LITTLE Hulton got their campaign in the Bolton League 2nd XI Stafford Trophy off to an emphatic start as they rattled up an impressive 342-4 against a below-strength Little Lever last Saturday.

Brian Kelly was the star of the show as he hit a remarkable unbeaten 150 with great support coming from Roger Kumah (72), Craig Cooke (43) and Neil Jarvis (30).

Despite Steve O’Shaughnessy making 38 and Rory Holmes 30, Little Lever could only muster 125 in reply with both Ian Lee and John Wallwork taking three wickets.

At the other end of the run-scoring scale Walkden were shot out for just 38 at Eagley who had little difficulty securing a rapid 10-wicket win.

Walkden’s batsmen had no answer to the bowling of Michael Craig (5-10) and Tom Mitchell (5-20), and then Daniel Coulson hit a rapid unbeaten 30 to ensure the win.

Farnworth resoundingly beat Kearsley by 160 runs at Bridgeman Park. Michael Daley provided the backbone of Farnworth’s total of 213-7 with a fine 72 and got good support from Lee Bridge (28), Matthew Hicks (21) and Andrew Patterson (25) as Jack Scott collected 3-27.

Kearsley’s reply never got going as Shujat Ali, Sam Bradley and Aiden Constantine grabbed three wickets each to bowl them out for just 53.

There was a more even contest at Adlington where the home side eventually got home by a margin of six wickets.

Chasing a target of 136, the home side were led home by Andrew Chamberlain (32), Elliot Lee (24) and Liam Kane (23) despite Jack Smith taking 3-17. Smith was also prominent with the bat earlier, making 30 of Tonge’s total of 135-9.

Nigel Partington led the way for Tonge with a fine 59 as Elliot and George Lee each grabbed three wickets.

Lostock made the short trip to Westhoughton and came away with a fine 25-run win.

Batting first they made a healthy looking 207-8 led by Danny Cockton who top scored with 50, with Tom Gregory, Luqi Issa and Will Berry all making useful contributions.

T J Pindoria was the leading bowler for the home side taking 4-45.

Westhpoughton’s reply was led by Jamie McAndrew (37) and Oliver Dixon (36 not out) but wickets fell regularly and they were left 25 short on 172 all out as Andy Johnson picked up 3-44.

There was another good game at St James Street where Golborne got the better of Daisy Hill by a margin of four wickets.

Chasing a target of 166, they got home with just two overs to spare thanks in the main to an unbeaten 51 by Connor Naughton and 29 from James Foster as they reached 171-6.

Daisy Hill’s total of 165 was built around a fine 67 from Mayank Patel and 25 from Joe Leeming as Jack Kidman took 4-33 and Tom Kelly 3-23.

Captain Nick Palmer led from the front for Bradshaw as he made 83 in their total of 191-7 despite a good spell from Joshua Roscoe which was rewarded with 4-43.

Zac Wilson led the reply with 41 but with Ian Ross taking 4-19 Farnworth Social Circle slipped to 120 all out.

There was another low-scoring game at Higham Park where Astley Bridge defeated Atherton by five wickets.

The home side batted first and despite Ellis Mort making 32 and Paul Woodend 20 tumbled to just 90 all out with Ramesh Patel taking 4-19, Paris Patel 3-33 and Luke Wainman 3-21.

Ian Nuttall made sure Bridge did not have things all their own way with 3-17 but an unbeaten 52 from Ady Cooper and 20 from Robert Hitchen ensured the away win.

Champions Horwich RMI suffered defeat to Heaton at the Recreation Ground by two wickets.

Andy Taylor’s excellent spell of 6-24 had the visitors in some trouble but Ryan Tierney’s 36 and Nigel Duxbury 29 saw them to 154-8 and victory. RMI had earlier posted 152-6 with Owen Moss’ 36 the highest of five double-figure contributions as Robin Isted grabbed 4-35.

The final game of the day saw Darcy Lever visit Vicarage Road and rattle up an impressive 288-6 against their hosts Blackrod, a score that proved to be 109 too many for the home side.

A tremendous stand of 175 between Wayne Hopkinson (91) and Bilal Khan (112) laid the foundation of the Darcy Lever innings as Daniel Cooke and Will Powell each took two wickets.

As with their visitors the bulk of Blackrod’s reply of 179-7 came in one partnership with Cooke completing a good all-round game by making 46 in a stand of 94 with Tom Mather who went on to make 63.

Only Chris Readey of the remaining batsmen made any other impact as Shakeel Ahmed took 3-13.