Fylde coast cricket review: Fleetwood clinch a top-flight return for the 2027 season
Fleetwood CC clinch promotion barring any penalty points from their remaining matches.
A rain-affected victory over Whalley on Saturday was enough for Fleetwood CC to clinch promotion back to division one of the Northern Premier Cricket League.
Relegated after 73 years in the Northern League last summer, the founder members and six-time champions won all of their first 18 completed games in division two.
It follows a seven-wicket home victory over a Whalley side dismissed for 82 at Broadwater.
Sub-professional Dan Salpietro took 3-23 and Matt Siddall 3-5, taking him to 90 wickets for the season.
The visitors had recovered from 1-2, with Hamish Mullavey-Clark making 31, but wickets tumbled around him and, from 71-4, Whalley could add only 11 before they were dismissed in 29.3 overs.
Fleetwood were set a revised target of 50 from 20 overs but needed only 10 to reach 51-3.
Their promotion - barring any points deductions in their last three matches - came after Fulwood and Broughton could only collect five points at Great Eccleston.
Rain brought an early end with F&B on 153-7 from 33.4 overs, Great Ecc’s Phil Booth with 5-56.
Thornton Cleveleys sit 14 points clear of the bottom two after a three-wicket loss to Preston.
Daniel Howard had made 41 in TC’s 142 all out before Preston fell to 64-7, chasing a target of 138 from 38 overs.
However, Rizwan Banglawala (54 not out) and captain Sajid Patel (19 not out) put on an unbroken 74.
There was also an early finish to Lytham’s match at Morecambe where the home team had been dismissed for 184 after being put in.
Alex Briggs (64) top-scored for Morecambe, with Lytham’s Sahaan Sahaan picking up 5-33 from a dozen overs.
Lytham were then set an amended target of 176 in 44 overs, only for play to end with them 36-4 after 11 with Lloyd Smith collecting 3-23.
Blackpool moved second in division one after winning by seven wickets at Kendal.
Steven Mercer took 4-49 as Kendal were 183 all out before Blackpool faced a target of 112 from 22 overs.
They reached 112-3 with 11 balls left, Andrew Needham making 54 not out from 52 deliveries.
However, St Annes face an instant return to division two next year after a nine-wicket loss to Chorley.
Asked to bat first at Vernon Road, they collapsed from 41-2 to 80 all out with Miller Childs taking 5-28.
Ruhan Pretorius then hit 62 from 29 balls as Chorley posted 81-1 inside nine overs.
Fylde are now only one point above the Palace Shield Championship relegation places, having lost by seven wickets against Torrisholme.
Dan Smith (54) and Phil Brown (49) put on 85 for the fourth wicket in Fylde’s 176-7.
Chasing a revised target of 162 in 39 overs, Torrisholme got there with 11 overs in hand thanks to Samuel Brown’s 76.
Division one brought victory by 140 runs for Kirkham and Wesham against Shireshead and Forton.
Openers Sean Bovington and Niall Dunn were K&W’s star performers, putting on 309 for the first wicket.
Bovington hit 20 fours and 12 sixes in making 196 from 112 balls, while Dunn was 97 not out as K&W reached 331-2 in 37 overs.
Set an amended target of 287 from 25.2 overs, Shireshead posted 146-8 with Joe Oliver 79 not out from 48 deliveries.