By Gerry Wolstenholme
Bank Holiday Monday provided a few surprises around the league and the leadership changed hands once again as Morecambe went back to the top to be closely followed by Darwen who moved to their highest position so far.
Weekend leaders Lancaster were one of the teams to be surprised as they lost comfortably to neighbours Morecambe who restricted Lancaster to 107-9 in a rain reduced contest. Garnett Kruger was the destroyer with a magnificent 7-37 as only Tim Barry, 27, and Luke Phillips, 22, could make much headway. Morecambe made short work of their target and reached it with eight wickets to spare at 108-2 as Vishnal Goyal made 29, Tommy Clough 21 and Mark Lomas was there at the end with 32 not out.
Netherfield were another side who were given quite a shock at Shap Road where Kendal batted first and made a modest 139 to which Tony Yasin contributed 33 and David Fallows 28 as Dirk Nannes took 4-14 and Scott Clement 3-28. Netherfield were then sensationally dismissed for just 56 to lose by 83 runs as only Craig Walmsley with 16 and Simon Little with 15 reached double figures. Ben Simm, joining Kendal last week, took 6-15 and Kabir Khan 3-15.
Preston and St Annes provided a thriller at West Cliff where the game was drawn with the scores level. Both sides made 199, Preston for the loss of eight wickets and St Annes for the loss of nine wickets. Professional Bilal Asad made 68 for Preston and there was 33 from Sajid Patel, 32 from Lukman Vahaluwala, 28 from Paul Mann and 24 from Munaf Bavla. Asad's counterpart Adam Griffith replied with 59 for St Annes who also had 31 from Russ Bradley and 30 from Adam Cotton. Aiden Cotton was run out off the last ball going for a very difficult winning run.
Darwen made short work of Chorley at Windsor Park where the home side made 153-6 with John Ratledge top scoring with 36 and Stephen John making 32 as Neil Cordingley and Keith Semple both took three wickets, for 45 and 42 runs respectively. Atif Ashraf led the Darwen reply with 92 not out and Keith Semple made it a good day all round with 55.
Barrow did well to reach 204-9 against Carnforth but it was not enough as the home side reached their target for the loss of only four wickets. Ahmed Amla made 116 for Barrow with Stephen Knox, 29, and Jonathan Miles, 14, providing the main assistance as Quasim Ali took the bowling honours with 4-37. Omari Banks then made 78 and with assistance from Atiq Uz-zaman, 27, Ryan Nelson, 24, and Ali, 20 not out, Carnforth cruised home by six wickets with 205-4.
At Stanley Park Blackpool defeated Fleetwood after batting first and making only 137-5 from their 49 overs with Charles Boucher top scoring with 40 and Paul Harris taking 2-40. Only John Wright, 32, and Zac Taylor, 23, made much headway against the Blackpool attack and Justin Kreusch's 5-52 was the main factor in Fleetwood being dismissed for 109 to lose by 26 runs.
The Leyland derby at Sandy Lane was drawn as Motors made 163-8 to which Leyland replied with 85-5. For Motors Andrew Makinson top scored with 46 while Peter Cummings made 37 and Tom Reece 25 as Steve Pallett took 4-31 and there were two wickets each for Adam Parker and Brian Tennant. Only three Leyland batsmen reached double figures, Parker made 32, Tennant 18 and Alex Mercer 12 while Ameer Khan had 2-28.
First Division results (home side in bold):
Blackpool 137-5 (Boucher 40), Fleetwood 109 (Kreusch 5-52)
Blackpool 15 points, Fleetwood 1 point
Barrow 204-9 (Amla 116), Carnforth 205-4 (Banks 78)
Barrow 3 points, Carnforth 12 points
Chorley 153-8, Darwen 157-2 (Ashraf 92*, Semple 55)
Chorley 1 point, Darwen 12 points
Kendal 139 (Nannes 4-14), Netherfield 56 (Simm 6-15)
Kendal 15 points, Netherfield 3 points
Lancaster 107-9 (Kruger 7-37), Morecambe 108-2
Lancaster 0 points, Morecambe 12 points
Leyland Motors 163-8 (Pallett 4-31), Leyland 85-5
Leyland Motors 7 points, Leyland 3 points
Preston 199-8 (Asad 68), St Annes 199-9 (Griffith 59)
Preston 10 points, St Annes 6 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
8 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
76 |
| Darwen |
8 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
72 |
| Lancaster |
8 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
69 |
| Netherfield |
8 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
18 |
66 |
| Fleetwood |
8 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
64 |
| St Annes |
8 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
21 |
63 |
| Preston |
8 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
15 |
55 |
| Carnforth |
8 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
18 |
54 |
| Blackpool |
8 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
50 |
| Kendal |
8 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
17 |
44 |
| Barrow |
8 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
22 |
36 |
| Chorley |
8 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
11 |
30 |
| Leyland Motors |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
9 |
25 |
| Leyland & Farington |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
19 |
In the Second Division the top two individual scores came from Barrow boys as Rob Lightfoot fell just short of a century with 97 and Guy Heffernan made 69 but their side could not win as Carnforth held on with 153-9 in reply to 214-6. And there were two six-wicket hauls for the bowlers, both in the same game. Preston made 139-7 with Richard Thomas taking six of the wickets at a personal cost of 74 runs and then St Annes fell just short of victory at 135-8 as Roger Kaye took 6-33.
