One more victory might just do it
Against Rainhill S&B needed 31 runs with eight wickets in hand but lost by eight runs. Last Saturday, with both Will Affleck and Brad Yates batting well, Firth’s team were 107 for two and needed 57 off 11 overs to beat Ormskirk, one of the strongest teams in the Liverpool Competition.
The deep-set field offered the batsmen many opportunities to knock the ball around and collect the singles they needed.
But having batted superbly to make 73, Affleck tried to clear the rope and was caught by Harvey Rankin off Jamie Barnes.
Harry May perished in a similar style and Adam Galley ran himself out.
Ormskirk’s cricketers, who lost to Nantwich in the semi-final of the National Knockout on Sunday, cranked up the pressure.
S&B were 22 runs short off what would have been an unexpected victory when Firth was caught by Nicky Caunce off the slow left-armer Tom Hartley, who thereby completed a five-wicket haul.
The annoying irony was that S&B had played some of their best cricket of the season to restrict Ormskirk to 163 for eight off 49.2 overs. Gary Keedy had bowled as well as ever on his return to the side and Caunce had been forced to leave the visitors only 36 overs in which to get their runs, a challenge they could not afford to turn down.
But this is time of season when playing well is of little ORMSKIRK
A Rankin b Keedy .................................................... 42 Armstrong c May b Firth .................................................... 31 McGladdery c Phillips b Cunningham ................................ 30 Lavelle c Baybutt b Keedy ................................................ 31 Knight c Affleck b Keedy ................................................... 4 Hartley lbw Keedy ................................................... 3 Maddock not out ....................................................... 9 H Rankin b Keedy ..................................................... 0 Caunce c May b Cunningham ........................................... 1 Lees not out .............................................................. 9 Extras ................................................................................................................... 3 TOTAL (for eight wkts. decl.) .............................................. 163
FoW: 1-73 2-79 3-128 4-139 5-144 6-144 7-146 8-147
Gailey 7-1-34-0 Firth 18-2-56-1 Keedy 18.1-2-40-5 Cunningham 6-0-30-2
S&B
Affleck c H Rankin b Barnes .............................................. 73 Lea c Lavelle b Caunce ................................................. 2 Phillips b Hartley .................................................... 7 Yates not out ................................................................... 32 May c McGladdery b Hartley ........................................... 4 Baybutt c Caunce b Barnes ................................................... 1 Galley run out .................................................................... 0 Cunningham b Lees ........................................................... 8 Keedy b Hartley ............................................................ 3 Gailey c Armstrong b Hartley ............................................... 0 Firth c Caunce b Hartley .................................................. 0 Extras ................................................................................................................. 12 TOTAL ............................................................................................................. 142
FoW: 1-12 2-27 3-107 4-116 5-122 6-123 7-135 8-142 9-142 10-142
Maddock 5-1-12-0 Caunce 5-3-9-0 Lees 6-1-42-1 Hartley 11.5-1-43-5 Barnes 7-0-27-2 consequence unless it is accompanied by victory.
This Saturday, though, S&B have another chance to secure a win when they host bottomplaced Colwyn Bay in what might be both sides’ biggest match of the season.
S&B will begin the match 14 points ahead of their opponents and ten points in front of Lytham. On a number of occasions over the past four months or so Firth’s players have competed well with teams in the top half of the table.
A fourth win of the season might be enough to make them all but safe. It is up to them.
Despite losing to Ormskirk by 72 runs on Saturday, Southport and Birkdale’s second team remain three points above the relegation zone in the Premier League.
Former S&B skipper Craig Todd did plenty of damage by taking six for 64 as the visitors were dismissed for 129 but Ormskirk’s Jack Snowden trumped that effort by taking eight for 28 in S&B’s innings of 57 all out in 28 overs.