FLIXTON stretched their lead at the top of the Bolton Association table after they won at Astley & Tyldesley and Bury suffered a surprise home defeat at the hands of Edgworth.

Just one point separated the two frontrunners going into Saturday’s fixtures, but Flixton’s comfortable six-wicket triumph changed that.

A&T batted first at Gin Pit and posted 159-7 with skipper Jim Cutt (62) and Paul Bennett (61) leading the scoring charts.

Australian Steve Hammond returned superb figures of 4-12 for the table toppers.

Flixton’s response was swift as they took just 24 overs to reach 162-4.

Alton Beckford top scored with 57 not out and he was ably supported by Luke Perry (35).

Bury lost on home soil by 29 runs, ending on a modest 113 all out chasing a target of 143.

Edgworth posted 142-9 thanks to Liam Watkinson’s knock of 44 with Bury professional Nekoli Parris the pick of the bowlers taking 3-48.

The visitors had been 10-2 but solid partnerships from Watkinson with George Holliday and then skipper Guy Haynes pushed the total up.

Bury did not perform well with the bat, with Parris’s 29 the only real score of note as Watkinson took 3-31 and Gareth Williams weighed in with 4-18.

Alistair Murray’s late flurry added some respectability to the total but it was not enough to help the title chasers avoid a damaging defeat.

There was also a shock at the other end of the table as Little Hulton recorded just their second victory of the season, winning by five wickets at Blackrod to move off the bottom and be replaced by Astley & Tyldesley.

The hosts posted 110-9 thanks to Chris Sanderson (29) and Chamila Wijesinghe (28), who helped them recover from 27-4.

Shaukat Patel was the pick of the Little Hulton bowling with 2-12 while pro Ansar Javed and skipper Darren Mullineux also took two victims.

Javed also starred with the bat in the reply with 34, but he was outdone in the scoring stakes by Muhammed Hanif’s unbeaten 41 as the visitors reached 116-5.

Elton leapfrogged Bury into second place in the table after enjoying a routine eight-wicket victory at Adlington.

The hosts posted 147-9 thanks to Stuart Plowes (45) and Tom Foster (22) though their score was restricted by measured bowling from professional Chris Read (3-68) and Adam Stansfield (3-16).

Elton reached 152-2 in a reply that secured victory with 12 overs to spare.

David Murray top scored with 59no while Alistair Lowes was also unbeaten on 46 and Read struck 31.

Fourth-placed Swinton Moorside endured a disastrous day when they welcomed Darcy Lever to Deansway.

Chasing Darcy’s big score of 244-4, the hosts were skittled out for just 79, though they were without several regular players.

Captain Nick Fawcett (100) hit a century and Chris Holt chipped in with 57no as Darcy set a daunting target.

But Swinton could not get close thanks to Holt’s 4-28 and Dominic Gavin’s figures of 6-33 that sealed a 165-run win.

Elsewhere, Atherton picked up an eight-wicket triumph at home to Worsley.

The visitors recovered from 55-7 to score 105 with Simon Harrison’s 26 the top score and David Purcell (23) chipping in. Matthew Gallagher was the pick of the Atherton bowling attack with 2-11 but Jamar Griffith, Ian Nuttall and Rason Primus also took wickets.

Atherton reached 106-2 in reply with Griffith (46no) and Gallagher (33no) the top scorers. Himesh Silva (2-59) took both the wickets.

Lostock won a thrilling encounter at home to Walshaw by just two runs in the final over.

Nick Jeffs scored 62 as the hosts posted 173, Danny Hornby’s 6-41 the best figures for Walshaw.

The visitors recovered from 86-5 but fell just short on 171 after a partnership of 67 from Darron Foy (40) and Ben Hilder had taken them to 153-6. David Flanagan took 4-29 for Lostock.

Winton beat Golborne by 133 runs thanks to half centuries from Lewis Johnston (63), Justin Kramersh (50) and Brett Cox (51no). They posted 251 despite good bowling by Lewis Clarke (4-35) and Junaid Khan (3-55).

Golborne were bowled out for just 118 with wickets for skipper Mike Seenan (4-23) and Will Driver (3-21).

At Standish, captain Sam Heeley hit an impressive 88 and Dave Bowden scored 48 as the hosts posted 186-5 against Daisy Hill with Amjad Khan (4-61) the pick of the visiting bowlers.

Mark Atherton top scored with 80 for Daisy in reply but they could only reach 135, due to some fine bowling from Chris Gunn who took 6-34 from just 6.4 overs to secure a 51-run triumph.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

Adlington 147-9, Elton 152-2. Elton won by 8 wkts.

Astley & Tyldesley 159-7, Flixton 162-4. Flixton won by 6 wkts.

Atherton 106-2, Worsley 105. Atherton won by 8 wkts.

Blackrod 110-9, Little Hulton 116-5. Little Hulton won by 5 wkts.

Bury 113, Edgworth 142-9. Edgworth won by 29 runs.

Lostock 173, Walshaw 171. Lostock won by 2 runs.

Standish 186-5, Daisy Hill 135. Standish won by 51 runs.

Swinton Moorside 79, Darcy Lever 244-4. Darcy Lever won by 165 runs.

Winton 251, Golborne 118. Winton won by 133 runs.