Gerry Wolstenholme
While leaders St Annes failed to beat Preston at West Cliff, Morecambe gained ground on them with a five-wicket victory at Lune Road thus cutting the gap at the top to just points. Crucial in the equation is, however, the fact that St Annes have still three games to play while Morecambe have only two, sitting out the final weekend.
At Lune Road Lancaster made 188 with David Heywood top scoring with 67, Jannisar Khan making 60 and Michael Stevens the next best with 20 as Gareth Peddar took 4-39, Werner Coetsee 3-57 and Jono Gates 2-33. Morecambe replied with 189-5 thanks to 65 from Coetsee, 53 from Goyal, 23 from Mark Lomas and 21 from Mark Woodhead as William Riley took 2-21 and Khan proved a trifle more expensive with 2-79.
Ian Austin made 100 for St Annes and Mansoor Ahmed 46 as Lukman Vahaluwala proved the best of the Preston bowlers with 4-60 as St Annes closed on 202-7. Preston were never in the hunt but did manage to hang on for a draw with 118-8 as Michael Baer took 4-45.
At Windsor Park, Chorley made 193 with 52 from Guarav Dhar, 37 from Jack Catterall, 21 from Nigel Eastham and 19 from Stephen John as Andrew Mercer took 3-38 and Mark Emery 2-21. Keith Semple led the Darwen reply with a splendid 95 not out and Gareth Cordingley made 42 and Emery 32 not out from Darwen's 196-3 for a seven-wicket victory.
Netherfield kept up with the leaders by dint of a five-wicket victory over neighbours Kendal, whose championship hopes vanished with the defeat. Kendal batted first at Shap Road and made 198-8 thanks to 90 from Kevin Howarth and 36 from Ikram Ullah as Marc Hadwin took 4-50 and substitute professional Greg Mail 3-64 from 21 overs. Netherfield lost some early wickets with only Ryan Brown, 26, made any headway before Mail, 94 not out, and Ben Haddrick, 54 not out, put together a match-winning partnership although the latter did survive a vehement appeal for a catch at the wicket off Graeme Aldridge, who finished with 2-68.
In a battle of the basement at Broadwater, Blackpool defeated Fleetwood by 18 runs after making 215-5 with Justin Kreusch top scoring with 84 and James Smith making 43 not out. Fleetwood had a good start with Nick Coultas, 45, and Kyle Smit, 40, but then only James Ellis, 41, and Wayne Clarke who was left stranded on 33 not out put any decent runs on the scoreboard with the result that Fleetwood were dismissed for 197.
Finally Carnforth defeated Barrow by 34 runs by making 203-8 to which Irfan Fazil contributed 66, Adam Cowperthwaite 30 not out, Ben Hornby 27 and Ryan Nelson 25 as Pasan Wanasinghe took 5-77 and Ryan Astle 3-55. Ian Allington made 65, Wanasinghe 28, and young Liam Livingstone 24 in Barrow's reply, which totalled 169. Fazil had a good all-round day with 4-37 and Richard Forsythe took 4-59.
