Rams boss says team’s performance a ‘disgrace’
RAMSBOTTOM United joint manager Mark Fell described his team’s performance as ‘a disgrace’ after they were beaten 4-0 at home to Clitheroe.
The Rams have won just one of their opening four league matches, and Fell was furious with what he saw on Monday.
“It’s an embarrassing performance and is a disgrace.
“We won’t tolerate it and won’t allow it,” he told the club’s official website.
“If I’d have paid my money to support Ramsbottom then the supporters will be justified in being disappointed, but nobody is more disappointed than we are. I thought we never got going and the danger we’ve got is we’re so wafer thin with our squad that when we lose Gareth Seddon, and then have a few other long-term injuries, it’s difficult to get other players in.
“Morale is fine and we’ve got a good bunch of players but one or two of them are only great at saying the right thing instead of doing it.
“It is a happy camp when you’re in there but are the players working hard enough? I don’t think so. In the past few days we’ve picked four new targets and are confident that they’ll be with us this week.”
RAMS BOTTOM Cricket Club stayed top of the Lancashire League table after two victories over the weekend.
They were dominant winners at Acre Bottom on Saturday, picking up a 124-run win over local rivals Bacup.
Ramsbottom won the toss and decided to bat, but it looked like that may have been a poor decision when the opening three batsmen could only make four runs between them.
Callum Kay managed to get his side back on track when he scored 59, while Dale Gabriel (24), professional Daryn Smit (18) and Fraser Kay (18) also chipped in with decent scores.
The match was reduced to 48 overs per side, with Ramsbottom finishing on 179-7 at the end of their innings.
Liam Naylor (2-22), Haseeb Azam (2-44) and Sam Lord (2-44) all took two wickets each for Bacup, with Matt Thompson (1-28) taking the other one.
Bacup were extremely poor in their response, with five players dismissed for ducks and only Tim Farragher managing to reach double figures.
He ended on 27 not out, with Matt Collinge the second highest scorer with a very low total of seven.
Bacup saw their innings brought to an end in just 27 overs, with the team going from 50-6 to 55 all out.
Smit was the pick of the bowlers for Ramsbottom after finishing with figures of 5-22. Josh Dentith also impressed with 4-17, and Mike Haslam took 1-14.
Ramsbottom then managed to brush aside another neighbour on Sunday when they defeated Haslingden by 26 runs.
It was Ramsbottom who won the toss and opted to bat first at Bentgate, with Tom Parton (10) and Will Turner (32) making better contributions than they managed against Bacup 24 hours earlier.
Smit was the star of the show though, as the professional hit an unbeaten 73 to help put his team in a strong position.
Kay added 23 alongside him as Ramsbottom finished on 166-5 after 40 overs, with the rain forcing their innings to be reduced.
Haslingden were given a reduced target of 154 from 36 overs, and they got off to a decent start when Phil Hayes and Graham Knowles put on 74 for the opening wicket.
Hayes eventually fell for 25 off the bowling of Dentith, while Knowles went for 39 a few minutes later and the team struggled to find any consistency from that point onwards.
Only Lee Ingham (16) and Jake Neary (11) reached double figures, with the other seven batsmen managing just 15 runs between them as Haslingden were bowled all out for 127.
Dentith ended with 5-50, while Smit took 4-52, meaning both men finished the weekend with nine wickets from two matches.
Ramsbottom are now six points clear of secondplaced Burnley at the top of the table, though Burnley do have a game in hand.
Haslingden were victorious in one of their games over the weekend though, picking up a 33-run win over Rawtenstall at the Worswick Memorial Ground.
Rawtenstall decided to field first after winning the toss, and they removed opener Knowles for just one run, while Matt Griffin then went for a duck after coming in at number three.
Professional Babar Naeem ensured that his side would post a decent total though, as he scored
‘Ramsbottom were dominant winners, picking up a 124-run win over local rivals’
81 before he was caught and bowled by Joe McCluskie.
Alex Coleman (27) and Lewis McIntosh (21) also chipped in, but a collapse towards the back of the order saw the team go from 155-4 to 172 all out.
McCluskie was the pick of the bowlers for Rawtenstall as he took 5-45, while Nick Maiolo chipped in with 3-22.
Maiolo didn’t perform as well with the bat for Rawtenstall, as he made just 11 before he was dismissed by Neary.
The team then found themselves on 45-5 as Matt Kershaw (4), Daniel Southworth (3) and Dean Barlow (0) were also bowled for low scores.
Sam Excell (33) Imran Abid (25) and Rizwan Shafiq (19) tried to help guide their team over the line but it was too little too late, with the team ultimately falling well short as they were bowled all out for 139.
Haslingden are now in seventh place after the weekend, five points behind sixth placed side Todmorden.
Rawtenstall did have something to cheer about on Sunday as they inflicted another defeat on fellow strugglers Bacup, winning the match by 10 runs.
It was Rawtenstall who
batted first at Lanehead, with their innings reduced to 42 overs due to the weather.
Barlow top scored with 26 and Maiolo added 23 as the team finished on 1276.
Bacup were then given a reduced target of 118 from 38 overs.
Thompson scored an unbeaten 40 and Farragher hit 39 to give Bacup a good chance of pulling off the win, but time ran out as the team finished on 108-4, falling ten runs short.
Rawtenstall stay second bottom after winning one of their two games, but are now just three points behind 12th-placed Accrington and four points behind 11thplaced Colne.
Bacup’s 15th defeat of the campaign sees them stay bottom of the table, 36 points adrift of Rawtenstall.