The season reached the halfway point on Saturday and in terms of silverware it is Flowery Field, Droylsden and Ashton who are leading the way locally.
Each of them won again, (and were joined by Mottram, Dukinfield and Ashton Ladysmith).
Highlight of the day locally was a record-breaking knock at Rayner Lane by Ashton pro Ruman Ahmed who reached 200* - the highest innings ever by an Ashton player.
Premier:
There was an epic finish to the game at second placed Woodbank who were chasing leaders Prestwich’s 155ao. With the scores level Woodbank promptly lost three wickets and it was down to the last pair to scramble the winning run. They managed it and the two teams are now locked at 46 points at the top, with Prestwich edging things on net run rate.
Locally, it was a dismal afternoon. Denton West who had started the season so well went down for the fourth week in a row, this time when they travelled to Egerton. West were well placed at 118-2, (Callum Flynn 75), with 18 overs left. The innings fell away after Flynn’s dismissal, despite 40 from Aaqib Uppal, and they finished on 194ao. An early wicket in the reply boosted West, but the arrival of Dave Hamnett saw fortunes change. He ended with 100 as Egerton cruised home by seven wickets.
Things were no better at Sycamore Park, as Denton SL put up little resistance to visitors Clifton who finished on 219-6. Only two batsmen made it into double figures in the DSL reply, as they failed to reach the three-figure mark, losing by 120 runs. It will now take a really impressive winning run for them to feature in the title race this year.
Roe Green 310-5 Moorside 183ao; Walshaw 138ao Heyside 185ao; Egerton 195-3 Denton West 194ao; Denton SL 99ao Clifton 219-6; Woodbank 159-9 Prestwich 155ao; Edgworth 220-8 Astley & Tyldesley 116ao
Premier 2:
Flowery Field hosted Heaton knowing that a win would leave them hot on the heels of the visitors who lead the table. Flowery reduced Heaton to 35-4, as Mike Finan, who finished with 5-46, struck early on. Heaton recovered well and set Flowery 194 for the win. The reply started poorly as the home team fell to 9-2, but pro Shreevats Goswami, (74) and Bradley Edge, (44), rebuilt. After the departure of Goswami, with 52 needed, Finan and Nick Eastwood guided them home for a five-wicket win. A continuation of their form so far for both teams will mean the return game on the last day of the season could determine the destination of the title.
Glossop travelled to Heywood and struggled against the home attack, limping to 124ao in 42 overs, and were only helped over the three-figure mark by a 10th wicket partnership of 38, by far the biggest of the innings. Heywood stalwart Bobby Cross led the way in the reply, and his 49*, (taking him to over 17,000 runs for the Crimble club), left Glossop on the wrong end of an eighth wicket defeat. With only four wins in 11 games an improvement is needed at North Road if Glossop are not to be dragged into a relegation battle.
Flowery Field 194-5 Heaton 193ao; Brooksbottom 158ao Bradshaw 203ao; Greenfield 183ao Stand 59ao; Heywood 125-2 Glossop 124ao; Bury 110-2 Glodwick 109ao; Flixton 149ao Shaw 230-6
Championship:
Promoted last season, both Dukinfield and Mottram have not had the best of times in 2022, but Saturday may well be the turning point in their respective fortunes.
Mottram, boosted by the arrival of Zimbabwean pro Tafadzwa Tsiga took on Friarmere at home. The visitors posted 200ao, setting Mottram a target of 4 an over, with Tsiga chipping in with 3-41. With Andrew Metcalfe, (80), anchoring the reply Mottram were always up with the rate and Jordan Irons, (43*), took them to a 6 wicket win with five overs to spare.
Mottram will be looking to make it three wins in a row when they meet Dukinfield this weekend, but the Higher King Street team will have other ideas after a comprehensive 187 run win at Winton. The Dukinfield innings was underpinned by Will Allen, (67), and pro Denuwan Rajakaruna, (80*) and they finished on an imposing 279-5. It was simply far too many for the home team as wickets fell regularly. Joel Morton, (4-30) led the way with the ball for Dukinfield as they ran through Winton who struggled to 92ao taking 36 overs to get those.
Elton extended their lead at the top with a win over rock bottom Westleigh as second placed Woodhouses fell to defeat against improving Stretford.
Westleigh 73ao Elton 192ao; Winton 92ao Dukinfield 279-5; Whalley Range 69-1 Swinton Moorside 67ao; Royton 135ao Monton 135ao; Mottram 201-4 Friarmere 200ao; Woodhouses 94ao Stretford 95-4
Division 1:
Droylsden kept top spot, (on net run rate), from second placed Saddleworth, when they visited The Pollards and beat Oldham by 130 runs. Droylsden had struggled to 96-6 when Lewis Jarvis gave the innings momentum. Coming in at no. 8 he hit 66 and helped them to 201ao. The Oldham batting line-up has been fragile to say the least this year, and so it proved once again as they folded to 71ao. After early inroads Sasiraj Pushparajah, (4-7), stepped up and finished things off.