First Division scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Carnforth 203-8 (Fazil 66, Wanasinghe 5-77), Barrow 169 (Allington 65, Fazil 4-37, Forsythe 4-59)
Carnforth 15 points, Barrow 4 points
Chorley 193 (Dhar 52), Darwen 196-3 (Semple 95*, Cordingley 42)
Chorley 3 points, Darwen 12 points
Blackpool 215-5 (Kreusch 84, Smith, J 43*), Fleetwood 197 (Coultas 45, Ellis 41, Smit 40)
Blackpool 15 points, Fleetwood 4 points
Kendal 198-8 (Howarth 90, Hadwin 4-50), Netherfield 199-5 (Mail 98*, Haddrick 54*)
Kendal 4 points, Netherfield 12 points
Lancaster 188 (Heywood, D 67, Khan 60, Peddar 4-39), Morecambe 189-5 (Coetsee 65, Goyal 54)
Lancaster 4 points, Morecambe 12 points
St Annes 202-7 (Austin 100, Vahaluwala 4-60), Preston 118-8 (Baer 4-45)
St Annes 9 points, Preston 3 points
* Not Out
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
21 |
4 |
3 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
45 |
182 |
| Morecambe |
22 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
28 |
180 |
| Netherfield |
21 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
18 |
173 |
| Darwen |
21 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
20 |
169 |
| Kendal |
22 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
21 |
163 |
| Preston |
21 |
6 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
3 |
35 |
150 |
| Leyland |
21 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
4 |
22 |
147 |
| Lancaster |
21 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
31 |
138 |
| Barrow |
21 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
41 |
131 |
| Fleetwood |
21 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
32 |
120 |
| CARNFORTH |
21 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
4 |
37* |
118 |
| BLACKPOOL |
22 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
11 |
3 |
42* |
112 |
| Chorley |
21 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
6 |
33 |
101 |
Teams in BLOCK CAPITALS have had points deducted,
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate from the Bonus Points Column
In the Second Division there was the first tie of the season as Barrow made 197-7 and then dismissed Carnforth for 197. Ray Mowat top scored for Barrow with 62, Tom Barnfield for Carnforth with 51 while Josh Tweddle took 4-12 for Barrow. Both sides took five points plus their bonus points for the game.
There were some unlucky batsmen on the day with John Huck of Netherfield the unluckiest as he made 99, but Lancaster's Danny Welbourne, 98, ran him close and Craig Millward, 94 and Michael Critchley, 90 not out, both approached the century for Chorley.
Division Two scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Barrow 197-7 (Mowat 62, Kermode, G 46), Carnforth 197 (Barnfield 51, Ralph 42, Tweddle 4-12)
Barrow 11 points, Carnforth 10 points
Chorley 248-6 (Millward 94, Critchley 90*, Hampson 4-65), Darwen 193-7 (Ainslie 48*)
Chorley 9 points, Darwen 5 points
Lancaster 218 (Welbourne 98, Quinn 5-87), Morecambe 115 (Roosool 42, Moffat, L 4-22)
Lancaster 15 points, Morecambe 3 points
Netherfield 224-4 (Huck 99, Hill 49*), Kendal 187-9 (Cooper 40*, Stafford 6-58)
Netherfield 10 points, Kendal 4 points
Preston 91 (Dowling 5-26), St Annes 92-5
Preston 1 point, St Annes 12 points
The Blackpool versus Fleetwood game will be played at Broadwater on 2 September 2007.
* Not Out
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
21 |
6 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
11 |
210 |
| NETHERFIELD |
21 |
2 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
18* |
185 |
| Morecambe |
22 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
38 |
181 |
| St Annes |
21 |
2 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
38 |
176 |
| Chorley |
21 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
4 |
36 |
164 |
| Barrow |
21 |
3 |
4 |
2** |
1 |
8 |
3 |
41 |
153 |
| Darwen |
21 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
35 |
141 |
| Blackpool |
21 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
4 |
42 |
133 |
| Leyland |
21 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
5 |
32 |
127 |
| Preston |
21 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
25 |
123 |
| Kendal |
22 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
5 |
24 |
114 |
| Fleetwood |
20 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
4 |
21 |
98 |
| Carnforth |
21 |
0 |
3 |
1** |
0 |
14 |
3 |
43 |
96 |
Teams in BLOCK CAPITALS have had points deducted,
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate from the Bonus Points Column
** Includes a Tied Game 5 points
MATCH ACTION
FLEETWOOD THROW IT AWAY
Blackpool 215-5, Fleetwood 197
By Gerry Wolstenholme
In a game between two of the basement teams at Broadwater on Monday, Blackpool came out on top to move off the bottom while Fleetwood suffered their ninth defeat of the season, a defeat that should never have come because on two occasions they were in control. Put in to bat, Blackpool made 215 after struggling early on and then Fleetwood, after looking likely winners when their opening pair were smiting the ball all round the ground and again at the halfway point when they needed just 80 runs from 25 overs with seven wickets in hand, lost it by 18 runs by being bowled out for 197.
