By Michael Latham
Carnforth pro Gareth Pedder bowls David Wiese at Birch Hall |
Morecambe are on a roll that they hope will end with them becoming champions of the Furness Building Society Northern Premier League (in association with 3D Sports) at the season's end.
Tommy Clough's resurgent side picked up maximum points over the double header weekend programme and followed up their victory over Leyland by defeating leaders St Annes in a low-scoring thriller at Woodhill Lane.
Morecambe have developed the knack of winning games that appear to be beyond them and their South African professional Mandla Mashimbyi is fast becoming a favourite of the home faithful.
Mashimbyi produced match-winning figures of seven for 42 as St Annes were skittled for 83 in reply to Morecambe's modest 120.
The giant 28-year-old, who captains Northerns in South Africa, claimed the prize wicket of Atiq Uz-Zaman, caught behind by Lewis Edge for 23, and had four victims clean-bowled in his inspired spell.
The experienced Graham Lee, having recovered from a nasty dose of swine flu, weighed in with three for 23.
Earlier Charles Boucher (34) and Phil Dennison (26) grafted hard for Morecambe to withstand the wiles of Sri Lankan ace Dinuka Hetteriachchi, the slow left-armer taking seven for 38 off 22.3 overs in another magnificent display of his craft.
Morecambe have now taken maximum points in four of their last five games and are unbeaten in their last eleven games; they are joint second with Preston on 153 points, six behind leaders St Annes.
After their fine win at St Annes on Saturday, Preston were frustrated by Lancaster skipper Tim Barry and had to settle for a winning draw against the bottom club at West Cliff.
Barry batted for 109 minutes for an unbeaten 49 as Lancaster closed on 141 for 6 in reply to Preston's 174 for 9 on a slow-paced pitch.
Lancaster skipper Tim Barry escapes with an aerial shot at West Cliff |
Michael Stevens made 31 for Lancaster off 91 balls before being run out by a superb piece of fielding by Zabeer Patel.
Lukman Vahaluwala was Preston's best bowler with figures of three for 44 after top-scoring with an unbeaten 79 off 109 balls. Vahaluwala shared a vital fourth-wicket stand of 72 with skipper and professional Bilal Asad (54 off 88 balls) after the home side had slumped to 31 for 3.
Lancaster's substitute professional Ali Azmat, the Earby CC paid-man, bowled unchanged to take four for 90 with his left-arm spin but then fell victim leg before to Vahaluwala for a duck.
Lancaster's victory hopes disappeared when Brendan Hetheringtton was bowled by Bilal Asad for 21.
Lancaster's Brendan Hetherington is bowled by Preston pro Bilal Asad |
Chorley stayed in contention after Billy Smith's superb display of seam bowling earned maximum points at Broadwater.
Smith took six for 30 off 23.3 overs as Fleetwood crumbled to 125 all out, losing their last nine wickets for 41 runs.
Chesney Hughes (44 off 90 balls) and professional Hendrik van der Dussen (41 off 107 balls) looked to have paved the way for a home win before both fell victim to Jimmy Lee while Ian Oakes also accounted for two wickets.
Chorley's Queensland professional Chris Hartley battled hard to make 89 off 132 balls in Chorley's 168 for 7 as Hughes took three for 66.
Chorley (143) are now 16 points behind St Annes.
Last season's champions Netherfield moved up to fifth after earning a five wickets win at Leyland. Scott Clement, returning from a trip to Milan, bowled magnificently to take seven for 52 as the home side were dismissed for 121 at Fox Lane. Henry Thompson top-scored with a battling 25 off 114 balls.
Queenslander Glen Batticciotto steered Netherfield home with an unbeaten 37 off 72 balls with skipper Chris Parry, Alex Atkinson and Ben Haddrick also making valuable contributions.
In the day's other games, Barrow earned a convincing seven wickets win over Blackpool at Ernest Pass.
Slow left-armer Gary Collins, a recruit from the North Lancashire & Cumbria League this season, took five for 55 as the visitors were restricted to 160 for 8.
Andy Furniss (35) and sub-pro Chaka Hodge, the Cockermouth CC professional (49 not out) were Blackpool's major contributors.
Barrow pro Pasan Wanasinghe steered his side home with a masterly unbeaten 65 with help from the Cumberland county players Jon Miles (50) and Chris D'Leny (29).
Carnforth enjoyed the day's earliest finish, completing a nine wickets win at Birch Hall over Darwen before five o'clock.
Carnforth professional Gareth Pedder continued his fine recent form with a spell of four for 35 as Darwen were dismissed for just 67.
Pedder bowled Darwen's South African professional David Wiese, a Saturday century-maker, for 7 and came agonisingly close to his first career hat-trick with two wickets in two balls.
Carnforth pro Gareth Pedder agonises at going close to a hat-trick at Birch Hall |
Bowlers Adam Cowperthwaite, Lee Barnes and Warren Quinn supported their professional to underline that Carnforth's standard of out-cricket belies their lowly league position, Richard Forsyth making two fine catches.
