WALKDEN sent out a huge message in the title race when they humbled reigning champions Farnworth at the Oval.

Alex Roberts scored an unbeaten 112 and shared an opening stand of 152 with Tayler-Jay Heyes (68) in the latter’s first league game after rejoining the club from Horwich.

Walkden posted 252 before getting Farnworth all out for 127 in just 32.3 overs.

Only Imran Mirza provided an serious resistance with 51, while Walkden’s overseas amateur Nick Stobart took 6-55 off 11 overs.

With Farnworth Social Circle also losing, Walkden’s eight wins out of nine games in the league has seen them open up a 17-point gap over fourth place.

With six points for a win, that equates to almost three wins, and with only nine games to go and Walkden in such outstanding form, it already looks like it will take something special for anyone but second and third-placed Horwich and Kearsley to catch them.

Those two teams are both seven points behind Walkden with seven wins from nine each.

Horwich repeated their win at Social Circle in the Hamer Cup six days earlier, this time by two wickets after getting their Piggott Park hosts out for 105 in 27.2 overs, Liam Bones taking 5-35.

Kearsley won by 58 runs at home to bottom club Atherton after posting 194, captain Cameron Murray scoring 60 and Atherton’s Muhammad Adeel Baig taking 5-48 before Kearsley’s Dave Mather bowled throughout the 34.2 overs it took to get Atherton out, taking 7-51.

Daisy Hill pulled off the surprise result of the season when they beat Bradshaw on their own ground.

The Rigbys men were all out for 221 before pro Baber Hussain Agha scored 89 as Daisy chased down the target with one wicket and one over to go.

The victory lifts them to just four points behind third-bottom Lostock who lost by six wickets at Westhoughton.

The bottom two will go down and Daisy’s victory and Lostock’s defeat has made the relegation battle interesting with Bradshaw also under threat of being dragged into it as they sit just six points above Lostock.

It is all change at the top of the Association division with Little Lever knocking Astley Bridge off the summit after beating them, and Adlington slipping from second to fourth with their second defeat in a row.

The Victory Road clash lived up to its showdown billing as Bridge posted 228-9 which Little Lever overhauled with one wicket remaining.

Lever are four points clear of Bridge with Golborne third, one point behind after beating second-bottom Heaton at home by 57 runs after posting 222.

Adlington are one point behind Golborne after losing by four wickets at Darcy Lever.

The visitors posted 180 before Hacken Lane captain Jimmy Walsh-Hill scored an unbeaten 58 to steer his side to victory with 1.5 overs remaining.

Five points behind Adlington in fifth come Tonge who could yet be dark horses for promotion.

They beat bottom club Eagley by eight wickets at Castle Hill after the visitors posted 156 – pro Tilaksha Malshan taking 5-42 off 17 overs then scoring 42 not out after opener Sam Hardman had scored 93.

At the halfway point of the season there is a nine-point gap between Tonge in fifth and sixth-placed Blackrod who beat Little Hulton by six wickets.

Tajamul Khan scored 73 in Little Hulton’s 192 all out, the hosts’ Matthew Readey and Thushendra De Zoysa both taking four wickets.

Blackrod’s numbers two, three and four – Eshan Ratnaweera, De Zoysa and Jack Southworth – all impressed with the bat with 61, 54 and 54, respectively.

Egerton and Edgworth are fifth and seventh, respectively, in the Greater Manchester League Premier Division after victories over Clifton and Roe Green.

Egerton won by 29 runs at home with pro Pramod Maduwantha scoring 69 of their 181, while Edgworth won by 36 runs away – Summit Panda scoring 116 and pro Clyde Fortuin 90 of their 266-6 before overseas amateur Philip Thompson took 5-71 off 11 overs.

In Division One A, Astley and Tyldesley are third bottom after losing by 160 runs at home to Flowery Field who posted 259-7.