Winning the toss and inviting Bollington to have a bat, the 1st XI got off to a great start with the visitors losing a wicket with just six on the scoreboard. Further wickets fell at 36 and 76 before Jack Ward (53) and James Cross (28) advanced the score to 130 for 4. That soon became 132 for 5 and at 168 for 7, the Upton faithful were looking at a score of around about 170/180 to be chasing. That wasn’t to be as Henshall (26*) and Horsfield (33*) let loose and advanced the score to 217 for 7 at the end of 50 overs. After tea, Upton started brightly but lost the crucial wicket of McArthur (13) early doors and it set the tone for a torrid afternoon for the home sides top order. At 72 for 5 things looked bleak but Tom Marsland (22) brightened the hope but the total was just looking too big. Facing a precarious last six overs with just one wicket in hand, the last pair of Johny Whitley-Baylee (19*) and Liam Sundve dug in resolutely for a moral boosting draw which could prove crucial come the end of the season. The draw see’s the 1’s retain second place with the gap to third placed Bowdon 14 points.

Tom Maguire’s 2nd XI got back to winning ways on the road at Warrington where they won the toss and invited their hosts to have a bat. The Warrington top order failed to deliver, but some middle order resistance saw them muster a decent score before being bowled out for 181 with three balls to spare. Rich Battersby, Graeme Keenan and Tom Maguire picked up two wickets apiece, but Luke Williams continued his fine form with the ball picking up 4 wickets. After tea, the Upton batsmen set about the task in hand with crowd pleaser Dave Stewart (72) dominant with bat in hand, ably supported by Sam Talbot (25) and Maguire (20) as they got home with 7.3 overs to spare and claim a crucial 25 points which close the gap to the second promotion place to just 14 points.

On the back pitch, Ian Sharrock’s 3rd XI posted a very healthy 207 against Barrow 2nd XI with the ever-reliable Graeme McGowan top scoring with 69. In response, the Barrow batsmen were resolute and with a handful of overs to go were well in the with a chance of winning before the final wicket fell with just five balls to go thanks to a fine catch in the deep by Joe Green off the bowling of Sharrock who returned splendid figures of 7 for 18 from 13.1 overs. The win see’s the 3’s extend their lead at the top of the table to 33 points over Neston in second place.

Just up the road at Irby, the 4th XI batsmen were once again in buoyant mood posting their third consecutive score of 230+ as they finished on 241 for 4 with Dave Charles hitting a splendid 85. After tea, the bowlers found the conditions challenging as they were only able to claim four of the home team wickets as the home side dug in to score just 93 from their allotted 45 overs. The draw see’s the 4’s maintain their position in 6th place whilst Irby are just three points off bottom spot.

Sunday saw a fest of cricket with Cath Williams Ladies XI registering the first victory of the day when they chased down Lymm Oughtrington’s low total of 45 in just 5.5 overs. There were some outstanding bowling figures with Charlie Scudder (3 for 1 off 2.3 overs), Madi Arthur (1 for 1 from 2 overs) and Ellen McGowan (2 for 0 from 2 overs) the pick of the bunch. In response, Lily Scudder (18 not out) top scored to maintain the Ladies unbeaten run for the season.

Next up, Phil Wood led the Sunday 1st XI as they posted a healthy 216 for 1 off just 30 overs against Tranmere Vics. Sean Lynch (51 retired), James Woods (55 retired) and Faiz Ahmed (41 not out) all fared well with the bat before the bowlers set to work bowling the visitors out for 142. Skipper Wood was in good form (3 for 3 from 2 overs) as was Rob Kalitkin (3 for 5 from 2.3 overs) in a convincing win.

To conclude, the 1St XI were looking to reach the semi-finals of the Chesire cup as they travelled to face Premier Division Oulton Park. Having posted 328 the previous day, the home sides batsmen would have fancied another large total but got off to a poor start with dangermen Leech and Bashir both gone with just 24 on the board. At 101 for 6, the hosts were looking in a precarious position but Jamieson (56) and Gibbon (69*) saw the home sides innings close on 228 which looked a reachable target for the 1’s to chase on one of the smaller grounds around. Liam Sundve was the pick of the bowlers, showing real pace and menace to return figures of 4 for 35 from his 9 overs. After tea, Matt Owen (20) got off to a flyer but with the score on 33 edged one to the keeper when looking in good shape. Brother Dan joined McArthur at the crease and the pair put on a very useful 95 for the second wicket before he fell for a delightful 26. Unfortunately for the visitors, that was the start of a six wicket collapse which yielded just ten runs as the away sides hopes faded. McArthur was the sixth of that spell of wickets as he had to force the issue and went for a magnificent 83 which edged him to within 35 of 1,000 runs in league & cup games this season. Just when it looked all doom and gloom for the men in green and gold, Dave Williams (14) and Tom Maguire (34) came in and offered some majestic stroke play that belied their batting position and it left the strong away support thinking the impossible may just happen. It wasn’t to be as the last wicket fell and Oulton Park won by 26 runs. Despite the defeat, the strength of the club shone through, not least by the 40 odd visiting supporters who made the trip and showed what a great club this really is.