took 4-14, Iqbal Liley 3-43 and Peter Cummings 2-27 as Leyland were bowled out for 102 to lose by 31 runs. Chris Parkinson top scored with 39 and then came Charlie Williams and Pallett, both with 15. The 25 extras conceded by Morecambe made the best contribution to Lancaster's 112 all out at Lune Road as Luke Phillips came next with 20 as stand-in professional Charl Langeveldt took 4-56, Gareth Peddar 3-16 and Peter Stephens 2-24. Phil Dennison then led from the front with 66 and Tommy Clough made 23 not out as only Ian Burstow with 2-33 threatened Morecambe's dominance as they won by seven wickets. Scores in brief (home sides in bold): Darwen 195-4 (Semple 101*, Lowe 51), Chorley 85 Darwen 15 points, Chorley 0 points Blackpool 180-7 (Kreusch 62, Barry 47), Fleetwood 150 (Wright 65, Clough 43, Kreusch 8-52) Blackpool 15 points, Fleetwood 3 points Lancaster 112 (Langeveldt 4-56), Morecambe 114-3 (Dennison 66) Lancaster 0 points, Morecambe 12 points Leyland Motors 133-8, Leyland 102 (Makinson D 4-14) Leyland Motors 15 points, Leyland 2 points Kendal 186 (Hunte 51, Ullah 43), Netherfield 190-3 (de Bruyn 75, Walmsley 71) Kendal 3 points, Netherfield 12 points Preston 129 (Ventura 45, Harwood 4-42), St Annes 132-2 (Darlington 42) Preston 0 points, St Annes 12 points SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE Division One Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts St Annes 22 4 12 3 1 1 1 18 239 Netherfield 22 3 6 8 1 2 2 46 202* Blackpool 22 5 4 3 3 4 3 31 181 Morecambe 22 4 5 5 2 4 2 31 181 Darwen 23 2 8 2 4 3 3 29 179 Kendal 22 5 3 1 2 8 3 35 164 Fleetwood 23 4 3 3 2 8 3 33 155 Barrow 22 1 6 1 2 9 3 30 135 Chorley 22 3 0 2 6 7 4 39 112* Leyland 22 1 3 1 5 9 3 37 109 Leyland Motors 22 2 1 2 3 12 2 39 100 Lancaster 22 1 2 1 2 13 4 29 90 Preston 22 1 1 4 3 8 3 39 90*** * 2 points deducted for Slow Over Rate *** two points deducted for slow over rate on two occasions, three points deducted for slow over rate once Two of the deductions Subject to appeal The sensation in the Second Division was next to bottom club Kendal defeating the then leaders Netherfield who were summarily dismissed for only 65 with veterans Adrian 'Shed' Potts and Andrew 'Shaky' Dugdale taking four wickets each for nine and seven runs respectively. The runs were then knocked off for the loss of just one wicket. It was quite the reverse at Blackpool's Stanley Park where, on the county wicket of the previous four days, 485 runs were scored for the loss of only eight wickets. Blackpool lost three of the wickets with only 19 runs on the board but then 15-year-old Louis Reece scored an unbeaten 103 and Mark Griffiths contributed 85 as Blackpool finished on 244-4. Mark Emsley, 104, and Steve Whiteside, 106 not out, replied in kind but when Fleetwood wanted 11 off the last over, it proved just too many as they closed with a draw on 241-4. And finally, anything Shane Harwood can do for the first team, Richard Thomas can emulate for the seconds. It is quite unusual for two bowlers from one club to take nine wickets in an innings over a weekend but this is what has happened for Thomas followed Harwood's 9-22 on Saturday with 9-34 on Monday as Preston were dismissed for 62 when chasing St Annes' total of 185-6. Scores in brief (home sides in bold): Blackpool 244-4 (Reece 103*, Griffiths 85), Fleetwood 241-4 (Emsley 104, Whiteside 106*) Blackpool 7 points, Fleetwood 4 points Chorley 127 (Catterall D 43), Darwen 129-6 (Jackson G 46) Chorley 1 point, Darwen 12 points Netherfield 65 Dugdale 4-7, Potts 4-9), Kendal 67-1 Netherfield 0 points, Kendal 12 points Leyland Motors 155 (Rounding 45, Coxhead 4-17), Leyland 81 (Shackleton 6-21) Leyland Motors 15 points, Leyland 3 points Morecambe 200-7 (Maje 81), Lancaster 119-7 Morecambe 9 points, Lancaster 3 points St Annes 185-6 (Kellett 52, Taylor 