SECOND XI CRICKET: Farnworth Social Circle and Astley Bridge continue to set pace

Astley Bridge came out on top in a hard-fought game with Horwich RMI chasing down a target of 202 with three wickets to spare.

Hero of the day was Ady Cooper, who was out agonisingly for 99 as he led the chase with Aasif Afinwala providing good support on 35 as Adam Knowles took 3-24.

Horwich’s 201-5 had earlier been built around a fine 72 from Dean Morris who got good support from the Little brothers, Josh who made 40 and Sam 26.

Despite Jamie Bohannon making 29 and Michael Daley 28, Social found themselves in some trouble on 84-5 as Jamie Legg picked up three wickets, but then Stephen French (76) and Andrew Brookes (48 not out) helped them reach 245-7 in a good recovery.

Bradshaw never really got going in reply despite 35 from Cian Dickinson and Nick Palmer’s 26, and they were bowled out for 142 as Simon Harrison and Christian Walsh each took four wickets.

Darcy Lever sit third after a six-wicket success over Kearsley as they chased down 149 for their win.

Muhammed Hussain, with 48, Nav Khan (28) and Ifikar Ali (25no) saw them home in relative comfort.

Darcy’s batsmen had found the bowling of Bilal Khan (4-25) and Toseef Hanif (3-33) difficult to handle, despite Fernley Davies making 24, Stephen Pellowe 29no and Joe Capstick 27 and they were bowled out for 148.

Westhoughton enjoyed the biggest and quickest win of the day as they swept aside Heaton by 10 wickets.

Heaton had simply no answer to the bowling of Simon Ashcroft, who took 4-13, and Ryley Walton (4-11) and collapsed to a meagre 39 all out.

A rapid 33 from Mike King saw Westhoughton home in less than four overs.

The final game in the top division saw Farnworth beat Little Hulton by a comfortable 97 runs, despite at one stage being 86-7.

Aiden Constantine had made 29, but it was the efforts of Umer Ishaq, who made 52, and David Rushton (21) that helped them post 174 in the end as Billy Schofield took 3-68.

It then became the Rushton show as David finished off a good day with 3-17 and Joe took 5-12 to bowl out Little Hulton for just 77, despite Umar Rathore making a defiant 46.

Eagley travelled to Chew Moor and came away with a four-wicket win against fellow pacesetters Lostock.

The home side batted first and were indebted to a fine unbeaten 47 from Mark Cregan as they struggled to post 143, with Mike Craig the tormentor in chief, taking 5-28.

Craig also made a useful impact with the bat as he top scored on 44 to guide his side home. Daniel Burke (26) and Tom Mitchell (34no) also chipped in as Darren Parr took 3-36.

Mike Leeming’s innings of 82, together with 42 from Adam Irish, helped Daisy Hill to a total of 180-7 against Little Lever despite the efforts of Jon Pendlebury, who took 4-39, on their way to a hard-fought 12-run win and second place in the table.

Bob Waller led the chase with 52, together with 32 from Tuseef Ahmed, but a fine spell of 5-26 from Nathan Blair and 3-57 from Joe Leeming cut them short on 168 all out.

Atherton moved up to fourth after a seven-wicket win against Adlington, chasing down 147 with a few overs to spare.

Liam Kane (38) and Andrew Chamberlain (40) had helped Adlington to a decent start as they reached 101-2, only for the introduction of Paul Woodend to trigger a collapse to 146 all out.

He took 5-16 and got good support from Matt Lilley, who took 4-32. Ellis Mort, with an unbeaten 40, and 32 from Sam Roberts then saw Atherton home.

Tonge gained their first win of the season by virtue of a 94-run victory over Golborne.

Despite Brett Houghton taking 3-23, Tonge built up a total of 177 thanks to good efforts from Hasib Patel (52), Mohshin Patel (28) and Wayne Cook, who made 25.

Hasib then finished off a good personal performance, taking 6-19 to help bowl Golborne out for just 83 in reply with only Joe Peacock (22) and Jordan Close (25) providing much resistance.

Walkden’s total of 141 against Blackrod was down almost entirely to a splendid 75 by Syed Aslam as only two other players reached double figures as they slumped from 104-2 to 141 all out.

Tony Tipping was the main architect of the collapse, picking up 5-26.

The Blackrod reply followed a similar pattern with Paul Gregory making 42, but there was no real support elsewhere as Sean Morris did the damage with 4-8 to set up a 37-run win.

Results

Astley Bridge 202-7 (A Cooper 99no) Horwich 201-5 (J Little 40, D Morris 72), Astley Bridge won by 3 wkts.

Darcy Lever 149-4 (B Khan 4-25, M Hussain 48) Kearsley 148, Darcy Lever won by 6 wkts.

Farnworth SC 245-7 (S French 76, A Brooks 48, S Harrison 4-35, C Walsh 4-42) Bradshaw 142, Farnworth SC won by 103 runs.

Little Hulton 77 (U Rathore 46) Farnworth 174 (U Ishaq 52, J Rushton 5-12), Farnworth won by 97 runs.

Westhoughton 43-0 (E Mort 40no, S Ashcroft 4-13, R Walton 4-11) Heaton 39, Westhoughton won by 10 wkts.

Atherton 148-3 (M Lilley 4-32, P Woodend 5-16) Adlington 146 (A Chamberlain 40), Atherton won by 7 wkts.

Little Lever 168 (B Waller 52, J Pendlebury 4-39) Daisy Hill 180-7 (M Leeming 82, A Irish 42, N Blair 5-26), Daisy Hill won by 12 runs.

Lostock 143 (M Cregan 47no, S Morris 4-8) Eagley 145-6 (M Craig 44, 5-28), Eagley won by 4 wkts.

Tonge 177 (H Patel 52, 6-19) Golborne 83, Tonge won by 94 runs.

Walkden 141 (S Aslam 75) Blackrod 104 (P Gregory 42, T Tipping 5-26), Walkden won by 37 runs.

Tables

Second XI Premiership

2nd Premiership

P W L T A Pts BP Pts

Farnworth SC 3 3 0 0 328 3 21

Astley Bridge 3 3 0 0 354 2 20

Darcy Lever 3 2 0 0 275 1 15

Westhoughton 3 2 1 0 202 2 14

Bradshaw 3 2 1 0 486 0 12

Horwich RMI 3 1 1 0 303 1 9

Farnworth 3 1 2 0 283 1 7

Kearsley 3 0 3 0 629 1 1

Little Hulton 3 0 3 0 444 1 1

Heaton 3 0 3 0 420 0 0

Second XI Association

Eagley CC 3 3 0 0 339 2 20

Daisy Hill 3 3 0 0 439 1 19

Lostock 3 2 1 0 310 2 14

Atherton 3 2 1 0 452 0 12

Golborne 3 1 2 0 317 1 8

Walkden 3 1 2 0 475 2 8

Tonge 3 1 2 0 374 1 7

Blackrod 3 1 2 0 259 0 6