STONECLOUGH Ladies clinched the Blackburn Shield at Little Lever Cricket club on Friday when they beat Kearsley Cricket Club 129-79.

Stoneclough started as favourites because of the relative league positions and made an excellent start by dismissing three Kearsley batters on the first round and limiting them to just nine runs.

Four more batters went next time round, though Jenny Parkinson scored a three followed by a rounder before being caught out. The remaining two batters were immediately dismissed and Kearsley finished with a total of 24 runs.

Stoneclough opened with a couple of singles and a two but lost the next three batters without score, two at first base and one caught out.

By the end of the fifth round they were reduced to just two batters and Kearsley’s spirits were raised, but Gemma Marshall and Stevie Robinson proved hard to dismiss.

Robinson scored the only rounder of the innings on her way to 24 and last batter Marshall was denned for 20, five of which were scored after recording a no score, taking the Stoneclough total to 76.

Kearsley had a much better second innings although they lost six batters in the first three rounds and after five rounds they were down to Annette Atkins and Dawn Monks who rose to the occasion, scoring 16 and 19 respectively.

Their second innings total of 55 took Kearsley to 79 to avoid an innings defeat, but Stoneclough needed just four for victory.

The first three Stoneclough batters scored one, three and one to secure success but, not wishing to disappoint the sizeable crowd, they played out the full innings in which Natasha Bradley, Lindsey Greenhalgh and Marshall each scored a rounder.

Bradley (11) and Marshall (13) reached double figures on the way to a second innings 53 to win the trophy.

Darcy Lever Cricket Club is the venue for the Dixon Shield final on Friday when Section D side EIS Maidens meet Wallys Eleven who are confirmed champions of that section but who surprisingly lost last week to bottom team Accross Ladies who had previously only won once.

The semi-finals of the Handicap competitions were played on Sunday and in the Festival Trophy games, Darcy Lever C&SC A beat The New Inn and Davies XI beat Hillbilys.

In the Dorothy Clarke, Blades Barbers overcame a 120-run handicap and 20-minute time limit to beat Mad Hatters and will play Darcy Lever C&SC D in the final on Sunday, September 6.

The New Inn had the same advantage as in the previous round but lost by an innings on Sunday and Darcy D didn’t need their 20-run start to beat The Royal B comfortably 217-137 despite The Royal being on track to win the section above them.

With only two weeks left until the end of the league fixtures, only five of the 15 sections have confirmed champions and runners-up are known only in Section D, which has been reduced to eight teams following the withdrawal of Bouncy Castles NW just two weeks from the end on the season, and Section E.

If the top two places are not settled after the last league matches, play-off games will take place during the week starting Tuesday, September 1.