Gerry Wolstenholme
In one of the most exciting finishes to a Northern Premier League season for some time, it is now a two-horse race for the title. Blackpool did the sides at the top a massive favour on Saturday by beating Netherfield at Parkside Road and this knocks Netherfield out of contention. Morecambe, with no game next week, did all that they could by comfortable defeating Chorley and St Annes took 12 points by defeating Lancaster at Vernon Road. So it is all set for a final Saturday where St Annes must defeat Netherfield to win the title. As Morecambe lead by 10 points, a win for St Annes batting second, 12 points, will give them the title by two points whereas a win batting first and 15 points will also give them the title, this time by five points. A draw batting first, four points, with maximum bonus points, three batting and three bowling, will give them equal points with Morecambe, who would then win the title on most games won. The pending deduction of four points for St Annes for playing Mahendra Nagamootoo in place of Shane Harwood earlier in the season could make things even more interesting! On that note, St Annes are to appeal against the decision and will have a hearing on Thursday.
The sensation of the day came at Parkside Road where Blackpool bowled Netherfield out for 163 in 47.5 overs thanks to skipper Paul Danson's 5-37 as only Chris Parry with 81 not out, carrying his bat, made any significant contribution to the cause as Sunil Joshi made 37 and Simon Little 12. Justin Kreusch in his final game for the club then made 76 not out and with Adam Parker making 72, Blackpool were home by seven wickets with 164-3 as Scott Clement took 2-16.
Morecambe rattled up 238-3 declared in 45 overs with substitute professional Rashid Ali making 108 not out, Vishnal Goyal 45, Mark Lomas 42 and Mark Woodhead 20. Chorley were all out in 25.4 overs for 62 to lose by 176 runs with Billy Smith 11 not out at number 11 the only batsman to reach double figures. Jono Gates made it 15 wickets in his last two games with a stunning 7-35 while Graham Lee took 2-4.
Fleetwood got off to a flying start at Darwen with Kyle Smit, 85, and Nick Coultas, 58, and then James Ellis added 36, John Whalley 16 and Wayne Clarke 16 as they totalled 241-9. For Darwen Andrew Mercer took 3-49, Keith Semple 3-37 and Gareth Cordingley 2-43. The target was no problem to Darwen who won by eight wickets with 242-2 in 39.3 overs as Atif Ashraf scored 140 not out, Cordingley 54 not out and Semple 28.
Barrow made 217-7 with Justin Quint making 81 not out, Liam Livingstone 35, Ian Allington 31, Jonathan Miles 31 and Iain Kermode 20 as Ameer Khan took 4-58. Leyland lost early wickets cheaply but thanks to the later order of James Rounding, 21, Andrew Makinson, 50 not out, and Matthew Watkinson, 40, managed a draw at 158-8 as Daryl Wearing took 3-52.
It was a stroll in the park for St Annes who comfortably defeated Lancaster by eight wickets. They restricted the visitors to 190-7 with Jannisar Khan making 88 not out and Mansoor Ahmed taking 5-94 and then knocked off the runs with 194-2 as Gareth Evans made 84 not out, Ian Austin 59 and Adrian Darlington 41.
Sajid Patel top scored for Preston with 61 while Bilal Asad made 36 and Lukman Vahaluwala made 35 in their 199 all out and this proved 86 runs too many for Carnforth who made 113 with Ryan Nelson making 49 and Adam Hornby 26 as Asad took 6-25, including three wickets in four balls, and Vahaluwala 3-27. For Carnforth Robert Parker took 4-57 and Irfan Fazil 2-26.
First Division scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Barrow 217-7 (Quint 81*, Khan 4-58), Leyland 158-8 (Makinson, A 50*, Watkinson 40)
Barrow 9 points, Leyland 4 points
Fleetwood 241-9 (Smit 85, Coultas 58), Darwen 242-2 (Ashraf 140*, Cordingley 54*)
Fleetwood 3 points, Darwen 12 points
Morecambe 238-3 dec (Ali 108*, Goyal 45, Lomas 42), Chorley 62 (Gates 7-35)
Morecambe 15 points, Chorley 0 points
Netherfield 163 (Parry 81*, Danson 5-37), Blackpool 164-3 (Kreusch 76*, Parker 72)
Netherfield 2 points, Blackpool 12 points
Preston 199 (Patel 61, Parker 4-57), Carnforth 113 (Nelson 49, Asad 6-25)
Preston 15 points, Carnforth 3 points
Lancaster 190-7 (Khan 88*, Ahmed 5-94), St Annes 194-2 (Evans 84*, Austin 59, Darlington 41)
Lancaster 3 points, St Annes 12 points
* Not Out
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
24 |
3 |
9 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
28 |
207 |
| St Annes |
23 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
48 |
197 |
| Darwen |
23 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
25 |
190 |
| Netherfield |
22 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
23 |
179 |
| Kendal |
23 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
21 |
178 |
| Preston |
23 |
7 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
3 |
35 |
177 |
| Leyland |
23 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
25 |
166 |
| Lancaster |
23 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
37 |
144 |
| Barrow |
23 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
8 |
4 |
49 |
143 |
| BLACKPOOL |
23 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
11 |
3 |
42* |
124 |
| CARNFORTH |
23 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
10 |
4 |
43* |
124 |
| Fleetwood |
23 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
5 |
35 |
123 |
| Chorley |
23 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
6 |
33 |
116 |
Teams in BLOCK CAPITALS have had points deducted,
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate from the Bonus Points Column
Highlight of the day in Division Two was the father and son act at Broadwater where Fleetwood were bowled out for 128 and then Gary Jackson and son Nathan Carr made 129-0 to win the game for Darwen by 10 wickets. It was Nathan Carr's first senior half-century.
