By Michael Latham
Warren Quinn celebrates the wicket of Mandla Mashimbyi |
St Annes went back to the top of the Furness Building Society Northern Premier League (in association with 3D Sports) after completing a seven wickets win over Lancaster at Vernon Road.
Overnight leaders Preston had to settle for a winning draw at Fleetwood while reigning champions Netherfield maintained their outside hopes with a dramatic win at Chorley.
Morecambe also had to be satisfied with a winning draw in an exciting finish against Carnforth while there were away wins for Barrow at Darwen and Leyland at Kendal.
St Annes (187pts) lead Preston (184) by three points with each side having three games left. Morecambe (165) are third with four to play followed by Chorley (159 with three to play) and Netherfield (153 with four to play).
Lancaster got off to a good start at St Annes with openers Michael Stevens and Jamie Heywood adding 103 for the first wicket before the latter fell to Ben Willis for 49. Stevens went to reach a fine 94 off 123 balls before becoming one of Michael Baer's three victims.
St Annes pro Dinuka Hettiarchchi wreaked havoc with the rest of the visitors batting line-up taking six for 51 to take his seasonal tally to 71 wickets, as no-one else reached double figures. Lancaster lost their last ten wickets for 64 and were bowled out for 167.
Atiq Uz-Zaman (78) steered St Annes home with over eleven overs to spare, receiving good support from skipper Andy Kellett (36) and Hettiarachchi (29). Atiq has overtaken Netherfield pro Glen Batticciotto (711 runs) as leading runs-scorer in the league with 728.
Preston, meanwhile, amassed the day's highest total but were then frustrated by a superb innings from Fleetwood's Michael Clinning at Broadwater after Bilal Asad and Darren Nelson had taken four early Fleetwood wickets.
Skipper and pro Asad quickly removed openers Nick Coultas and Chesney Hughes and Nelson accounted for pro Rassie van der Dusson and Adam Sharrocks. But Clinning and skipper James Ellis then shared a fifth wicket stand of 113 to steer their side to safety at 156 for 6. Clinning hit eight fours in his 85 made off 136 balls while Ellis made 36.
Earlier Preston opener Sajid Patel (55 off 54 balls), Asad (64 off 75 balls) and Lukman Vahaluwala (55 off 70 balls) all batted superbly as Preston reached 238 for 8. Fleetwood's Tom Blundell returned from illness to take four wickets for 66.
In a tense game at Woodhill Lane Carnforth finished 16 runs short of victory against Morecambe, with eight wickets down.
Opener Mark Woodhead batted 39 overs for 34 to underpin the home side's total of 163 on a slow-paced pitch with Warren Quinn celebrating his Cumberland county call-up by taking five for 42.
Morecambe opener Ikram Ullah is bowled by Gareth Pedder |
Quinn is now the leading amateur wicket-taker in the race for the Castle Award with 49 wickets, two ahead of Blackpool's Richard Gleeson. Carnforth pro Gareth Pedder marked his return to his former club with a superb spell of three for 26 off 15 overs, including clean-bowling Ikram Ullah in his first over.
Opener Mark Woodhead battled through 39 overs for Morecambe |
Richard Forsyth opened with 29 off 38 overs for the visitors who fell short despite valuable contributions from Ben Hornby, Lewis Bradley and Pedder.Morecambe pro Mandla Mashimbyi followed up his brisk 37 with four for 58 while Graham Lee took three for 64.
Action from the tense closing overs at Woodhill Lane |
Scott Clement, better known for his bowling exploits, was Netherfield's batting hero at Windsor Park alongside Ben Barrow. The visitors had slumped to 62 for 6 chasing Chorley's modest 143 when the pair came together. But teenager Barrow hit an unbeaten 43 off 80 balls and Clement 42 not out off 57 balls to steer their side home with an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 85.
Billy Smith's return of three for 27 was in vain for Chorley while Jimmy Lee took two wickets in his last appearance of the season before furthering his studies in the United States.