46), Preston 62 (Thomas 9-34) St Annes 15 points, Preston 1 point SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE Division Two Club P W15 W12 D4 D1 L NR4 BP Pts St Annes 22 5 9 1 2 2 3 18 219 Netherfield 22 10 2 2 1 4 3 21 216 Fleetwood 23 5 7 0 3 5 3 29 203 Morecambe 22 3 8 5 0 4 2 29 198 Barrow 22 5 4 4 1 5 3 38 190 Chorley 22 3 6 2 2 6 3 30 169 Darwen 22 1 8 2 2 6 2 29 158 Leyland Motors 22 2 5 2 3 8 2 27 136 Blackpool 22 2 2 4* 0 11 3 44 127 Preston 22 3 3 0 1 11 3 16 110 Leyland 22 2 2 1* 4 9 4 31 110 Kendal 21 3 3 0 1 13 1 23 107** Lancaster 22 0 0 1 2 17 2 25 39 * Includes 5 points for a Tie ** 2 points deducted for Slow Over Rate MATCH ACTION BLACKPOOL SHOW CHARACTER Blackpool 180-7, Fleetwood 150 By Gerry Wolstenholme Blackpool showed plenty of character in their game at Broadwater on Monday when they snatched an unexpected victory from the jaws of defeat. Batting first they had made 180-7 but then Fleetwood, after losing an early wicket, reached 105-1 and the game looked well within their compass. However, skipper Paul Danson decided to give his professional another chance and he produced a fine spell that earned him seven further wickets and that helped dismiss Fleetwood for 150, spelling defeat by 30 runs. John Wright won the toss and put Blackpool in to bat and the first wicket fell when Chris Stanhope's throw defeated Steve Mercer's vain attempt for a second run and he was gone for 13 at 20-1. Substitute professional Mahendra Nagamootoo took the second wicket when Dave Fish caught a leading edge from Jamie Reddy at mid-on for 15 and that was 41-2. There followed a stand of 101 in 76 minutes between Justin Kreusch, 62 from 76 balls with six fours, and Tim Barry, 47 from 108 balls with eight fours, during which some of the Fleetwood fielding and catching was decidedly ragged. Kreusch was missed twice before Barry skied Nagamootoo to the safe hands of Wright at mid-on and that was 142-3. Kreusch followed at 149-4 when he edged Steve Hill to James Ellis behind the stumps. Hill then bowled Robin Bracewell and Prash Aga both for three at 150 and 162 respectively while Nagamootoo had Michael Taylor stumped by Ellis by a country mile as he charged down the track to make it 174-7. Paul Danson made eight not out and Chris Taylor five not out as Blackpool closed on 180-7 with Hill taking 3-58 and Nagamootoo 3-66. In reply Fleetwood lost Ellis for six with the total on 11 when Kreusch bowled him but then came what appeared to be a match-winning partnership of 94 by Wright, a splendid 65 from 85 balls with seven fours, and Andrew Clough, 43 from 105 balls with five fours. But at 105 Kreusch, whose first spell had brought him 1-30 from eight overs, returned to the attack and almost single-handedly finished the game with a fine spell of 10-1-22-7. He began by trapping Wright leg before wicket, had Adam Sharrocks, three, caught by Mike Taylor in the gully and then bowled Nagamootoo before he had scored in the same over and that was 112-4. Kreusch then took an excellent catch at slip off Mike Taylor to dismiss Clough at 127-5 before having Tom Wilson, one, and Michael Clinning, 14, caught by David Baker for one, the wickets falling at 132-6 and 145-7. Two further wickets fell at that same total as Wayne Clarke and Hill were leg before wicket to successive balls before Barry wrapped up the innings by having Fish leg before wicket for one and with Stanhope not out 10, Fleetwood were all out for 150, losing by 30 runs. Fleetwood's stand in Professional Mahendra Nagamootoo prepares before going out to field. Fleetwood's Steve Hill sets an attacking field Fleetwood's John Wright crashes the ball square of the wicket Blackpool's Michael Taylor bowling to John Wright Steven Mercer bowls to Andrew Clough

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