The first week of action in the 2017 instalment of the Northern League saw cricket played under stunning blue skies as 12 clubs reignited rivalries for another year
DIVISION ONE:
Chorley v Fleetwood
Chorley claimed 15 points as they worked hard to claim a four wicket win at Windsor Park.
Bowling first Andrew Holdsworth's side claimed wickets at regular intervals as Chris Harty 4-27 and Ed Moulton 2-24 ran through the Fleetwood top order.
The only batsmen to offer any real resistance were James Wilson 40no who carried his bat and Declan Clerkin who made 33 from 58 balls providing an element of respectability to the Fleetwood card.
In response Chorley's batsmen suffered a similar fate to those from the Fylde Coast as several players lost their wicket after reaching double figures with Sam Bell doing much of the damage 4-46.
However, the difference on this occasion proved to be returning skipper Andrew Holdsworth as he made an unbeaten 57 from 85 balls to guide his side home in the 43rd over.
Leyland v Penrith
Reigning champions Leyland made short work of Penrith at Fox Lane as Andrew Makinson 77 and Tom Reece 41 batted with aplomb to guide their side to 233-9 declared in 49 overs.
Penrith's attack had made good early progress as they claimed the wickets of Leylands professional Pabasara Waduge and the prolific Henry Thompson in the opening salvoes of the game.
This proved to be as good as it got for the Tynefield Park outfit as Makinson hit an explosive 77 from just 76 deliveries and Reece hit 41 in a somewhat more fastidious knock which lasted for 65 balls.
Penrith's reply to Leyland's mammoth total took a somewhat calamitous turn as the top nine batsmen managed 18 runs between them in the face of some consummate seam bowling from Karl Cross 12-7-15-4 and Ross Bretherton 8-6-4-4.
Fortunately for the Eden Valley outfit Jake Marshall and Bruce Glendinning forged an effective partnership as they made 24no and 22 respectively to stave off the Leyland attack for a short period before the evergreen David Makinson claimed the final wicket with his fourth ball of the day to leave Penrith 84 all out in the 34th over.
Morecambe v Barrow
Barrow claimed the lion's share of the points at Woodhill Lane as they notched up 227-6 from their allocation in a well drilled batting performance which saw the Morecambe bowlers put to the sword.
Dean Williams set a solid foundation for his side as he made 52 at the top of the order.
He received support from Toby Mowat 23 before Aaron Keverne-Onyon acquitted himself well in a splendid knock of 63 before Ryan Gilmour 17no and Adam Hunter 24no took Barrow well past the 200 mark.
In reply the Woodhill Lane side found themselves on the wrong end of Toby Mowat as he claimed 5-20 from seven overs in a spell which included the wicket of sub-professional Devon Conway.
There was then a significant change in the tide as Tommy Clough 32no and Adam Derham 50no batted stoically to deny Barrow any further wickets and see their own side to a score of 160-6 at the 50 over mark.
Netherfield v Blackpool
Paul Danson's youthful Blackpool team claimed 15 points in an impressive victory over Netherfield at Parkside Road.
On winning the toss Ben Barrow elected to bat and his side made a steady start as he put on 60 with Bradley Earl 56 at the top of the order.
This brought a change in tactics for Blackpool as Ockert Erasmus 4-27 and Josh Boyne 1-30 came into the attack, the rewards were almost instantaneous as Netherfield were reduced to 82-2 before Richard Gleeson 3-19 scythed his way through the middle order to leave the Parkside Road outfit 108-5.
An unbeaten 27 from John Huck allowed Netherfield to reach 145 in the 46th over but there was little further resistance as Erasmus removed much the of the lower order.
Blackpool then found themselves in a spot of bother at 24-2 before Ciaran Johnson 47 and Ockert Erasmus 28 added 65 for the third wicket to take the score to 89-3,this rapidly became 110-8 as Seth Rance returned to the attack to annihilate the Stanley Park middle order on his way to claiming 5-20.
Despite this, the resolve of the Blackpool side remained strong as Ben Howarth 17no and Paul Danson 20no added an unbeaten 36 to guide the Fylde Coast outfit to a two wicket victory in the 48th over.
Preston v Kendal
Kendal claimed 15 points in a hard fought game against Preston at West Cliff.
Preston were dismissed for 90 in 36.1 overs as Chris Miller decimated the top order in claiming 5-27 before Saeed Bariwala returned to haunt his old club as he took advantage of some lackadaisical lower order batting to claim 4-23 from 9.1 overs.