Several Chorley batsmen made starts but Ian Oakes 27 was top-score as spinner Chris Miller and Marc Hadwin each took three wickets for Netherfield.
Jon Miles continued his impressive recent batting form with 54 as in-form Barrow won again, edging home by two wickets at Birch Hall. Cumberland batsman Miles, who scored a century at the ground two years ago was run out but Rob Lightfoot (36) and Robin Adams (21) helped the visitors over the finishing line despite teenager Yakub Bhamji taking three for 25.
Chris Lowe (44) and Gareth Cordingley (38) were the main contributors to Darwen's 168 as Barrow pro Pasan Wanasinghe and skipper Daryl Wearing each collected four wickets from long spells of bowling.
Leyland ended a lean spell that had seen them fall into the bottom two with a four wickets win at Shap Road where 16 wickets fell for 201 runs. Luis Reece (three for 20) and skipper David Makinson (four for 23) helped bowl out Kendal for 100, Reece claiming the prize scalps of captain and pro Ross McMillan and Terry Hunte, with opener Gareth Ashburner top-scoring with 30.
Despite McMillan. Cumberland call-up Stu Parkin and Ben Simm each taking two wickets teenager Henry Thompson's unbeaten 25 saw Leyland home with good support from Tom Reece (22).
FIRST DIVISION SCORES:
CHORLEY v NETHERFIELD
Netherfield (12pts) defeated Chorley (2pts) by 4 wickets
Chorley 143, Netherfield 147 for 6 (B Barrow 43no, S Clement 42no)
DARWEN v BARROW
Barrow (12pts) defeated Darwen (4pts) by 2 wickets
Darwen 168 (P Wanasinghe 4 for 53, D Wearing 4 for 55), Barrow 170 for 8 (J Miles 54)
FLEETWOOD v PRESTON
Preston (8pts) winning draw; Fleetwood (4pts)
Preston 238 for 8 (Bilal Asad 64, S Patel 55, L Vahaluwala 55, T Blundell 4 for 66), Fleetwood 156 for 6 (M Clinning 85)
KENDAL v LEYLAND
Leyland (12pts) defeated Kendal (1pt) by 4 wickets
Kendal 100 (D Makinson 4 for 23), Leyland 101 for 6
MORECAMBE v CARNFORTH
Morecambe (8pts) winning draw; Carnforth (5pts)
Morecambe 163 (W Quinn 5 for 42), Carnforth 148 for 8 (M Mashimbyi 4 for 58)
ST ANNES v LANCASTER
St Annes (12pts) defeated Lancaster (2pts) by 7 wickets
Lancaster 167 (M Stevens 94, J Heywood 49, D Hettiarachchi 6 for 51), St Annes 168 for 3 (Atiq Uz-Zaman 78)
Blackpool 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 |
21 |
3 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
21 |
187 |
| Preston |
21 |
6 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
29* |
184 |
| Morecambe |
20 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
32 |
165 |
| Chorley |
21 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
2 |
33 |
159 |
| Netherfield |
20 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
41 |
153 |
| Barrow |
20 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
21 |
144 |
| Blackpool |
20 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
38 |
139 |
| Kendal |
20 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
36 |
124 |
| Fleetwood |
21 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
8 |
1 |
34 |
114 |
| Leyland |
20 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
37 |
114 |
| Darwen |
20 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
37* |
113 |
| Carnforth |
20 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
4 |
37 |
109 |
| Lancaster |
20 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
9 |
3 |
30 |
89 |
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate
Divison Two
Lancaster stretch their lead in Division Two
Division Two leaders Lancaster strengthened their grip on the title chase by earning 12 points against defending champions St Annes at Lune Road and taking a 19 points lead over Blackpool, who did not play.
Lancaster (205pts), Blackpool (186), Leyland (176) and Darwen (169) each have four games remaining with Chorley (also on 169) with three left.
