LAST DAY DRAMA AS S&B and HIGHTOWN ST MARY'S ARE PROMOTED
Date: 18th September 2016
Northop Hall go down with Maghull
On a day when Leigh (pictured) and Skelmersdale were being crowned as champions of the Premier Division and Division 2 respectively, the drama was very much elsewhere as an unbelievable last day unfolded throughout the Comp.
With promotion and relegation issues up for grabs in Division 1 and 2, most observers had all angles covered, or so it seemed.
Over in Wales champions elect Ainsdale found Prestatyn fighting for their lives and whether they knew it or not the home side’s declaration on 190 for 5 after 55 overs was to prove crucial as the afternoon went on. When Ainsdale were bowled out for 110, although losing, they now had sufficient points to go up as champions and received the Division 1 Trophy from President Eric Hadfield. Meanwhile the Prestatyn players and fans spent the next half hour frantically digesting news from the game at Highfield.
At Highfield the home side won by 123 runs against Northop Hall, to much relief of everyone at Billinge Road to preserve their place in Division I. Northop Hall bowled the hosts out for 193 but then were themselves dismissed for 70, taking five points from the game and leaving them on level points with Prestatyn. With both teams having won 5 games each, the next deciding factor is the number of batting bonus points (Prestayn 36 Northop Hall 34) which then started celebrations for one Welsh club but not another as Northop Hall are relegated to Division 2 with Maghull.
Meanwhile at the top end of the table Southport and Biurkdale had a very clear task – to win their game against Newton Le Willows – and return to the Premier Division. If the task was clear, their path to the Prem after bowling Newton out for 148 was far from it as the Trafalgar Road faithful then endured two and half hours of nail-biting anxiety as their team made their reply. At 63 for 5 nerves were becoming increasingly frayed until Nick Night and Adam Galley restored a bit of calm by moving them on to 116 for 6 until high drama returned when last man Adam Warhurst (who had earlier taken six wickets) joined skipper Chris Firth at the crease with the score on 139 for 9 and ten runs were needed to win. They got them!
Sadly for Sefton Park their five wicket win at Fleetwood Hesketh was not enough but they can be well satisfied with their third place finish.
And then – even more drama in Division 2 where Skelmersdale received the 2nd Division Trophy at Wavertree and St Helens Town lost by four wickets at Caldy. This opened the door to Hightown St Mary’s who pulled off a tremendous five wicket win at Liverpool to jump into second place and into Division 1.
WHAT THEY SAID – from those captains who were awake early on Sunday morning!
Tom Foster (Leigh) “To be honest the greatest feeling was last week after the Wallasey game when we knew we were champions. We knew we had got over the line and it was absolutely brilliant. It was also great for the League to travel to Leigh to present the Trophy in front of our fans. ”
Andy Barlow (Ainsdale) “It’s very satisfying. This has been our aim for a number of years now and it is a great achievement. Everyone is very excited but we know it will be a great challenge.”
David Harris (Prestatyn) “We only just got to 190 two balls before the end of the 55th over but had no idea how crucial that was going to be. After we bowled Ainsdale out there was a half hour of complete madness. Everyone was on Twitter and play-cricket and talking about batting points but it took a while for everything to become clear”.
Jim Kelly (Hightown St Mary’s) “It’s an amazing feeling. Half way through the season we were almost bottom but we’ve had a great run, six wins on the bounce, and it’s unbelievable really. “
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