ATHERTON’S dynamic duo showed once again why they have been the talk of the Association since their arrival at Higham Park.

The Howe Bridge side stayed on course for a league and Cross Cup double with an impressive six-wicket win at Bury on Saturday and it was Jimmy Damjanovski and Jamar Griffith who laid the foundation, bowling unchanged and taking five wickets apiece as Bury were bowled out for 126 in the 47th over.

Even Bury’s big-hitting South African Kobus Scholtz, who tops the Association batting averages, struggled in the face of the twin attack as he grafted for 33 of the home side’s total, including a lengthy but ultimately unproductive partnership with Dominic Morris.

Damjanovski then hit 41 for good measure as Atherton reached the total with 16 overs to play with.

Atherton are 14 points clear at the top but they are not having it all their own way with second-placed Flixton and third-placed Standish both keeping the pressure on with big wins.

Alton Beckford took 5-70 and Steve Hammond 3-34 as Flixton bowled out Darcy Lever for 144 – the Gavin brothers, Dominic (25) and Joe (23no) the only home batsmen to show any resistance.

Flixton, not surprisingly, then made short-shrift of the run chase with Luke Perry (72no) and Hammond (54no) steering them to a seven-wicket win.

Standish skipper Sam Heeley has vowed to keep the pressure on the top two and the Wigan side did just that with an outstanding all-round performance in an eight-wicket win at home to Little Hulton.

Azam Shah hit 73 of the visitors’ 158 – Robert Cobley and Ashad Khan taking three wickets apiece with Cobley (3-16) being particularly thrifty.

In reply, Niall Burke hit 46, giving the innings a solid start with fellow opener Nick Smith (23) before Dave Bowden (36no) and Heeley (30no) saw Standish home, strengthening their grip on third place.

Steve Filkins had a special day with the ball, taking 7-65 as Elton consigned Walshaw to a 43-run defeat – a result that saw the Sycamore Road side lose ground in the battle for that third slot.

Elton scored steadily on their way to a total of 191-7 – Steve Ward (36), Mark Goddard (34), Calum Roberts (33no) and John Ashworth (29) all making significant contributions.

Gavin Nicholl followed up his 3-38 with the ball to top score for Walshaw with 59, but once Filkins (7-65) was into his stride, there was only going to be one winner, Elton bowling out the visitors for 149.

Adlington won an intriguing duel with Astley and Tyldesley by two wickets at Huyton Road in a game littered with eye-catching individual performances – not least the bowling of A&T’s teenager Jordan O’Malley.

The graduate from the Gin Pit juniors took 6-44 from 13 overs as the visitors, defending their total of 171, kept the pressure on the home side from start to finish.

Had O’Malley not been restricted by the rule that under-19 bowlers must be rested after seven overs, Adlington might not have escaped from the tricky position of being 60-5.

The youngster had figures of 4-27 from his first spell and it was only when he was forced to take a breather – he returned later to take another two victims – that Adlington got to grips with their task, Tom Foster hitting 52 and Steve Rawlinson 28.

They eventually won with seven overs to spare but A&T must have been kicking themselves for failing to cash in on an opening partnership of 96 between Jimmy Cutt (60) and Michael Brookes (46).

Aaron Booth (29) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as the visitors collapsed in the face of the twin attack of Majid Majeed (6-31) and Ben King (4-46) – their last two wickets falling in the final over to deny them bonus points.

Daisy Hill made the most of a good batting track at St James’s Street as they raced to a six-wicket victory over Blackrod.

The visitors reached 173-9 in their 48 overs, Tush De Zoysa batting for all but 20 minutes of the innings to finish unbeaten on 82.

Skipper Chris Sanderson added 32, but they laboured at the start – only 82 runs coming from the first 30 overs – and it was home bowler Adil Ali who took the honours with 6-48 from 15 overs.

In contrast, Daisy Hill had their foot down from the start and eventually knocked off the runs with 18 overs to spare.

Paul Atherton batted throughout and finished unbeaten on 65 with Imtiaz Cheema not out on 35 at the other end.

In between, the Chilton brothers revelled in the sunshine with Michael hitting 36 from 24 balls and Steven hammering 31 from 23, including three fours and three sixes.