Blackpool put on 35 laborious runs for the first wicket before Adam Breakell made the breakthrough by having Luis Reece splendidly caught by an injured Nick Coultas at slip for 19. Joe Bell then threw the non-striker's stumps down to run out Alex Smith for 21 at 52-2 and then Kyle Smit trapped Adam Parker leg before wicket for nought at 64-3.
That was the end of the Fleetwood success for 101 runs as Justin Kreusch, 84 from 107 balls with nine fours, and James Smith, an excellent 43 not out from 60 balls with four fours, took command. With bowling resources limited Fleetwood could not stem the runs and it was the return of Tom Blundell that split the pair as he bowled Kreusch.
Michael Penney came in and swung the bat as the situation required. He had two lucky escapes when in successive balls he was missed by John Whalley at long on and then from a more difficult chance to John Wright at deep mid-wicket. Penney made a rapid 30 from 24 balls with one six and one four before he edged Blundell to James Ellis at 210-5. Tom Reece made one not out as the Blackpool innings closed on 215-5 with Blundell taking 2-66, Smit 1-50 and Breakell 1-68.
Fleetwood's reply began sensationally as the one-legged Coultas hit the ball to all parts of the ground and he was accompanied by Smit, who by no means scored slowly but looked a slouch by comparison! Coultas' innings was cut off in its prime when, after making 45 from 31 balls with two sixes and six fours, he was adjudged leg before wicket to Luis Reece. He appeared somewhat bemused by the decision as did many of the spectators and, indeed, one Blackpool player was later to comment that in all the years he had played he had rarely seen a poorer decision and that it undoubtedly changed the game. Anyway that was 70-1.
Smit and Ellis advanced the total to 121 and Fleetwood looked well in control. Kreusch returned to the attack with his off-spin and Smit played down the wrong line and was bowled for 40 made from 57 balls with five fours. Whalley made only six before he struck Parker to Tom Reece at mid-wicket and it was 136-3. As all too often happens lately, the Fleetwood procession had begun.
Ellis was next to go when Kreusch trimmed his bails after he had made 41 from 67 balls with five fours and that was 158-4. Thereafter only Wayne Clarke, who battled hard for his 33 not out, could withstand the Blackpool bowling. Steve Metcalfe made eight before he took on Richard Gleeson's arm for a second run and failed to make his ground as James Smith removed the bails at 167-5. Tom Wilson made two before he edged Luke Melville to James Smith behind the stumps at 176-6 and John Wright also made two before he too was caught by Smith, this time off Luis Reece at 188-7.
Breakell made three and then rashly advanced down the track to Kreusch only to be beaten by the spin and for Smith to complete a routine stumping at 193-8. Joe Bell faced only one ball and then was called for a second run by Clarke only to find Gleeson's throw once again too good and that was 197-9. Blundell unfortunately did not receive a ball because he too was run out before he had scored in a mix-up with Clarke who was, in fairness, trying to maintain the strike. Eventually sent back by Clarke, Parker's throw was too good and Blundell was gone as were Fleetwood for 197. Kreusch took 3-58, Luis Reece 2-37, Melville 1-21 and Parker 1-31.
Blackpool's skipper Paul Danson was delighted with the weekend as his team picked up 27 points and he commented, "What a brilliant win. Justin batted as we know he can and James Smith gave him excellent support so out 215 was a defendable total. However, when they got off to a flier things looked a little bit different but our bowlers stuck to their task and we whittled them out. I was delighted the last run out fell to Adam Parker because he has an older head on his shoulders and did not panic. We just want to keep up out form now for the final two games."