Scott Sparks took six for 55 for Lancaster to help dismiss St Annes for 133, despite a battling 50 from opener Adam Taylor. Danny Welbourne (61) and Oliver Carter (51 not out) then saw Lancaster home with eight wickets in hand.
Leyland leapfrogged Chorley into third after Ian Farrington hit 70 in their 186 for 5 against Kendal at Fox Lane. Leg-spinner Tom Coxhead then took four for 37 as Kendal were bowled out for 129.
But Chorley, last season's runners-up, lost at Parkside Road. Dan Davidson's unbeaten 48 and Nathan Chambers 42 not out saw Netherfield home, despite spinners Kieran McCullagh and 13-years-old Matt Critchley each taking three wickets. Earlier Matt Clinton, a call-up for the England Deaf Team this coming winter collected six for 23 as the visitors were dismissed for 169.
Darwen's father and son partnership of Gary and Scott Jackson ensured a six wickets win at Ernest Pass. Dad Gary hit an unbeaten 60 while opener Scott made 47 as Barrow's 156 for 8 was overhauled.
Teenager Jason Cornthwaite made 60 as Carnforth moved out of the bottom two after an emphatic win over Morecambe at Lodge Quarry. Despite Nick Milner taking four for 48 the home side's 157 was more than sufficient as Bradley Hoyle and Robert Horsfall each took three wickets to bowl out Morecambe for 85.
Fleetwood enjoyed a seven wickets win at West Cliff after Tom Clarke's spell of four for 30 hastened Presto's demise to 131 all out. Yasin Patel hit a defiant 44. Mark Emsley's 57 helped the visitors canter past their target in 24.1 overs.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES:
BARROW v DARWEN
Darwen (12pts) defeated Barrow (1pt) by 6 wickets
Barrow 156 for 8 (P Renney 43, R Gilmore 40), Darwen 157 for 4 (G Jackson 60no, S Jackson 47)
CARNFORTH v MORECAMBE
Carnforth (15pts) defeated Morecambe (3pts) by 72 runs
Carnforth 157 (J Cornthwaite 60, N Milner 4 for 48), Morecambe 85
LANCASTER v ST ANNES
Lancaster (12pts) defeated St Annes (0pts) by 8 wickets
St Annes 133 (A Taylor 50, S Sparks 6 for 55), Lancaster 134 for 2 (D Welbourne 61, O Carter 51no)
LEYLAND v KENDAL
Leyland (15pts) defeated Kendal (1pt) by 57 runs
Leyland 186 for 5 (I Farrington 70), Kendal 129 (T Coxhead 4 for 37)
NETHERFIELD v CHORLEY
Netherfield (12pts) defeated Chorley (3pts) by 4 wickets
Chorley 169 (D Catterall 41, M Clinton 6 for 23), Netherfield 170 for 6 (D Davidson 48no, N Chambers 42no)
PRESTON v FLEETWOOD
Fleetwood (12pts) defeated Preston (0pts) by 7 wickets
Preston 131 (Y Patel 44, T Clark 4 for 20), Fleetwood 137 for 3 (M Emsley 57)
Blackpool 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 |
20 |
3 |
10 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
24 |
205 |
| Blackpool |
20 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
16 |
186 |
| Leyland |
20 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
2 |
25 |
176 |
| Chorley |
21 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
23 |
169 |
| Darwen |
20 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
24 |
169 |
| St Annes |
21 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
24 |
159 |
| Netherfield |
20 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
37 |
148 |
| Morecambe |
20 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
35 |
137 |
| Fleetwood |
21 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
2 |
26 |
114 |
| Preston |
21 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
10 |
2 |
20 |
107 |
| Carnforth |
20 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
9 |
3 |
27 |
97 |
| Kendal |
20 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
1 |
21 |
95 |
| Barrow |
20 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
3 |
36 |
77 |