Any hopes of a straight forward victory for Kendal were soon dashed as Lukman Vahaluwala claimed 5-39 to put the Kent Valley side on the back foot before Sabbir Patel claimed 3-19 as Preston turned the screw.
Fortunately Chris Miller 15no and Toby Tyson 5 were on hand to steer Kendal home as they reached 91-9 in the 38th over.
St Annes v Lancaster
St Annes ran out easy winners in their home game against Lancaster.
St Annes found some excellent early season form as they provided a strong demonstration of their skills in a 9 wicket victory over Lancaster at Vernon Road.
After asking Ben Simm's side to bat the Fylde Coast outfit were soon amongst the wickets as Mitchell Bolus 2-22 removed Jamie Heywood and Lee Sparks.
Some resistance was then offered as Charlie Swarbrick 24, Shanuka Dulak 39 and Joe Hills 21 got the scoreboard moving.
Unfortunately none of them could go on to make a telling contribution as Tom Higson 5-25 and sub-professional Michael Erlank 3-45 applied pressure to claim the final 8 wickets, leaving the Lune Road outfit 152 all out in the 44th over.
What followed was something of a batting masterclass as Michael Erlank 87no and Gurman Bains 45no added well over 100 for the second wicket to allow St Annes to cruise to triumphant victory in the 34th over.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES
Chorley v Fleetwood
Chorley (15 pts) defeated Fleetwood (1 pt) by 4 wickets
Fleetwood 133 (James Wilson 40no, Chris Hartley 4-27), Chorley 137-6 (Andrew Holdsworth 57no, Sam Bell 4-46)
Leyland v Penrith
Leyland (15 pts) defeated Penrith (3 pts) by 149 runs
Leyland 233-9dec (Andrew Makinson 77, Tom Reece 41), Penrith 84 (Ross Bretherton 4-4, Karl Cross 4-15)
Morecambe v Barrow
Barrow (10 pts) winning draw Morecambe (2 pts)
Barrow 227-6 (Aaron Kverne-Onyon 63, Dean Williams 52), Morecambe 160-6 (Adam Derham 50no, Toby Mowat 5-20)
Netherfield v Blackpool
Blackpool (15 pts) defeated Netherfield (2 pts) by 2 wickets
Netherfield 145 (Bradley Earl 56, Ockert Erasmus 4-27), Blackpool 146-8 (Ciaran Johnson 47, Seth Rance 5-29)
Preston v Kendal
Kendal (15 pts) defeated Preston (3 pts) by 1 wicket
Preston 90 (Chris Miller 5-27), Kendal 91-9 (Lukman Vahaluwala 5-39)
St Annes v Lancaster
St Annes (15 pts) defeated Lancaster (1 pt) by 9 wickets
Lancaster 152 (Tom Higson 5-25), St Annes 155 - 1 (Michael Erlank 87no, Gurman Bains 45no)
Division Two
Division 2 Round Up:
Barrow v Morecambe
At Ernest Pass Morecambe produced a proficient performance to claim victory over their Cumbrian counterparts.
Bowling first the Woodhill Lane outfit were soon amongst the wickets as Izhar Ullah 3-13 and Irfan Qayyum 2-12 produced typically testing spells to remove the top four Barrow batsmen for just 14 runs.
Robin Adams 33 and Ciaran Dawes 29 did offer some resistance but they were soon nullified by Jack Lupton who claimed 5-20 to devastate the lower order and reduce Barrow to 100 all out in the 44th over.
To begin with the Woodhill Lane side also found life tough as Barrow made a number of quick breakthroughs, reducing Morecambe to 41-4, fortunately Andy Bird 21no and Sean Graves 32no were on hand to guide their team home as they added an unbeaten 62 to claim a six wicket victory with 28 overs gone.
Blackpool v Netherfield
In what was probably the fixture of the day Blackpool delivered a stellar performance to claim a 62 run victory over Netherfield at Stanley Park.
After being asked to bat Sam Owen's side were soon in trouble at 25-2, the innings then took a turn for the better as Dan Barling 65no produced a dogged knock to rebuff the Netherfield attack.
He found several willing partners throughout his innings as the score progressed to 96-5. From then on the scoring rate increased as he and Ben Heath 25no added 61 for the 6th wicket to take Blackpool to 157-5 at the interval.
In defence of their total Blackpool made an alacritous start as Dec Fisher 2-13 removed Theo Gallagher with the first ball of the innings before going on to remove Dan Gaunt.
