Fylde coast cricket review: St Annes shock title chasers as Fleetwood’s progress continues

St Annes stunned Leyland to collect their third victory of the Northern Premier Cricket League division one season last weekend.

The second half of the campaign began with St Annes’ two-wicket win at Vernon Road, a result which saw their visitors lose top spot.

Having opted to bat first on Saturday, Leyland were dismissed for 209: a total which saw nine players in double figures but nobody score more than Xander Eyre’s 35.

Jacob Wright and Karl Cross both made 33 after Leyland fell to 92-5, Adam Patel taking 6-73.

St Annes’ reply saw them reduced to 55-4 before skipper Harry Birkman led the fightback.

He put on 86 with Patel (23) before falling for a 69-ball 80, leaving them 177-6.

However, Rory Urquhart (24 not out) and Alex Urquhart (13 not out) took St Annes to 212-8 with 44 balls left.

Netherfield are now two points clear at the top after beating Blackpool by 73 runs.

After being reduced to 22-2, they rallied to post 256-6 thanks to skipper Ben Barrow (89), John Huck (86) and Nimesha Gunasinghe (51).

Khalil Patel took 4-76 for Blackpool, whose reply saw them all out for 183 as Oli Wileman claimed 5-45.

Having slipped from 51-1 to 64-4, Josh Boyne (41), Matt Taaffe (27) and Ben Howarth (29) provided Blackpool with some resistance.

Fleetwood were the Fylde coast’s only winners in division two, beating Barrow by 150 runs at Broadwater.

They batted first and reached 289-8, a score founded on a second-wicket stand of 232 between Andy Drake (102) and Muhammad Hurraira (137).

Jeremy Davies (10) was Fleetwood’s next highest scorer as Sam Henderson took 4-55 and Hardus Coetzer 3-82.

Barrow’s reply saw openers Drew Postlethwaite (48) and Declan Tyson (32) put on 72 before Matt Siddall got to work.

He dismissed both, taking the first seven wickets to fall on his way to figures of 8-30.

Jack Singleton finished 33 not out as Barrow were eventually dismissed for 139.

Thornton Cleveleys dropped to second-bottom after losing by nine wickets against Fulwood and Broughton.

TC batted first at Illawalla and were all out for 241, opener Josh Borrell their top scorer with 80.

F&B scorched to 242-1 inside 37 overs, Ewen Mansford (102 not out) and Simon Kerrigan (94 not out) sharing an unbroken stand of 216.

TC were leapfrogged in the table by Carnforth following their 27-run victory at Lytham.

Jaco Beneke (58 not out) top-scored in Carnforth’s 234-8, during which Sahaan Sahaan finished with 5-63.

Lytham’s reply saw them dismissed for 207 with three balls to go, having been 104-6 before Sahaan (43), Antony Mulligan (31 not out) and Ben Saunders (23) fought back.

Will Smith made 105 in Great Eccleston’s 229-7 against Preston, who responded with 231-7 to take victory with four-and-a-half overs in hand.

The Palace Shield Championship saw Fylde tie their match at Burneside.

Tom Drumm hit 114 not out as the hosts completed their innings on 243-8.

Fylde’s reply saw them needing two off the last ball, but Dan Smith (78 not out) could only manage a single which left them on 243-6.

In division one, Kirkham and Wesham lost by 81 runs against Longridge's seconds.

Danny Wilkinson (94) helped Longridge to 252 all out before K&W were dismissed for 171, Sean Bovington making 72.