CHAMPIONS Hawcoat Park started where they left off as the 2019 Deltawaite Ltd Furness Senior Citizens’ League got under way.

Hawcoat were 9-2 winner at Dalton CC in Division One, with last season’s merit winner and runner-up Bob Parkinson and Wilf Heywood opening with wins. Dave Grainger and Danny Smith gained the Cricket Club’s points.

Last season’s runners up Co-op opened with an 8-2 home win against Walney Park. The only change to their ranks saw Martin Ryder joining brother Dave in the team and there were mixed fortunes for them as Martin won while Dave lost by the narrowest of margins to Paul Gauntlett.

Askam had a comfortable 8-3 win at Hawcoat Park A, with debutant Ken Knowles winning 21-8 supported by Stuart Currie. Jimmy Bawden and Jack Curphey responded for the hosts.

The two Barrow Island sides both suffered losses, with the first team going down 8-3 at home to King Alfred and the newly-promoted A team losing 6-4 to West Shore at Biggar Bank, where they shared the games but lost on aggregate.

The two McDonalds, Ian and Joe – with support from Tony George – headed the Alfred’s total, and Chas West (21-8) and Alan Crighton (21-6) were the pick for West Shore.

Salthouse and Lindal played out a 5-5 draw at Raglan Street, with the away side winning five of the games but being unable to prevent the hosts taking the aggregate points.

Newly-promoted Co-op SC A opened with an 8-3 win at Church Walk against Ulverston Cons. Les Vickers led the way with a 21-8 win, with support from Gerry McDonald and Jack Huitson. Cons' points came from Dave Nicholson, Jeff Benson and Rae Postlethwaite.

The remaining game saw Kirkby record a 7-3 win against Roose. The pick of the villagers' winners was Malcolm Cleasby (21-4).

In Division Two, North Scale played fellow Islanders West Shore A and shared the games four each, but the club side took the aggregate to record a 7-4 win.

Glaxo SK opened in a very positive manner, winning 10-1 at King Alfred A.

West Mount had a 9-1 home win against Salthouse A, a result matched by Askam A against Hawcoat Park C.

The other matches saw Roose Community A share the games with West Mount A but took the aggregate points for a 6-4, while Hawcoat Park B won 8-2 against Dalton CC A.