WALKDEN beat Bolton League leaders Farnworth Social Circle to clinch their 10th Hamer Cup after a thrilling final at Astley Bridge.

The Piggott Park outfit, searching for their first cup win since 1988, opened the batting with skipper Matt Parkinson and David Tonge, but their afternoon got off to a poor start as Parkinson was bowled for a duck in the first over by the terrific Tahir Maqsood.

Tonge scored 21 before he was also bowled by Maqsood, who accounted for the top three batsmen, including Aussie Jake Scicluna and he ended the innings with five wickets to his name for only 47 runs.

Social Circle were struggling with the bat, but a late rally from Richard Hamblett (21) and Chris Barrow (22) boosted their score to 95 before being bowled out.

Syed Shah finished with 2-8 while Taylor Hayes took 2-21 and captain Jonathan Fowler's five overs saw him take 1-16.

In Walkden's reply they suffered an early disappointment as the league's highest run scorer, Aiden Markram, was dismissed for 12 runs and his opening partner Taylor Hayes went for seven – both to the bowling of the ever reliable Dave Mather (2-44).

Barrow took two wickets in five overs, but neither bowler could dismiss Hasnain Abbas who ended the final unbeaten on 40.

Despite run-outs leading to the departures of Shah and Aman Arora, Abbas led his side to a four-wicket victory and returned the Hamer Cup to The Oval after a six-year absence.