Forsyth (28) and Ryan Nelson (35 not out) added 47 in as many minutes for the opening stand to lay the foundations for an impressive Carnforth victory.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES:
BARROW v BLACKPOOL
Barrow (12pts) defeated Blackpool (2pts) by 7 wickets
Blackpool 160 for 8 (C Hodge 49no, G Collins 5 for 55), Barrow 162 for 3 (P Wanasinghe 65no, J Miles 50)
DARWEN v CARNFORTH
Carnforth (12pts) defeated Darwen (0pts) by 9 wickets
Darwen 67 (G Pedder 4 for 35), Carnforth 68 for 1
FLEETWOOD v CHORLEY
Chorley (15pts) defeated Fleetwood (2pts) by 43 runs
Chorley 168 for 7 (C Hartley 89), Fleetwood 125 (B Smith 6 for 30)
LEYLAND v NETHERFIELD
Netherfield (12pts) defeated Leyland (1pt) by 5 wickets
Leyland 121 (S Clement 7 for 52), Netherfield 122 for 5
MORECAMBE v ST ANNES
Morecambe (15pts) defeated St Annes (3pts) by 37 runs
Morecambe 120 (D Hettiarachchi 7 for 48), St Annes 83 (M Mashimbyi 7 for 42)
PRESTON v LANCASTER
Preston (7pts) winning draw; Lancaster (5pts)
Preston 174 for 9 (L Vahaluwala 79, Bilal Asad 54, A Azmat 4 for 90), Lancaster 141 for 6 (T Barry 49no)
Kendal no game
.
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
18 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
21 |
159 |
| Preston |
18 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
21* |
153 |
| Morecambe |
18 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
24 |
153 |
| Chorley |
18 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
29 |
143 |
| Netherfield |
17 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
41 |
122 |
| Blackpool |
18 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
35 |
120 |
| Kendal |
17 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
30 |
118 |
| Barrow |
17 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
21 |
105 |
| Fleetwood |
18 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
1 |
31 |
98 |
| Leyland |
17 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
32 |
97 |
| Darwen |
17 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
29* |
93 |
| Carnforth |
18 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
33 |
89 |
| Lancaster |
17 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
22 |
81 |
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate
Divison Two
Lancaster lead division two by ten points
Division Two leaders Lancaster have a ten points lead over Blackpool with last season's runners-up Chorley hovering in third place.
Lancaster recorded a six wickets win over Preston at Lune Road after restricting the visitors to a modest 113 for 9, Ben Harrison making 41.
Blackpool, meanwhile, earned maximum points by defeating Barrow by 54 runs at Stanley Park. 15-year-old opener Nanthesh Kiruparan made 56, his first Northern League half century, and Luke Melville 39 in Blackpool's 156 for 9. Matthew Studt took 5 for 27 for Barrow who were bowled out for 102 in reply, Ross Parker taking four for 16.
David Catterall hit 110 as Chorley reached 200 for 8 at Windsor Park despite a four wicket haul by Mark Emsley. Fleetwood subsided to 95 all out, Kieran McCullagh earning figures of four for 33.
Leyland lost ground after going down by one wicket at Parkside Road in a low-scoring game. The visitors were bowled out for just 78 with Matthew Clinton and Marcus Hill each taking three wickets. Stuart Parker top-scored with 26 for Leyland. Despite a superb return of 7 for 43 by Chris Kelly, Netherfield edged home thanks largely to Daniel Davidson's unbeaten 27.
Last season's champions St Annes had to settle for a winning draw at home to Morecambe as the visitors held out with eight wickets down despite Richard Thomas and Luke O'Dea each taking four wickets. Paul Wilks and Gareth Costin both hit half centuries in St Annes 216 for 7, Costin making 63 off only 49 balls.
Darwen's long-serving Gary Jackson rolled back the years to set up a convincing win at Lodge Quarry. Jackson hit 103 in Darwen's 194 for 5 as Father Stephen Jones took three for 63. The home side fell just short of the century mark in reply.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES:
BLACKPOOL v BARROW
Blackpool (15pts) defeated Barrow (3pts) by 54 runs
Blackpool 156 for 9 (N Kiruparan 56, M Studt 5 for 27), Barrow 102 (R Parker 4 for 16)
CARNFORTH v DARWEN
Darwen (15pts) defeated Carnforth (1pt) by 95 runs
Darwen 194 for 5 (G Jackson 103), Carnforth 99
CHORLEY v FLEETWOOD
Chorley (15pts) defeated Fleetwood (2pts) by 105 runs
Chorley 200 for 8 (D Catterall 110, M Emsley 4 for 50), Fleetwood 95 (K McCullagh 4 for 33)
LANCASTER v PRESTON
Lancaster (12pts) defeated Preston (0pts) by 6 wickets
Preston 113 for 9 (B Harrison 41), Lancaster 117 for 4
NETHERFIELD v LEYLAND
Netherfield (12pts) defeated Leyland (3pts) by 1 wicket
Leyland 78, Netherfield 79 for 9 (C Kelly 7 for 43)
ST ANNES v MORECAMBE
St Annes (9pts) winning draw; Morecambe (4pts)
St Annes 216 for 7 (G Costin 63, P Wilks 60), Morecambe 154 for 8 (G Maje 40, L O'Dea 4 for 47, R Thomas 4 for 59)
Kendal no game
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING 3D SPORTS)
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
17 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
24 |
166 |
| Blackpool |
18 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
16 |
156 |
| Chorley |
18 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
17 |
148 |
| Leyland |
17 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
25 |
142 |
| Darwen |
17 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
24 |
138 |
| St Annes |
18 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
24 |
132 |
| Morecambe |
18 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
29 |
131 |
| Netherfield |
17 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
31 |
130 |
| Kendal |
17 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
1 |
16 |
90 |
| Preston |
18 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
2 |
17 |
89 |
| Fleetwood |
18 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
2 |
23 |
84 |
| Carnforth |
18 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
24 |
79 |
| Barrow |
17 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
3 |
30 |
71 |
