Weekend Review: Greater Manchester Cricket League

The first chance of silverware coming to the Tameside are this season disappeared on Sunday.

The first chance of silverware coming to the Tameside are this season disappeared on Sunday evening as Mottram, who had beaten Wythenshawe in the semi- final earlier in the day failed to defend 171 against Golborne in the Championship T20 competition.  However, they still stand at the head of Division 1, as are Denton St Lawrence and Denton West in Premier 1 and Premier 2 respectively and Ashton Ladysmith in Division 4E.   

Premier 1:

Things are tight at the top of the table with the leading four clubs split by only 5 points.  A surprise defeat for Clifton, at the hands of bottom placed Glodwick, enabled Denton SL to regain top spot after a comfortable win when they visited Flixton. Liam Parkinson, (53) and Mark Dilnutt, (83), led the way with an opening partnership of 125, and consistent contributions down the order left them posting 251-7.  Flixton fell to 34-5 in the first 11 overs in reply, and there was to be no comeback.  The wickets were shared around the DSL attack as the hosts succumbed to 81ao.  Elsewhere there was a great game at Roe Green where the home team chased Prestwich’s 318-5 and won by the narrowest of margins, a single wicket, with three balls to spare. The win took Roe Green into third place, four points adrift of DSL.

Astley & Tyldesley 192ao Greenfield 202-9; Moorside 269-6 Egerton 95ao; Woodbank 69ao Heyside 230-9; Flixton 81ao Denton SL 251-7; Roe Green 319-9 Prestwich 318-5; Clifton 112ao Glodwick 113-6

Premier 2:

Denton West had a mixed weekend, beating Bradshaw at home in a tight game on Saturday, but falling to Walshaw 24 hours later.  They secured the services of Tonge’s Hashan Dumindu as sub-pro for both games and he certainly made an impact. He took 5-29 as West dismissed Bradshaw for 135, and then in the reply made a patient 32 after the loss of a couple of early wickets in the reply.  But, after West had slipped to 99-8 they were indebted to skipper George Hill and Luke Melling who added 37 for the ninth wicket to secure the win. A day later it was a similarly low scoring affair as West slipped to 127ao with 13 overs unused.  They were unable to contain Walshaw despite reducing them to 19-3, and the home team won by three wickets.  West remain top of the table and firm favourites to return to the top Division, and will also be looking forward to the Derek Kay Cup Final this coming Sunday when they face Prestwich in a game to be played at Bradshaw.

Glossop’s hopes of finishing in the promotion spots took a blow as they went down by three wickets at Stand.  Without Harry Dearden’s contribution of 73 their total of 149ao would have been much lower. Stand pro Chris Williams, (previously with a great record at Unsworth and Middleton), had a great day.  He took 6-68 and then guided his team to the win with an unbeaten 76.

Flowery Field visited Walshaw 24 hours before Denton West and ended up with the same total, (127ao), and the same result. It meant they fell short of Walshaw’s 144ao by 17 runs. The wickets were shared around a four man Flowery attack, but in their reply nobody really got going and with Owen Feakes and Mike Finan both falling inside two overs, leaving them at 70-5, there wasn’t sufficient left in the locker to take them over the line.

Bury 129-4 Monton 125ao; Denton West 136-8 Bradshaw 135ao; Stand 152-7 Glossop 149ao; Woodhouses 163-8 Edgworth 164-6; Walshaw 144ao Flowery Field 127ao; Royton 109ao Heywood 110-3: Sunday Walshaw 128-7 Denton West 127ao

Championship:

Stayley fell into the relegation places, as they went down to visitors Shaw in a high scoring game at Oxford Street.  Batting first they fell to 27-3 before a series of good contributions led to a recovery.  Steven Bird top scored with 58, and an unbroken ninth wicket partnership of 67 between Faisal Hussain and Chris Ware helped them to a very competitive 262-8.  When Shaw stumbled to 16-2 Stayley’s hopes would have been high but they were to take only one further wicket, as the visitors cantered home by seven wickets with 10 overs to spare. At the top it is looking like a four horse race for the three promotion spots with Brooksbottom; Shaw; Heaton and Swinton Moorside in the frame.

