HEATON captain Gary Garner said he was proud of his side after they recorded their first win of the season against Eagley.

Matt Fray (34), Joe Gatenby Brown (29), Raheel Majeed (35) and Muhammad Irfan (22) all contributed with the bat as the Lower Pools outfit set their hosts a target of 205-9.

Professional Agha Salman impressed with the ball, taking 5-78, before he struck 67 in the Eagley reply.

However, only Jack Wainman provided adequate support, hitting 26 not out, as Eagley fell 38 runs short of their target, which was mainly thanks to the bowling of Irfan (3-27) and Majeed (3-73).

Eagley are now the only club in both Bolton divisions yet to taste victory this term and they are nine points adrift at the foot of the table.

Heaton moved to within 10 points of safety and skipper Garner is hoping his side can now carry the momentum into the next match.

“Sometimes we have lacked a bit of fight but we all chipped in and showed our fight,” Garner said. “The talent has never been the issue. I am proud of the lads. I know it’s a strange thing to say but I still don’t believe we are where we should be.

“It was nice to get a win. We have had all sorts going on this year but we know what we are trying to do.

“We had to win to give us any sort of a chance of staying up, but we need to win two or three on the bounce to give us genuine hope of survival.

“What was key is that we all chipped in and we batted the full overs.

“I’m old school; I always say that if we bat the full overs then we stand a good chance of getting a decent score.”

Farnworth remain top of the table after winning at Westhoughton.

The Howfeners thought they had a chance of beating the league leaders after they bowled them out for 131.

Farnworth opener Ross Sutton hit 61 but the rest of the leaders’ batting order was blitzed by a combined attack of Kieran Edwards (6-53) and Qaiser Abbas (3-43).

Abbas, the Westhoughton pro, then struck 67 in their reply, but their innings went the same way as the visitors’ as the rest of the batting order collapsed.

Imran Mirza took 4-39, while Kamran Younas weighed in with 3-36 and Sutton claimed 2-26 as the hosts were dismissed for 103.

Kearsley remain just four points behind Farnworth in second after they narrowly beat Horwich.

The Springfield Road side survived an early scare after their openers fell for a combined score of eight.

Brett Pelser (3-102) and Phil Ingram (4-46) initially did well with the ball before Cameron Murray (52) let loose.

He was supported by Devendra Bundela (31) and Charlie Dorsey (36no) as Kearsley ended on 192-8.

Horwich skipper Ingram hit an unbeaten 72 and Connor Dalton also added 21, but Dave Mather began to turn the screw with the ball. He finished with 5-105 as Horwich were bowled out eight runs shy of their target.

The result saw Horwich drop to eighth in the table, 10 points above the drop zone.

Lostock opened up some much-needed breathing space over the relegation zone after ending a three-game losing streak at home to third-placed Bradshaw.

The Chew Moor outfit started well on the way to posting 234-5, with Tom Senior (26) and Hasnain Abbas (50) putting on 69 runs for the opening wicket. Matthew Leach then added 71, while Mathew Trow finished on 31 not out.

Bradshaw’s top-end batsmen were not fazed by the target as Tom Liversedge (49), Stuart Hornby (37) and Sachithra Serasinghe (42) all made decent starts, while skipper Nick Lester chipped in with 31.

But as the overs ticked down the tail-end batsmen had to gamble and were picked off by a bowling attack led by Rob Holgate (4-71), with Bradshaw eventually dismissed for 211.

Lostock rose to seventh in the table, 14 points above the relegation zone, which pleased skipper Geoff Earle.

He said: “We have been in poor form the past few weeks so it was an excellent win for us. It was one of those really good performances where everybody contributed.

“Hasnain Abbas did well with both the bat and ball and Tom Senior stepped up from the second team.

“It was an even bigger win because of Heaton’s result too.

“Our opening batsmen gave us a great platform, allowing those in the middle-order to play expansively.

“Our target now has to be to secure our Premiership status and I think another two wins should do that.”

Farnworth Social Circle won at home to Walkden. Ryan Ayres took 6-47 and Chris Barrow an impressive 4-5 as Walkden were bowled out for 106, Asif Zakir hitting 45.

The Piggott Park outfit completed the chase inside 20 overs, Jake O’Byrne and David Tonge both scored 41 to cement an eight-wicket win.

Results

Eagley 168, Heaton 205-9. Heaton won by 37 runs.

Farnworth Social Circle 107-2, Walkden 106. Farnworth Social Circle won by eight wkts.

Kearsley 192-8, Horwich 184. Kearsley won by eight runs.

Lostock 234-5, Bradshaw 211. Lostock won by 23 runs.

Westhoughton 103, Farnworth 131. Farnworth won by 28 runs.