Second Division results (home side in bold):
Barrow 214-6 (Lightfoot 97, Heffernan 69, Hornby 5-53), Carnforth 153-9
Barrow 10 points, Carnforth 3 points
Chorley 78-5 v Darwen - match abandoned both sides four points
Fleetwood 114-8 (Booth 5-15), Blackpool 110 (Gregson 5-30)
Fleetwood 15 points, Blackpool 2 points
Leyland 54 (Prince 5-25, Cottam 5-27), Leyland Motors 57-7 (Busby 4-8)
Leyland 2 points, Leyland Motors 12 points
Lancaster 152, Morecambe 103 (Cassidy 42*, Milligan 5-18)
Lancaster 15 points, Morecambe 3 points
Netherfield 187-9 (Goldstein 64), Kendal 121-5 (Dugdale 68*)
Netherfield 8, Kendal 4 points
Preston 139-7 (Thomas 6-74), St Annes 135-8 (Bradley N 57, Kaye 6-33)
Preston 6 points, St Annes 3 points
SURRIDGE NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Fleetwood |
8 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
77 |
| Netherfield |
8 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
24 |
71 |
| Leyland Motors |
9 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
65 |
| Lancaster |
8 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
64 |
| St Annes |
8 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
11 |
64 |
| Morecambe |
8 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
19 |
63 |
| Chorley |
8 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
59 |
| Blackpool |
9 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
9 |
50 |
| Kendal |
8 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
48 |
| Darwen |
8 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
46 |
| Barrow |
8 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
15 |
39 |
| Leyland & Farington |
8 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
38 |
| Preston |
8 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
10 |
35 |
| Carnforth |
8 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
9 |
22 |
MATCH ACTION
BLACKPOOL TRIUMPH IN THE COLD
Blackpool 135-7, Fleetwood 109
By Gerry Wolstenholme
At a cold and damp Stanley Park on Monday Fleetwood lost a Northern Premier League match that they could so easily have won. Even though they restricted Blackpool in the early part of the innings a poor performance in the field and then some mediocre batting badly let them down. Overall they did restrict Blackpool to 137-5 in their 49 overs, one being lost to rain, but it could, and should have been far less had catches been taken and fielding been sharper. Then in their reply no batsmen got going and wickets were lost so that the middle order had it all to do and they could not pull the game out of the fire as Fleetwood were dismissed for 109 to lose by 26 runs
.
John Wright won the toss, put Blackpool in to bat and was delighted to see Steve Hill trap Jamie Reddy leg before wicket for one to have Blackpool at 2-1. In came professional Justin Kreusch and when he had one to his name a routine slip catch to Paul Harris off Tom Blundell was put down. Charles Boucher was also dropped at slip by Wayne Clarke when he had made 13 and then Kreusch was missed from a chance to mid-on, where Harris made a valiant effort to take an overhead catch, when he had made 19. Fortunately that miss was not too costly because Harris bowled him without addition and that was 47-2.
Boucher made a laboured 40 in 37 overs before he steered a widish ball from Zak Taylor straight to Adam Sharrocks at point and that was 81-3. Luis Reece came in and upped the tempo with a relatively speedy 20 before he drove a ball back to Harris who held the catch at 98-4. Michael Moore and Paul Danson then showed some urgency and had put on 28 runs when Dave Fish returned to the attack and bowled Danson for 21 at 126-5. Moore struck out and finished with 26 not out from 28 balls with two sixes and one four and Michael Taylor was one not out when the Blackpool innings closed at 137-5. Harris had 2-40 from 19 overs while Hill had 1-11 in his opening five over spell, Taylor 1-25 and Fish 1-39.
Fleetwood's reply began badly and did not improve. They lost their first wicket at 11 when James Ellis, seven, tried to pull a ball from Reece and was bowled and it was 29-2 when John Whalley, 15, was run out by a superb direct hit from Michael Moore at point. Harris had failed to get off the mark when he played a horrible shot to Danson and was bowled at 31-3. Wayne Clarke looked settled but when he had made three he drove Danson to Reece at wide mid-off and it was 35-4. Kreusch then trapped Michael Clinning, nine, leg before wicket and Fleetwood were in big trouble at 35-5.
Sharrocks and Wright had started to rebuild the innings when rain intervened at 53-5 and Fleetwood lost six overs. On the restart the pair took the total to 65 before Sharrocks, nine, drove Kreusch straight to Reddy at deep mid-off. Wright and Taylor then put on 21 in 29 minutes and Fleetwood were in with a chance of victory but at that point Kreusch caught Wright at short extra cover off Richard Gleeson for 31 made from 41 balls with three fours and it was 93-7.
Hill made five before Kreusch bowled him at 102-8 and the Blackpool professional similarly dismissed Blundell without addition three balls later. Taylor and Fish defended stoutly and nudged the total up to 109 before Taylor went forward and was leg before wicket to Kreusch and Blackpool had won by 26 runs. Kreusch finished with 5-52 and Danson in a very good short spell of off-spin had 2-20 from six overs.
John Whalley of Fleetwood in action
Fleetwood Pro Paul Harris defends against Paul Danson
Wayne Clarke plays Balckpool captain Paul Danson to leg
A panoramic view of the game at Stanley Park
