Fight against drop goes to the final day

LIVERPOOL Gin Liverpool Competition: ECB Premier League: Northern

(25PTS), 80 for seven, beat Southport and Birkdale (3pts), 78 all out, by three wickets

BOTH of Southport and Birkdale’s senior teams face a tense last day of the season as they fight to avoid relegation from their respective Premier Leagues.

The advantage for each side is that their fate lies in their own hands, but as Chris Firth’s team visit Wallasey and Tom Baybutt’s host Wigan they could be excused also keeping an eye on events elsewhere.

Not for the first time this season, Firth’s team battled hard against one of the Competition’s better sides but were let down by their batting frailties. However, Saturday’s match was played on a slow wicket, one on which run-scoring was difficult for Northern’s top order, too, and the batsmen’s problems were compounded by a comparably slow outfield.

Nevertheless, S&B should probably have managed more than the 78 runs they scored in 53.2 overs. That effort was anchored by Will Affleck, who was playing his final innings for the Club before flying back to Australia for the start of the Sydney Grade season, having scored 487 league runs.

Affleck made 32 – indeed, he was the only S&B batsman to make more than 12 – but following the early loss of Isaac Lea, there was no one capable of taking the fight to Northern’s attack, which admittedly is no easy task when that attack includes spinners of the quality of Tom Sephton, who took five for 25 in 17.2 overs.

And yet S&B’s trio of spinners came close to defending 78 and the three bonus points they earned may yet be invaluable on Saturday evening. Firth made the first breakthrough when he bowled Jack Boardman, but Gary Keedy carried the greatest threat and his four wickets took his tally for the season to 54.

Despite Taylor Cornall’s 36-ball 31, S&B had reduced Northern to 51 for 5 when Justin Snow was caught at short leg by Adam Phillips for eight, but a five-run penalty for the ball striking an unused fielding helmet plus a couple of firm pulls for four by Northern’s skipper, James Cole, saw the visitors home.

S&B

Affleck ................................................. c Cole b Snow Lea .............................................................................. b Grey Yates ...................................................................... lbw Grey Carney ...................................................... lbw Houghton May ...................................................................... b Sephton Phillips .............................................. c Cole b Sephton Byrne ............................................................ lbw Sephton Firth .................................................. c Cole b Sephton Cunningham ..................... c Boardman b Sephton Keedy ................................................................ lbw Snow Gailey ..................................................................... not out Extras ......................................................................................... TOTAL ......................................................................................

FoW: 1-9 2-14 3-15 4-40 5-42 6-56 7-60 8-76 9-76 10-78

Grey 11-8-3-2 Houghton 9-3-16-1 Sephton 17.2-5-25-5 Snow 16-4-28-2

NORTHERN Boardman .............................................................. b Firth Cornall .................................................. c Yates b Firth Laker ....................................................................... b Keedy Grey ................................................................... lbw Keedy Snow ................................................. c Phillips b Keedy Brownlow .......................................... lbw Cunningham J Cole ...................................................................... not out S Cole ............................................... c Firth b Keedy Houghton ............................................................... not out Extras ......................................................................................... TOTAL ............................................................... (for 7 wkts.)

1-14 2-29 3-43 4-43 5-51 6-61 7-72

Gailey 2-0-12-0 Firth 10-4-18-2 Keedy 13-4-27-4 Cunningham 5-2-15-1 32 4 1 0 11 1 8 1 12 0 0 8 78

The defeat left S&B 11 points ahead of Colwyn Bay and 12 clear of Lytham, who were forced to field for 87.3 overs by Rainhill in one of the Competition’s more bizarre matches. On Saturday Lytham host Bootle, who have not yet clinched the title, while Colwyn Bay visit Leigh.

If S&B beat Wallasey, they need not worry. If neither Lytham nor Colwyn Bay win their games, S&B will also be safe. But it would be pleasant if once or twice we got to the end of a Premier League season without worrying about the ifs and buts of club cricket.

To no one’s enormous surprise S&B’s second team were comfortably beaten by Wallasey, the champions elect, on Saturday. Matty Hughes made 101 in the home side’s 260 for five declared and then took four for 21 as Baybutt’s side made 156 in reply. However, there was some solace for visiting supporters in the three wickets taken by Matthew Hennessy and the 55 runs made by Jack Baybutt.

The seconds face bottom-placed Wigan in their final game of the campaign whereas Colwyn Bay, their only rivals at the bottom of the table, host second-placed Lytham.