Joel Watson 3-9 then entered the attack and produced a sublime spell of swing bowling to decimate the Netherfield top order.
Isaac Medhurst 25no and Stuart Nixon 15 then offered some opposition before Jamie Thomson 3-24 claimed three wickets in four balls to reduce the Cumbrian side to 95 all out in the 38th over.
Fleetwood v Chorley
At Broadwater Chorley claimed 15 points as they produced a splendid batting performance to deny the home team victory.
After electing to bowl a youthful Fleetwood attack found it hard work to make a breakthrough as Matthew Moore 41 and Max Harper 47 made good going in the early part of the game.
Joe Barker 27 and Alex Howarth 48no then continued to make positive progress as they guided Chorley to 196-4 at the 45 over mark.
In response Fleetwood also made good early progress as Paul Willis 16 and Wayne Clarke 35 formed a useful partnership at the top of the order.
However, this did not form a telling contribution as Joe Barker 3-19, Adam McCullagh 3-34 and Rex Purnell 4-40 demolished the Fleetwood middle order to leave their response in tatters.
Jack Wilkinson 28 tried to rectify the matter but he could not alter the course of the game as his side were dismissed for 141 in the 41st over.
Kendal v Preston
Preston claimed 10 points at Shap Road as they produced a miserly bowling performance to defend 121.
Batting first the West Cliff outfit were indebted to knocks of 33 and 28 from Mohsin Patel and Akmal Shah as Tom Aspinwall claimed 6-12 from ten overs for Kendal.
In response the Kendal top order found life tough from the outset as each member of the Preston attack bowled with great accuracy to restrict scoring opportunities.
Mohammed Ilyas 4-26 and Akmal Shah 3-33 claimed the bulk of the wickets but they could not find the crucial breakthrough as Kendal continued indefatigably to finish agonisingly short of victory, as the scoreboard read 120-9 at the end of the 46th over.
Lancaster v St Annes
St Annes claimed a comprehensive victory over Lancaster at Lune Road as they notched up 214-5 declared.
Alex Bradley 30 and Andy Drake 38 setting a useful foundation at the top of the order before Matthew Yeadon produced a fine unbeaten knock of 85 to guide his side to a more than useful total.
After claiming 3-42, Danny Welbourne 18 was one of the only Lancaster batsmen to offer any resistance as the Lune Road outfit were reduced to 68 all out at the 37 over mark with Andy Drake claiming 3-11 from his seven overs.
Pennrith v Leyland
Reigning champions Leyland got off to a typically solid start as they brushed Penrith aside with relative ease at Tynefield Park.
Bowling first, Ian Farrington's team were soon into their stride as Steven Pallett 3-9 and Laurence Shackleton 4-15 worked their way through the top order to leave Penrith on the brink at 22-4.
The outlook improved markedly for the Cumbrian side as Keelan Spurrell 35 and Mark Lucas Winspear 17 added 48 for the fifth wicket to take the score to 70-4.
The Leyland attack then regained its potency as the next 6 wickets fell for just 16 runs to leave Penrith 86 all out in the 36th over.
In response the Fox Lane outfit wasted little time as Sean Dunk hit an unbeaten 36 to guide his side to a seven wicket victory in the 20th over.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES
Barrow v Morecambe
Morecambe (15 pts) defeated Barrow (1 pt) by 6 wickets
Barrow 100 (Jack Lupton 5-20), Morecambe 103-4
Blackpool v Netherfield
Blackpool (15 pts) defeated Netherfield (1 pt) by 5 wickets
Blackpool 157-5 (Dan Barling 65no), Netherfield 95
Fleetwood v Chorley
Chorley (15 pts) defeated Fleetwood (1 pt) by 55 runs
Chorley 196-4 (Alexander Howarth 48no, Max Harper 47, Matthew Moore 41), Fleetwood 141 (Rex Purnell 4-40)
Kendal v Preston
Preston (10 pts) winning draw Kendal (7 pts)
Preston 121 (Tom Aspinall 6-12), Kendal 120-9 (Paul Dodds 56)
Lancaster v St Annes
St Annes (15 pts) defeated Lancaster (1 pt) by 146 runs
St Annes 214-5dec (Matthew Yeadon 85no) Lancaster 68
Penrith v Leyland
Leyland (15 pts) defeated Penrith (0 pts) by 7 wickets
Penrith 86 (Laurence Shackleton 4-15), Leyland 87-3