Friarmere 187ao Winton 188-7; Edenfield 191ao Uppermill 183ao; Whalley Range 206-9 Elton 76ao; Brooksbottom 275-7 Westleigh 210ao; Stayley 262-8 Shaw 263-3; Swinton Moorside 129ao Heaton 248-7

Division 1:

Mottram kept hold of top spot with a very comfortable win at Prestwich 2^nd XI.  Bowling first Mottram ran through the opposition, dismissing them for 119, (Oliver Andrew 5-27).  A couple of quick wickets in the reply didn’t hold Mottram back and with Ryan Fitton, (51), leading the way it was an early finsh as they won by seven wickets inside 24 overs.

Dukinfield topped the table a couple of weeks ago but two consecutive defeats have hampered their title hopes.  In a top of the table game at home against Stretford they did well to limit the visitors to 139ao.  Syd de Silva took 6-26 and put Dukinfield in line for a win and at 68-3 with plenty of time left it looked on the cards, and even more so with 33 required with five wickets left.  However, four wickets fell inside 14 balls and Dukinfield subsided to a 20 run defeat.

There was a run fest at Oakfield as Droylsden gave Milnrow the run around.  Scoring at eight an over they totalled 404-6.  The honours went to skipper Matt Halliday who finished with 133.  He received great support from Sai Kumar, (76), Richard Mooney, (73) and Patrick Muthu, 55).  It was far too many for the struggling visitors who just about managed to break three figures, ending on 108ao, as Alex Jones starred with ball, taking 8-32.

Hadfield have had a decent season and an easy win over visiting Adlington was their eighth of the season, and they now lie just a handful of points out of the promotion places. Cameron Ball took 5-32 as Adlington struggled to 105ao. It took Hadfield only 17 overs to reach a seven wicket win, with Liam Doyle ending with an unbeaten 52.

Denton went down for the eighth time in the last nine games, and without an improvement in form relegation now looks on the cards. They travelled to SW Manchester and managed only 145ao. This proved no problem for the home team who raced to the win, losing only a single wicket.

Hadfield SA 106-3 Adlington 105ao; Thornham 144-9 Austerlands 145-4; Droylsden 404-6 Milnrow 108ao; Oldham 124-8 Golborne 122ao; Dukinfield 119ao Stretford 139ao; Prestwich 2^nd XI 119ao Mottram 124-3; SW Manchester 149-1 Denton 145ao

Division 2A:

Tottington SJ N/A Roe Green 2^nd XI; Daisy Hill 115-4 Stand 2^nd XI 114ao; East Lancs PM N/A Deane & Derby; Elton 2^nd XI 13ao (Saeed 8-3) Radcliffe 17-1; Irlam 92ao Hindley SP 98-3: Sunday Deane & Derby 87-4 Radcliffe 85ao

Division 2B:

Micklehurst’s fine run continued as they made it eight wins on the bounce at Wythenshawe.  A five man Micklehurst bowling line-up contained the opposition well, sharing the wickets as they dismissed the hosts for 156. Jake Caudwell, relishing his return to Richmond Hill after a spell at Greenfield, led the way in their reply, finishing with 59 as they secured a five wicket win.  They would also have been keeping an eye on events at Rayner Lane where struggling Ashton were taking on leaders Saddleworth, and at one point looking like a real upset was on the cards.

Ashton would have been more than satisfied having dismissed Saddleworth for 130, particularly knowing that when batting first this season the visitors had averaged 250. Elliott Blewitt, (5-17), put Ashton in a position where a welcome win was on the cards.  But, as ever this year, the frailty of the batting line-up was exposed as two wickets fell in the first over, and despite some resistance from Brad Phillips and Danny Hawthorne, they were well adrift at the end, losing by 59 runs. 

