Fylde coast cricket round-up: St Annes' first win of the season

Having lost to Leyland on the opening day of the season, St Annes bounced back with a 46-run victory at Eccleston.

Batting first, St Annes completed their overs on 154-8 before bowling out their hosts for 108 at Doctors Lane.

Tom Higson (14) and Lukman Vahaluwala (3) fell early as St Annes slipped to 30-2, before Yohan De Silva (34) and Luke Jardine (23) added 44 for the third wicket.

Then, from 74-2, they were reduced to 100-6 but Harry Birkman and Gurman Bains rallied.

They had put on 46 when Birkman (26) was finally out, though Bains was undefeated on 30 at the close.

Eccleston were always up against it in reply as they were reduced to 27-4 with Birkman, Vahaluwala and Mitch Bolus all collecting early wickets.

Birkman accounted for Thomas Wilkinson (7) and David Hewson (4), Vahaluwala saw off Martyn Brierley (5) and Bolus dismissed Adam Norris (0).

Nathan McDonnell (8) became Bolus’ second victim, leaving Eccleston 47-5, but it was Birkman who dominated the second half of the innings.

He sent back Reece Thomas (11), Thomas Foster (30) and Iain Bradley (3) before De Silva trapped Jordan Bentham (30).

Nevertheless, it was Birkman who had the final say with the wicket of Cameron Smith (0) to secure victory.

It also meant he finished the day with figures of 6-36 from 13.5 overs.

Bolus recorded 2-20, Vahaluwala 1-21 and De Silva 1-11 in helping them to 15 points.

Fleetwood lost a low-scoring match by 16 runs against defending champions Garstang.

It was Garstang who batted first and were all out for 108 with Declan Clerkin taking 5-25.

Jeremy Davies had picked up two early wickets as Garstang fell to 17-3 before a crucial stand of 68 between Michael Walling (49) and Matt Crowther (15).

After that, the Fleetwood bowlers dominated as the last seven wickets fell for only 23 runs.

However, Fleetwood’s reply saw them fall narrowly short as they were dismissed for 92.

They were in trouble after falling to 39-5, though Davies provided some resistance with the bat.

He top-scored with 26 before falling to Joel Derham, who ended with 4-22.

Elsewhere, Blackpool went down by seven runs at Longridge, where they were all out for 122 chasing their hosts’ 129.

Kirkham and Wesham lead the early Moore and Smalley Palace Shield Premier Division table after two wins from as many matches.

They took maximum points for the second time this season with an 81-run defeat of Morecambe at the Woodlands.

Batting first, K&W completed their 45 overs on 207-9 as skipper Jamie Hogarth top-scored with 47.

Christopher Wilson (23), Tait Roberts-Hodgson (21) and Jack Mansfield (20) also chipped in as Morecambe’s overseas amateur, Shane Burton, finished with 4-36.

In reply, Morecambe were all out for 126 with 12 overs remaining as Justin Banks claimed 3-23 and Hogarth 3-30.

Great Eccleston were also successful, edging out Penwortham by five runs in their match at Middleforth Green.

Batting first, they finished on 153-9 thanks to a 98-run partnership between Mohamed Nadeem (53) and Alexander Rhodes (48).

Ryan Roberts ran through the lower order, picking up 4-20 as the last five wickets fell for five runs.

Penwortham’s reply saw them fall from 74-1 to 148 all out with two-and-a-half overs in hand.

Muhammad Ilyas (33) and Xavier Bateman (27) added 51 for the second wicket but Nadeem also starred with the ball, collecting 4-38.

Thornton Cleveleys couldn’t make it a hat-trick of wins, losing by 41 runs at Euxton.

The hosts batted first and reached 173-7 from 33 overs, Hakeem Perryman hitting 42 and James Bone 39 as Daniel Howard took 4-51.

Chasing a revised target of 190 from 33 overs, TC were all out for 148 with 17 balls remaining.

Oliver Kyle dominated the innings, making 66, while Jacob Sackfield added 26 as Chris Pearson claimed 3-19.

In Division 1B, Wrea Green lost by 89 runs against Preston as they were 93 all out chasing their visitors’ 182-7.

Fylde were one-wicket winners at Blackpool’s second XI, overhauling their 144-9 with skipper Dan Smith (58) leading the chase.

Division two saw Norcross all out for 48 against Charnock St James, for whom Majid Anwar took 5-4.

Charnock ensured a comprehensive win by reaching 49-3 inside 10 overs of their reply.

South Shore won at Bretherton in division four, dismissing their hosts for 170 and then replying with 173-8.

In the Liverpool Competition First Division, Lytham made it two wins from three as they enjoyed a nine-wicket success against Ainsdale.

The visitors batted first and lost wickets at regular intervals in being dismissed for 132.

Stuart Naden, who top-scored with 35, and Mark Lucas (13) put on 48 for the second wicket before Ainsdale slipped to 81-5.

Shaun Rimmer (24), Levi Cadogan (20) and Andrew Barlow (16) added further runs in the middle order but it was the Lytham bowlers who dominated proceedings.

Matthew Wood finished with 4-39 from 15 overs and skipper Matt Taaffe picked up 3-16.

Jack Saunders (2-26) and Tom Jefferson (1-26) claimed the other wickets to fall before Lytham wrapped up an emphatic victory in reply.

They reached 136-1 inside 38 overs as Myles Child and Wood put on 112 for the first wicket.

Child (55) fell to Barlow (1-31) but Wood finished 63 not out and Guy Roberts 11 not out to give Lytham 20 points.