2ND XI Review: THE LOCALISED rain which hit Bolton washed out the fixtures at Atherton and Spring View against A & T and Walshaw respectively.

This was a blow to Atherton as winners Little Hulton, Clifton and Darcy Lever leap-frogged over them to close the gap on non-playing Elton.

Clifton had an easy seven wicket win over Golborne, who managed 157 all out. Mark Eddleston with 53 kept D Rawlinson (3-17) and Stephen Thorpe (4-54) at bay but received insufficient support from the rest. Eric Brabin (75) and David Garner (34) took Clifton to victory inside 40 overs.

Darcy Lever maintain touch with the leaders posting 210 against the luckless Edgworth. Goddard and Stockton both reached 51 and John Mather took four (4-59) of the seven wickets to fall.

Despite 56 from captain Denver Thornton and 21 from Harrison the remainder offered little and Edgworth were all out for 131. Max Biamak (3-42) and Tommy Elliott (3-22) were the most successful bowlers and there were two wickets each for Tim Monks and Goddard. Little Hulton beat Daisy Hill to remain in second place but unfortunately details of this match are not available.

Adlington still harbour thoughts of a championship chase and reinforced this with a four wicket win over local rivals Blackrod. Andy Hartley with 85 not out boosted the Blackrod total to 189-9. Graham Walsh adding 28. John Howells (3-53), Neil Woosey (3-25) and Keith Wardle (3-43) were all showing better figures until Hartley's late demolition act batting at number seven. Chris Jones (53) and Nick Boden with a maiden half-century (56) ensured Adlington got off to a fine start and Steven Rawlinson with 38 finished the job for Adlington.

Lostock totalled 172 batting first against Standish and then dismissed the opposition for 118. Peter Syddall and Stephen Kaye both scored 33 and Martin Ashfield added 37, but James Bazeley, mopped up the tail with 5-27. Mike Raynor (5-38) produced a similar feat for Lostock after David Hodgkinson (27) and Colin Tomlinson (36) had given Standish a fine start.