WESTHOUGHTON will play Farnworth Social Circle in the final of the Hamer Cup after they both emerged victorious from Sunday’s semi-finals.

The Howfeners beat holders Walkden to record their second final appearance in three years.

Rob Houghton (24) and fellow opener Danny Naylor (77) impressed with the bat, before professional Qaiser Abbas hit 83 and Mark Atherton added 49 to post a score of 253-6.

In the second innings Tayler Heyes hit 45 and number three batsman Asif Zakir fell nine runs short of a century.

Ibrar Latif chipped in with 29 but Kieran Edwards (4-33) and Oliver Newby (3-62) took a flurry of late wickets to dismiss Walkden for 225.

Westhoughton captain Houghton is desperate to be successful in the competition this year, especially given the defeat suffered to Greenmount in 2015.

“We are delighted to be in the final,” he said. “It’s the most important cup you can win and it would be massive to win it and right the wrongs of two years ago.

“It is one of those competitions I saw us win growing up. We won at Bradshaw (against Greenmount) in 2004 and lost against Eagley in 2001.

“Not many cricketers get the chance to play in this final. I was fortunate to play in it two years ago. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to win it this year.

“It was a really good game against Walkden. We won the toss and batted first. Me and Danny put 70 on for the first wicket and then Qaiser and Mark Atherton put on about 90, so it was a good batting performance.

“We thought 250 would have been enough if we bowled well but they kept going and took it to the end. They had to go for it right at the end and Kieran Edwards took four wickets pretty quickly.”

Meanwhile, last year’s runners-up Farnworth Social Circle won at Horwich to reach back-to-back finals.

Ryan Ayres scored 67 not out and Andrew Lane chipped in with 25 as the Piggott Park outfit posted 157-8 after the first innings. Horwich struggled in their reply as they found themselves on 53-5 halfway through.

Seventh-placed batsman Ryan Chaisty inspired a late rally scoring 40 not out but as the overs ran out the hosts were stumped on 139-9. Jay Chhana did the most damage with the ball, taking 3-35.

Results

Horwich 129-9, Farnworth Social Circle 157-8. Farnworth Social Circle won by 29 runs.

Westhoughton 253-6, Walkden 225. Westhoughton won by 28 runs.