AFTER last weekend’s games Horwich RMI and Bradshaw continue to set the pace at the top of the Bolton League 2nd XI competition with both winning their games relatively comfortably.

Horwich travelled to Standish and came away with a comfortable eight-wicket win. The Green Lane side batted first and were always struggling against the bowling of Adam Knowles (4-36) and Jack Berry (3-23), and but for a battling 49 from Mike Hadfield could have fared even worse than their 84 all out. Joe Settle’s unbeaten 26 then set RMI up for their win with 29 overs to spare.

Adlington entertained Bradshaw who came away with a 50-run win. Batting first Bradshaw made 178 with Nick Palmer (42), Jordan Evans (35) and George Booth (32) the main contributors as Zak Green took 3-45. Daryl Hitchen with 36 and a generous 31 extras saw Adlington reach 122 in reply with Ian Ross (3-22) the pick of the bowlers.

Near neighbours Westhoughton and Daisy Hill lie third and fourth, respectively, with the champions beating Darcy Lever and Daisy winning at Kearsley.

Kearsley batted first and found it hard going against the bowling of Chris Charters (5-42) and Suryakant Varsani (4-21) as R Pushparajah (39) and Jack Pellowe (30) made the bulk of their 120.

Ste Kenny (60 not out) and Avnish Varsani (39no) then took Daisy to an eight-wicket win.

Blackrod had a good weekend as they won two low scoring games to move up the table.

Saturday saw them beat Astley Bridge by 15 runs despite only posting 76 themselves.

Dave Swindlehurst and Will Powell each made 15 but it was 26 extras that would prove crucial in the end.

Ady Cooper (30) battled in vain in reply with little support as Powell, Matthew Batey and Tony Tipping each took three wickets and Bridge managed just 61.

Tipping then fared even better on Sunday as his 8-11 destroyed Lostock’s batting and dismissed them for just 64 with Ryan Crombie’s 21 the only real resistance.

Despite Tom Mills taking 3-11 Blackrod had little trouble ensuring a six-wicket win. Lostock had fared little better the day before as they had collapsed again against Little Hulton as Neil Jarvis’ 5-18 helped dismiss them for just 73.

Despite a good fightback led by Tom Mills 3-21 Little Hulton held their nerve for a three-wicket win.

Another low scoring game at Farnworth saw the home side beat Little Lever by seven wickets. Despite 36 from Aaron Rushton, Little Lever were always struggling against a super spell of 7-35 from Jamie Bohannon and made just 85. Martin Axford with an unbeaten 51 then saw his side home with 16 overs to spare.

Atherton travelled to Simpsons Fields and came away with a 37-run victory over Golborne. Chasing a target of 128, Golborne never really threatened to win despite five of their men reaching double figures.

Brad Eckersley’s 3-8 was the pick of the bowling. Atherton’s 127 was thanks in the main to 27 from Ellis Mort and 31 extras with Dave Kidd’s 3-29 the pick of the bowling.

Heaton and Farnworth Social Circle had a high scoring game which saw Circle the winners by six wickets. Heaton batted first and, with Ryan Tierney making 43 and Adam Halton, Nigel Duxbury and Luca Williams-Denton all scoring over 30, posted a total of 181-7 as Simon Harrison took 3-41. Robin Isted then took 3-31 but Andrew Wareing saw his side home with a fine 88.

Walkden made the day’s highest score as they rattled up 239-7 against Tonge. Andrew Salami (56no) and Nigel Partington (45) led the way for Walkden in a consistent batting display.

Billy Coleman with 4-37 then ensured that Tonge’s reply never really got going despite Will Snowden making an unbeaten 26 and a generous helping of 32 extras and they were eventually all out for 109 in reply.