Wythenshawe 156ao Micklehurst 158-5; Denton SL 252-8 Whalley Range 2^nd XI 50ao; Ashton 71ao Saddleworth 130ao; Glossop 2^nd XI lost to Denton West 2^nd XI (forfeit); Werneth 361-8 Springhead 90ao; Glodwick 2^nd XI 233-6 Littleborough Lakeside 231ao

Division 3E:

Flowery Field 2^nd XI 186ao Werneth 2^nd XI 188-7; Newton Heath 191-8 Oldham 2^nd XI 196-5; Friends United P-P Hadfield SA 2^nd XI; Mottram 2^nd XI 97ao Moorside 2^nd XI 294-8; Greenfield 2^nd XI 138ao Friarmere 2^nd XI 396-9; Heywood 2^nd XI 140-7 Dukinfield 2^nd XI 139ao

Division 4E:

With Woodhouses 2^nd XI not in action, for the third time in the last four weeks, Ashton Ladysmith went to the top with a narrow win at Denton 2^nd XI, who reached 195-8, (Wahajat Khan 69*).  When Ladysmith fell to 130-7 a home win looked likely, but an eighth wicket partnership of 64 betwwen Chris Collings and Connor Kemp took them in sight of the win.

Springhead 2^nd XI 253-7 Stayley 2^nd XI 169ao; Austerlands 2^nd XI N/A Woodhouses 2^nd XI; Saddleworth 2^nd XI 294-8 Blackley 238ao; Failsworth Macedonia 277-6 Droylsden 2^nd XI 273ao; Denton 2^nd XI 195-8 Ashton Ladysmith 196-8

T20 Finals Days

Premier Cup: Semi-finals: Clifton 240-3 Moorside136-8; Heyside 156-2 Egerton 151-6: Final Clifton 187-6 Heyside 164-8

Championship Cup: Semi-finals: Golborne 121-3 Elton 116-9; Mottram 187-4 Wythenshawe 87ao: Final Golborne 175-6 Mottram 171-7

***

This weeks fixtures:

Premier 1: Heyside v Moorside; Egerton v Astley & Tyldesley; Greenfield v Clifton; Glodwick v Roe Green; Prestwich v Flixton; Denton SL v Woodbank

Premier 2: Glossop v Denton West; Bradshaw v Bury; Monton v Royton; Heywood v Walshaw; Flowery Field v Woodhouses; Edgworth v Stand; Sunday Flowery Field v Monton

Championship: Elton v Edenfield; Uppermill v Friarmere; Winton v Swinton Moorside; Heaton v Stayley; Shaw v Brooksbottom; Westleigh v Whalley Range

Division 1: Golborne v SW Manchester; Austerlands v Dukinfield; Milnrow v Prestwich 2^nd XI; Mottram v Droylsden; Denton v Oldham; Stretford v Hadfield SA; Adlington v Thornham

Division 2A: Deane & Derby v Daisy Hill; Stand 2^nd XI v Tottington SJ; Roe Green 2^nd XI v Irlam; Hindley SP v Worsley; Radcliffe v East Lancs PM

Division 2B: Saddleworth v Denton SL 2^nd XI; Whalley Range 2^nd XI v Wythenshawe; Micklehurst v Glodwick 2^nd XI; Littleborough Lakeside v Werneth; Springhead v Glossop 2^nd XI; Denton West 2^nd XI v Ashton

Division 3E: Hadfield SA 2^nd XI v Newton Heath; Oldham 2^nd XI v Flowery Field 2^nd XI; Werneth 2^nd XI v Heywood 2^nd XI; Dukinfield 2^nd XI v Greenfield 2^nd XI; Friarmere 2^nd XI v Mottram 2^nd XI; Moorside 2^nd XI v Friends United

Division 4E: Ashton 2^nd XI v Springhead 2^nd XI; Stayley 2^nd XI v Denton 2^nd XI; Droylsden 2^nd XI v Ashton Ladymsmith; Failsworth Macedonia v Austerlands 2^nd XI

Sunday

Derek Kay Cup Final: Prestwich v Denton West (at Bradshaw)