In a local derby Stayley were a distant second best to visitors Uppermill. Batting first Stayley lost early wickets and were indebted to Chris Tipper, (66), as they eventually managed 166ao. It proved no problem for Uppermill as an unbroken third wicket partnership of 134 between Alex Peters, (75*) and former Lancashire man Kyle Hogg, (56*), took them to an eight-wicket win.
Hadfield were set 249 for the win by a Saddleworth team who were looking for a fourth win in five games. Liam Doyle is in fine form for the Newshaw Lane side and followed his 95 the previous week with 62 when Hadfield set out on the run chase. With Tom Wyche, (40), and Rick Tranter, (37), making useful contributions Hadfield stayed in the game until late on but they eventually fell short by 24 runs.
Hadfield 224ao Saddleworth 248-9; Oldham 71ao Droylsden 201ao; Edenfield 190-7 Roe Green 2nd XI 66ao; Stayley 166ao Uppermill 167-2; Golborne 164-3 SW Manchester 162ao; Austerlands 274-4 Thornham 228ao
Division 2A:
Heaton 2nd XI 170ao Worsley 171-1; Deane & Derby 103-6 Tottington 102ao; Prestwich 2nd XI 117-8 Radcliffe 115ao; Astley & Tyldesley 2nd XI 83ao Daisy Hill 84-1; United Stars 131-6 Darcy Lever 128ao; Adlington 90-1 East Lancs PM 85ao
Division 2B:
Micklehurst were made to toil by Oldham, who ran up 293-7, and had little answer when they batted. The fall of Kyle Clayton, (who top scored with 43) at 81-3 signalled the beginning of the end, and they added only 38 more, falling well short as Oldham won by 174 runs. The loss leaves Micklehurst in mid-table and was disappointing after four wins in their previous five games.
Denton’s season of woe continues as they went down for the eighth time this year. Wythenshawe were the visitors to Egerton Street and contained the home team to 148ao. Only Alex Beeley, (72), offered much resistance, and now has over 500 runs. Denton made Wythenshawe fight for the win as Andy Mather took 4-67, but were eventually undone by former Werneth man Matty Taylor, (63), who took them home by three wickets.
Werneth 160-1 Greenfield 2nd XI 157ao; Denton 148ao Wythenshawe 149-7; Glodwick 2nd XI 141ao Milnrow 142-3; Friarmere 2nd XI 137ao Littleborough Lakeside 166ao; Micklehurst 119ao Oldham 2nd XI 293-7; Denton West 2nd XI 245-9 Denton SL 2nd XI 134ao
Division 3E:
Ashton made it a perfect first half of the season as a comprehensive win over Mottram gave them their 11th win and saw a Club record broken. A steady start saw the Rayner Lane club reach 42-2 at which point Om Trivedi and pro Ruman Ahmed came together. They added 175 in 21 overs, Trivedi ending on 69. Ahmed then showed his quality and in a display of hard hitting ended on 200*, (including 16 boundaries and 15 ‘6’s’), as Ashton ended on 346-3. Ahmed’s knock went past the highest individual innings, (177), set less than 12 months ago by James Edmondson. Mottram battled well in the face of a near impossible task in reply but fell well short as Ahasan Shahzad ended with 5-27.
Ashton Ladysmith might have thought that a total of 148ao was below par when they hosted Woodhouses but were more than grateful to Saeed Nazeer for even that. He came in at 59-8, and smashed the visitors attack around Rose Hill Road, hitting 76 off just 30 balls. Woodhouses must have been shell shocked by that and tumbled to 66ao as Ali Raja took 5-18. Ladysmith now stand fifth in the table and have had a decent 2022 after promotion last year.
Ashton Ladysmith 148ao Woodhouses 2nd XI 66ao; Dukinfield 2nd XI 108ao Flowery Field 2nd XI 140ao; Heyside 2nd XI 192-7 Royton 2nd XI 188ao; Ashton 346-3 Mottram 2nd XI 137ao; Springhead 125ao Werneth 2nd XI 207-8; Glossop 2nd XI 85-2 Heywood 2nd XI 84ao
Division 4E:
Moorside 2nd XI 142-4 Ashton 2nd XI 141ao; Newton Heath 104ao Hadfield 2nd XI 105-2; Shaw 2nd XI 66-2 Springhead 2nd XI 65ao; Droylsden 2nd XI 237- Stayley 2nd XI 147ao; Failsworth Macedonia 224-8 Austerlands 2nd XI 101ao; Milnrow 2nd XI 298-4 Denton 2nd XI 102ao
T20 Local Games:
Premier Quarter Final: Glossop 63-1 tied with Friarmere 167-3 (DLS); Denton SL 155-5 lost to Clifton 120-2 (DLS)
Championship: Oldham 132-8 Micklehurst 135-3; Ashton 114-7 lost to Uppermill 140-7 (DLS); Springhead 155ao beat Stayley 41-4 (DLS)
Main picture: Ashton CC's Ruman Ahmed
Other pictures by John Parkins
Right Said Fred: City move a step closer to the title
Bowlers on form in the DCCL
Ashton RFC secure first national cup win in the club's history
Local boxer moves one step closer to lifelong dream
