Northern closing in on the crown

NORTHERN need just 13 points from their remaining two games to confirm their Love Lane Liverpool Competition title, after a 111-run win at Rainhill.

Andrew Clarke’s 122 and Justin Snow’s 59 rescued the Crosby side from 21/4 with a partnership of 154; the eventual total of 220/6 was too much for the hosts, as Tom Sephton’s 6/58 sealed the win.

Sefton Park’s relegation, long since on the cards, is now a certainty.

Their 78-run defeat at home to Leigh summed up their season – early inroads reduced the visitors to 21/3, but the bowlers couldn’t keep up the pressure and Mattie McKiernan struck 110, backed up by Matty Hurst’s 77, to lift the total to 223/3.

Kemar Smith’s 65 and Ben Percival’s 46 raised hopes of a stirring chase, but Alex Mason’s 6/30 quickly doused them.

Firwood Bootle eased their relegation fears with a crucial 59-run win at New Brighton.

The long-awaited debut of Lancashire’s Owais Shah saw him topscore with 89 in his side’s 200, as Ashraf Nawab took 5/56; Scott Butterworth took 5/47 to send the 2019 Champions 22 points clear of the bottom two.

Formby’s Ollie Sutton struck his second century of the season, finishing on exactly 100 as his side chased 169 to beat Wigan without losing a wicket.

Skipper James Seward played a supporting role with 59*; earlier, Sutton had claimed 5/38 to help dismiss the hosts.

Wallasey’s Sumit Ruikar topped 100 wickets in all competitions for the season by taking 7/83 to seal his side’s 39-run win over Orrell Red Triangle.

Jamie Crawley’s 51 was the top score as the visitors set a target of 191.

Sunday’s final Covid catch-up of the season saw Leigh chase 169 for a four-wicket win over Ormskirk.

Adam Shallcross’s unbeaten 57 did the job, after John Armstrong’s 52 had set the target.