Trio battling it out for the title
AND then there were three. Probably. If Saturday’s ECB Premier League results came nowhere near deciding who would win the title - you’ll have to wait till September for that one - they almost certainly narrowed the field down to the trio of clubs who have been leading the field for most of the season.
Comfortable wins for Northern, Ormskirk and Leigh have left them at least 45 points clear of the pack with seven games left in the season.
Even if Bootle or Formby now produces a late run worthy of Frankel at his friskiest it would now need all three of the leaders to suffer collapses in form to change the picture. And it doesn’t look like happening.
Nor does it seem likely that Tom Sephton will stop taking wickets by the bucketload.
After playing a part in his side’s tense four-wicket defeat of Ormskirk in Thursday’s LIverpool Echo Knockout quarter-final, Sephton grabbed another 6-70 to take Northern to their 72-run victory over Wallasey at Moor Park.
Replying to the home side’s 197 all out, in which Liam Grey made 73 and Tom Russ took 5-60, the Wirral team were dismissed for 125 and Sephton is now the division’s joint leading wicket-taker with Rainhill’s Mohammad Qureshi, both slow left-armers having bagged 59 wickets this season.
But Ormskirk are now just two points behind James Cole’s men after they demolished Lytham by eight wickets at Brook Lane. Three wickets apiece for Simon Kerrigan and Josh Bohannon helped dismiss the Fylde side for 85 in 42.1 overs and Ormskirk knocked those runs off in 17.3 fussless overs.
Leigh handed New Brighton a nine-wicket hammering at Rake Lane and are now five points behind Northern.
Leg-spinner Mattie McKiernan took 4-24 as the home side were rolled for 112 and then made 56 not out in his side’s easeful pursuit.
At the bottom of the MI Dental Liverpool Competition’s top division, the battle to avoid relegation was given a little added spice by Birkenhead Park notching their second win of the season when they defeated Rainford by 103 runs at Park Drive.
Adam Patel’s 95 and Mike Barnes’ 62 - the pair added 154 for the second wicket – helped the home side post a formidable 249-7 declared in 48.3 overs and Ravindra Palliyaguruge’s 5-54 dealt with matters after tea as Rainford were bowled out for 146.
John Dotters had a fine game, taking a couple of wickets and making 40, but Paul Farrar’s side are now 20 points ahead of Park and 22 behind tenth-placed Colwyn Bay, who lost to Rainhill by 52 runs at Penrhyn Avenue.
Paul Ford’s tailend batsmen took a leading role here by steering their side from 80-7 to 145 despite Shrikant Mundhe’s 4-70. In reply Jordan Evans made 50 but Mohammed Qureshi’s 5-41 and David Atkinson’s 3-26 saw the home side bowled out for 93.
The latest instalment of the fascinating rivalry between Formby and Firwood Bootle went the way of the Cricket Path side, who chased down 222 to ensure Ian Cockbain tasted victory at his old home.
But defeat was hard on Bootle’s Mike Farrell, who made 103 in a fine game and added 164 for the fifth wicket with Jackson Knight as the Wadham Road team posted 221-5 declared in 50.2 overs.
However, James Seward then made 90 and Tym Crawford followed his 4-53 with 51 as Formby got to 184-3 before losing five wickets for 24 runs.
Elliot Ketteringham and Gary Keedy made the points safe despite Scott Butterworth’s 6-48.