PHIL Bovis scored 72 on his return to Warton but that was not enough for his Milnthorpe side to pick up their first victory of the season as they were forced to accept a winning draw.

Milnthorpe lost only five wickets as they recorded 143-5 off their allotted overs, but they were unable to claim the 10 wickets needed for the win when they fell two short as Warton responded with 126-8.

Arnside top the Westmorland table when an unbeaten 65 from Adrian Lee helped Arnside to a six-wicket success.

Graham Beaumont’s 65 helped Bolton-le-Sands to 147-8 in the first innings, with David Birch and Alex Davidson picking up a few wickets apiece.

But Lee, with ample support from Craig Barron (25 not out) worked his magic at the crease to continue Arnside’s impressive start to the season as they head for a mouth-watering trip to fellow early title chasers Shireshead this weekend.

An in-form Shireshead cruised to a 15-point victory with an outstanding bowling display in a low-scoring affair at Windermere.

It wasn't all plain sailing as the Shireshead openers, on selecting to bat first, were pegged back by some tight bowling from Jono Cooper and Park, scoring only 12 runs off the first 10 overs.

A semi-resurgence ensued saw Peter Wilson (55) reaching his first half-century for Shireshead as the score trundled on to 72-0 off 25 overs on a very slow Windermere track.

Once the first wicket fell, the rest followed quickly as Shireshead lost all 10 wickets for only 39 runs in under 11 overs.

Tight bowling from the unassuming Crawford (5-32) at one end and Cooper (5-40) at the other resulted in well-deserved figures.

Stand-in skipper Oliver had a job on his hands rallying his troops as Windermere required only 113 to win off 53 overs.

An early wicket for Jennings got Shireshead off to an excellent start, but with the score at 19-1 off eight overs, the game was very much in the balance.

However, four wickets in as many overs swung the game firmly in Shireshead's favour and some healthy competition in the race to the third five-for of the match was won in a superb spell by Jennings (6-11) with Wilson still returning outstanding figures (4-14) to go with his half-century as Windermere slumped to 36 all out.

An unbeaten 106 from Moller was not enough for Bare as they picked up just their seventh point of the season thanks to a bonus point defeat to Silverdale.

Bare notched up a good 201-5 from their first innings, but Silverdale responded as Hargreaves’ 52 proved the catalyst for the home side to win by three wickets for their first success of the season.

Powers scored an unbeaten 58 as Heysham were 210-6 from their first innings.

A patient 61 from Rob Davies helped Burneside record a three-point losing draw as the visitors scored 172-7, with Heysham taking away eight points from the tie.

Westgate continue to be in the chasing pack with a five-wicket triumph at home to Trimpell, who were bowled all out for 95 in the first innings.