12:50pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
IT was all change at the top of Division 1 after the Bank Holiday double headers with Shireshead emerging new leaders.
Two maximum-point wins left the Shires six points ahead of Warton with Milnthorpe - table-toppers going into the weekend - a further four points adrift, but still far from out of the title reckoning.
The shake-up means the scene is set for a compelling finish to the championship race over the next two weekends.
And look no further for a key clash than when Shireshead are set to host Milnthorpe this Saturday, while Warton will be aiming to take advantage when hosts to Heysham..
Looking at the final fixtures on September 11, Milnthorpe finish at Burneside.
Shireshead and Warton have home advantage against Windermere and Warton respectively.
Elsewhere, Sedgwick are snapping at Westgate A's heels in the Division 2 with only five points splitting the sides in a two-horse race for honours.
Cartmel are promoted as champions in Division 3 with Burneside looking set to finish runners-up Arnside are in the running for at least a promotion place in Division 4 behind Barrow, only eight points off thel eaders.
In Division 5 Coniston and Kirkby-in-Furness are promoted as champions and runners-up.
Milnthorpe picked up 15 points against windermere in a 75-run victory on Saturday, dismissing them, for 61, but were restricted a a single point as Westgate took the wind out of their sails with an eight-point winning draw.
Shireshead's two maximum-point hauls over Silverdale and Westgate (both away) were their launching-pad to the top.
Warton beat Trimpell on Saturday, but Bolton-le-Sands held them to a draw, restricitng them to sevne points, on Monday. Milnthorpe’s weekend began in satisfying style with a 75-run win at home to Windermere.
After early losses Mike Wills (24) and Steve Bowman (32) pushed on but Windermere took four big wickets in five overs before Bob Baldwin (29) enabled Milnthorpe get get to a defendable 136.
Lee Illingworth (5-13) captured key wickets when Windermere replied, clean bowling Killiner and when an lbw appeal against Fletcher was turned down, Steve Cooper reacted quickly to run out the distracted batsman. As the weather threatened Illingworth return to clean up the tail and ensure the 15-pointer.
Over at Burneside, Phil Mason put in a great display with the ball for 5-41 for Silverdale as Burneside were restricted to 106-8 in the rain-reduced 35 overs, but the batsmen could not follow it up. After a 30-run partnership between Skipper Dodds (19) and John Mason, a collapse ensured with Chris Dixon (4-33) and Marcus Oates (3-24) the beneficiaries. Mason remained unbeaten on 32 as Silverdale came up 26 runs short all out for 80.
A third keenly-fought encounter between Shireshead and Westgate ended in a thrilling one-run victory. Westgate's Danny Wilkinson (7-43) and Peter Wilson (2-19) had the visitors staring down the barrel at 27-5 before Mark Sutcliffe (22) was the man for the crisis as they reached 83 all out. Westgate were 6-3 and then 40-6 in reply as Irfan Quyyun (4-31) and Uzair Shah (3-27) took control.
A game of cat and mouse ensured with Steve Creed (39no) edging Westgate to victory. The ninth wicket went at 77 and eight runs were needed for the win. Tom Jacques (3-20) had joined the attack and he bowled M. Lightfoot to secure the narrowest of spoils - a one-run victory. On Monday, Milnthorpe faced another big game against Westgate, who set a target of 168-6 with Hill (20) and Wilson (49) getting them off to a good start.
On the low slow track, Milnthorpe gifted 35 extras but the introduction of Wills and Cooper, who took five wickets between them, reined back the scoring. Tattersall played patiently for his 29, but Cooper and Wills removed the potental big-hitters that remained.
Early success with the ball for Westgate left Milnthorpe an uphill battle despite Bowman's unbeaten half-century. They still needed 100 off the last 10 overs and when last hope Illingworth (17) went, it was left to Bowman and Curran to see out the draw at 103-7 for a point. Shireshead's second 15-point victory in three days came against Silverdale in a low-scoring contest. Shireshead opted to bat but Paul Moffatt was in tremendous fettle with the ball and captured 7-46 in 19.5 overs to oust the hosts for just 90, with Clarkson top-scoring on 18, and raise hopes.
When Silverdale batted, it became apparent the day belonged to the bowlers. Tom Jacques took five wickets for two runs in six overs and only Scott Sparks (33) and Graham Dodds (17) made an impact as they were all out for just 65. Burneside emerged with a three-wicket win at Windermere.
Skipper Crawford finished unbeaten on 37 for Windermere with other contributions from Lewthwaite (28) - out to a stunning catch by Shepherd -Killiner (24) and Park (19) as they posted 162-7, with Airey taking 3-68. and Batty 3-33.
Burneside lost three quick wickets in reply, but Shepherd made a fluent first-team maiden 50 inside 20 overs, supported by Huck (15) and Duckett (12) to reach 120 with 15 overs left. After Shepherd went for a marvellous 85, Airey and Oakes dashed Windermere's hope of a comeback to seal the win with six overs remaining.
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