And there were centuries for St Annes' batsmen Andy Kellett, 107, and Russ Bradley, 100 not out, in their side's draw with Lancaster at Lune Road.
Division Two scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Blackpool 149 (Outram 58, Stafford 6-50), Netherfield 150-8 (Girdhari 54, Armstrong 5-83)
Blackpool 3 points, Netherfield 12 points
Carnforth 194-8 (Baxendale 45, Kaye 4-25), Preston 197-3 (Jefferies 72*, Donaldson 57*)
Carnforth 3 points, Preston 12 points
Morecambe 210-6 (Armstrong 52, Maje 51, Cassidy 42*), Chorley 211-8 (Oakes 50, Hotham 50)
Morecambe 5 points, Chorley 12 points
Fleetwood 128 (Hampson 5-38, Davies 4-30), Darwen 129-0 (Jackson 72*, Carr 52*)
Fleetwood 0 points, Darwen 12 points
St Annes 287-3 (Kellett 107, Bradley, R 100*, Bickerdike 51), Lancaster 220-5 (Welbourne 67, Moffat, K 55)
St Annes 8 points, Lancaster 4 points
Barrow 174-9 (Reynolds 49), Leyland 175 - 6 (Williams 61)
Barrow 3 points, Leyland 12 points
* Not Out
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
23 |
6 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
14 |
226 |
| Morecambe |
24 |
4 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
43 |
201 |
| NETHERFIELD |
23 |
2 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
18* |
197 |
| St Annes |
23 |
2 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
42 |
196 |
| Chorley |
23 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
36 |
176 |
| Barrow |
23 |
3 |
5 |
2** |
1 |
9 |
3 |
44 |
168 |
| Darwen |
23 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
35 |
165 |
| Leyland |
23 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
5 |
32 |
154 |
| Blackpool |
23 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
4 |
45 |
151 |
| Preston |
23 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
5 |
26 |
136 |
| Kendal |
23 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
10 |
5 |
25 |
115 |
| Carnforth |
23 |
0 |
3 |
1** |
0 |
16 |
3 |
47 |
100 |
| Fleetwood |
23 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
4 |
22 |
99 |
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
AUSTIN SIGNS OFF IN STYLE
Lancaster 190-7, St Annes 194-2
By Gerry Wolstenholme
St Annes' Ian Austin, who has announced his intention to leave the club at the end of the season to spend his final cricket season with hometown club Baxenden in the Ribblesdale League, signed off in style at Vernon Road on Saturday. He blasted 59 quick runs to help his side to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Lancaster, whose 190-7 was never going to be enough to win the game. St Annes lost Austin with the scores level and then went on to win with 194-2.
Lancaster won the toss, decided to bat and skipper Tim Barry gave them the ideal start with a speedy 26 before he hit inside out to Mansoor Ahmed and was caught at backward point by Adam Cotton at 35-1. Michael Stevens and Jannisar Khan then made heavy weather of the spin of Ahmed and Michael Baer and they put on 71 runs quite slowly before Baer bowled Stevens for 37 at 106-2. Michael Walling perished quickly, caught by Twist at mid-wicket for one and it was 109-3. Jamie Heywood lasted little longer than Walling and was stumped by Duncan Whalley off Ahmed for five at 125-4.
Luke Phillips, 14, helped a more attacking Khan to take the total to 166 before he was leg before wicket to Ahmed and Brendan Hetherington made five before he was caught by Twist at extra cover off Ahmed at 172-6. David Heywood was the last wicket to fall when he was run out off the final ball of the innings for two and this left Khan not out 88, made from 116 balls with five fours and three sixes, and Lancaster closing on 190-7.
Adrian Darlington and Gareth Evans gave St Annes the ideal start with a partnership of 110 and this after Evans had been dropped at slip by Phillips when on one. This bothered him no further and, even though he lost Darlington caught by Jamie Heywood off Walling for 41, he scored at will, piercing the field all round the ground. He was the perfect foil for Austin who only stayed at the crease for 50 balls but he made a rapid 59 with nine fours and one six, albeit dropped on a couple of occasions by some poor Lancaster fielding.
He went when the scores were level when Danny Milligan returned to bowl him and that left Evans to strike his 11th boundary to win the game and finish with 84 not out from the St Annes' total of 194-2. Milligan had economic figures of 1-28 from his eight overs while Walling had 1-73.
