In-form Shaw set sights on second

BAMFORD Fieldhouse clinched a hat-trick of Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League titles without bowling a ball.

The Hollin Lane outfit suffered a weekend wash-out as fixtures at Hollinwood and at home to Droylsden fell victim to the wet weather.

But the eight points gathered from the drawn games was good enough for Bamford to land their fifth league title in total and their fourth in five years.

Runners-up spot is still up for grabs with any number of teams in with a shout.

Shaw staked their claim with back-to-back victories over Saddleworth and Stayley.

Rick Harrington’s team have hit a rich vein of form, winning their last four completed matches to sit fifth in the table and within sight of second place, currently held by Saddleworth.

They defeated Saddleworth by five wickets on Saturday in the only fixture to go ahead in division one.

A terrific opening burst from Richard Doherty (five for 29 from 10 overs) did the damage.

Aided by some fine work in the field, the young medium-pace bowler took the first five wickets to fall as Saddleworth, without skipper Peter Skuse, slumped to 73 all out.

Harrington (two for 12 from 10 overs) got in the act to leave the home side 31 for seven at one stage.

Chris Brazewell defied Shaw long enough to score 29, but was Warrick Fynn’s final victim as the South African professional weighed in with three for 13.

Shaw had a little bit of a wobble when victory was in their grasp — they lost three wickets for two runs — but it was no more than that after 29 from overseas amateur Nick Van den Bergh and opener Dave Andrew’s 21 had set them on their way.

Fynn was among the wickets yesterday, claiming seven for 72 in the eight-wicket win over Stayley.

Saddleworth’s fortunes with the bat didn’t get much better at Heyside, who won by eight wickets after Nick Campbell’s seven for 74 sent the visitors spiralling to 120 all out.

Uppermill are up to third place despite suffering a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Greenfield — Uppermill’s Zeeshan Khan (52) and Greenfield’s Adam Hayes (54) made half-centuries — while Glodwick recorded an emphatic 10-wicket win over Moorside.

Abid Hussain and paid man Imran Aslam, with five for 29 and four for 31 respectively, were the chief destroyers as Moorside crashed to 79 all out.

Asif Iqbal registered his highest score of the season, 116 not out, for Hollinwood, who overcame Friarmere by 32 runs to stay in the hunt for a top-five finish.

Saturday, division one: Saddleworth 73 (R Doherty 5-29), Shaw 74-5. Division two: Greenfield 137-3 (R Darby 60), Glodwick 77 (J Ashton 5-24). All other fixtures abandoned.

Sunday, division one: Bamford Fieldhouse v Droylsden ˆ no play; Hollinwood 193-2 (A Iqbal 116 not out, M Butt 53), Friarmere 161-7 (A Qayyum 63); Saddleworth 120 (N Campbell 7-74), Heyside 124-2 (R Hugo 78 not out); Moorside 79-0 (A Hussain 5-29, I Aslam 4-31), Glodwick 82-0 (I Aslam 40 not out); Stayley 133 (W Fynn 7-42), Shaw 135-2 (W Fynn 39); Uppermill 171 (Z Khan 52, P Gill 4-31), Greenfield 173-4 (A Hayes 54).

Division two: Droylsden v Bamford Fieldhouse ˆ no play; Moorside 47 (R Connolly 6-35), Glodwick 50-2; Greenfield 114, Uppermill 115-0 (G Crossley 55); Friarmere 77, Hollinwood 78-4; Heyside 202 (J Cummings 60), Saddleworth 206-4 (R Jones 105 not out, G Pemberton 45); Stayley 72, Shaw 73-1.