WESTHOUGHTON captain Rob Houghton says it was an unbelievable feeling to lift the Hamer Cup after beating Farnworth Social Circle in the final.

The Howfeners recovered from their 2015 heartbreak, when they lost to Greenmount in the final, to lift the trophy for the first time in 13 years.

Atherton’s Higham Park played host to the showcase final which was forced to be played over two days because of rain.

On Sunday, Westhoughton opened the batting after winning the toss and ran up a strong total of 258-7.

Danny Naylor produced an incredible knock of 82 while professional Qaiser Abbas fell 10 runs short of his century.

However, rain fell at the interval and the two sides had to wait 24 hours before they could resume battle.

When the Piggott Park outfit began the chase on Monday overseas amateur Jake Scicluna spearheaded the reply scoring 70 and Andrew Lane added 55.

But it was not to be and Social Circle ended 30 runs short of the target and final losers for the second year running.

Abbas took two wickets when he turned his hand to the ball in the second innings, while Jordan Higham and Matthew Morris’s tight bowling ensured runs were not given away cheaply.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Houghton said following the win.

“It was a brilliant effort from all the lads.

“We were without our opening bowler, Oliver Newby, and Kieran Edwards broke down inside the second over, so the rest of the lads deserve great credit.

“Jordan Higham and Matthew Morris deserve a special mention because they stood up and bowled magnificently.

“We knew it suited us to bat first so when we won the toss there was no doubt what we would do.

“We managed to get a really good total on the board and Dan Naylor and Qaiser Abbas were superb.

“It was hard work going back on Monday. We knew we had a decent score on the board so we just had to calm ourselves down.

“We bowled and fielded well all round. It would have been nicer to have finished it on Sunday but the weather didn’t permit it.”

Houghton also reserved a special mention for Social Circle who lost to Walkden in last year’s final.

“Farnworth Social Circle deserve great credit too,” Houghton added. “They really pushed it and on any other day they would have chased that target down.

“It makes it a bit better that we were able to win it because of the defeat. There were eight of us in the team that played in the final in 2015.

“The trophy will be sat in the clubhouse now for people to look at.

“The win will give us an extra kick in the title push but the league is still Farnworth’s to lose.”

Result

Westhoughton 258-7, Farnworth Social Circle 228-7. Westhoughton won by 30 runs.