At Old Greasby Road, it was Ian Sharrock’s 3rd XI who stole the headlines with their third victory of the season which leaves them five points off top spot in joint 2nd with Didsbury; both with an unbeaten record. Having won the toss and elected to bowl, the Woodford bowlers seized an early breakthrough with veteran Graeme McGowan dismissed for a duck. This brought Dave Charles (29) to the wicket and him and Gavin Byrom (64) put on a 107 run partnership which set the tone for a healthy score. Further useful knocks from Charlie Ward (22*) and Alex Woods (39*) allowed the hosts to declare on 185 for 3 after just 30 overs. After tea it was the turn of the Upton bowlers and they didn’t disappoint, led as always by skipper Ian Sharrock with 5 for 27 and Charlie Ward 2 for 18 which wrapped up the Woodford Innings for 116 to claim the points. This week see’s the 3’s travel to face fourth placed Runcorn which will be a crucial game as they continue their good start.

The game on the front pitch saw Tom Marsland’s start strongly having won the toss and invited Davenham to have a bat. The visitors found themselves 5 down with just 50 on the board with Liam Sundve and Darren Leach proving a very effective opening bowling partnership. A brief mid order rally was soon halted as the Davenham innings closed on 118 all out with Liam Sundve picking up 5 for 29 from 13.2 overs. After tea, in a change of the opening pairing, Andy Roberts was quickly back in the shed with Matt Owen soon following with scoreboard showing 11 for 2. Three further wickets fell and the home side sat precariously at 30 for 5, then 45 for 6 before Tom Marsland (44) and Mick McGreary advanced the scoreboard to 97 for 6. With 23 runs needed and four wickets in hand, victory should have been seized but the remaining batsmen could only muster a further eight runs and the home sides innings closed on 105 all out. This Saturday see’s the 1’s head over to face bottom placed Sale in a game they will be looking to get the season kick-started.

On the road, Tom Maguire led his 2nd XI to an emphatic victory at Alderley Edge and it was the skipper doing the damage with the ball as he picked up 5 for 37 to help dismiss the hosts for just 121 with support from Callum McCormick (3 for 12). In reply, despite losing the top 3 batsmen for just 19 runs between them, Darren Warburton (26) and Tom Woods (56*) steadied the ship and set up a 6 wicket victory that pushes them up the table ahead of welcoming 11th placed Grappenhall this Saturday.

Ian Bruce’s 4th XI couldn’t repeat the heroics of the previous week when they lost to Frodsham with 2 balls to spare. Having posted 122 with good contributions from Ryan Finn(37*) and Dan Rivett (34) the bowlers did a splendid containing job before the hosts sneaked over the line. Gary Docherty was the pick of the bowlers (3 for 19) after a tight opening spell from John Scragg and Kev Jackson. No game this week for the 4’s following Bromborough’s decision to withdraw from the league.