Fylde coast cricket review: Blackpool race to success and victory at the double boosts Lytham, though Fleetwood and St Annes still struggle for wins

Leaders Blackpool required just 13.2 overs to polish off a seven-wicket victory at Stanley Park after removing Morecambe for 66, while Kendal completed victory by the same margin in 11.4 at Fleetwood after dismissing their hosts for 60. At least the game at St Annes went the distance, a winning draw against Fulwood and Broughton lifting the hosts out of the bottom two. Morecambe weren’t badly placed at 53-2, having been inserted by Blackpool, but then spinner Matthew Siddall got to work. Indian professional Rongsen Jonathan made 27 but his side fell apart from 62-3, adding just four more runs. The last five wickets went down without any addition and five of the bottom six failed to score. Siddall, fresh from minor counties duty with Cumbria, took 4-7 from five overs and Josh Boyne 3-26 from 7.5. An opening stand of 39 between Tomas King (28) and the club’s other Cumbria representative Sam Dutton (24), the got the Blackpool reply steady away and victory was sealed at 67-3. With six games left, Blackpool maintain their 35-point lead at the top from Longridge, who defeated Chorley. Fleetwood’s toils at the bottom continue after visitors Kendal skittled them out for 60 in 37 overs. Professional Dyllan Matthews scored almost half of them (23) and staged a minor recovery from 3-2. But having led the hosts to 35 without further loss, the South African’s exit signalled a slump to 40-7 and there really was no way back. Chris Miller took 5-16 from 13 overs and Chalana De Silva 3-10 off 12 before Darren Nightingale carried his bat for 40 from 39 balls, with seven boundaries, to ease Kendal to victory a full speed. St Annes took six points from the Vernon Road draw but were denied the full 15 by Fulwood and Broughton’s final pair hanging on. Home skipper Tom Higson was asked to bat and responded with 60 from 57 balls, leading his side to 199-6. The captain, who hit eight fours and three sixes, put on 68 for the second wicket with Nathan Bolus, while Arbab Munir did his best to slow St Annes down with 3-40 from his nine overs. Fulwood and Broughton clung on at 156-9, number three Matthew Smith top-scoring with 45 and putting on 51 for second wicket before Mark Smith was run out for 23. The visitors did well to survive from 115-8 and did so largely thanks to Jon Fenton’s unbeaten 18 from 51 balls. Top scorer Higson was St Annes’ most effective bowler too, taking 3-46 from 15 overs. Fleetwood and St Annes played at home for a second successive day on Sunday, staging rearranged games which had been postponed a fortnight earlier due to Covid cases at both clubs. But neither club could take advantage, Fleetwood losing by 56 runs to Leyland and St Annes by 23 to Netherfield. St Annes made a better fist of their run chase, set a target of 196-7 by a Netherfield side who had chosen to bat. The majority of the Cumbrians’ runs were scored by their professional Shrikant Mundhe, who hit an unbeaten 104 with 12 fours and two sixes. Arriving at 22-2, the Indian put on 92 for the third wicket with captain Ben Barrow (45). A flurry of wickets gave St Annes hope as 114-2 became 120-6 but Mundhe stood firm for his third century of the season. St Annes captain Tom Higson then went about the chase with gusto, continuing his fine form of the previous day with 13 boundaries in his 65, sharing an opening stand of 59 with Luke Jardine (25). But after reaching 100 with just one man out, St Annes proceeded to lose wickets and momentum, and from 155-5 managed to add only 18. Samuel Medurst (3-23) polished off the innings with Lewis Richardson (3-32) as the hosts were all out for 173 in 38.5 overs. Leyland too chose to bat at Fleetwood but set a less imposing target of 159-8. Opener Jacob Wright led the way with 47 and Fleetwood were frustrated by a late stand between Karl Cross (44) and wicketkeeper Joe Wallwork-Woods (33). Professional Dyllan Matthews had removed Wright on his way to an impressive 3-31 from 15 overs. But the Fleetwood batsmen had no answer to Leyland’s Sri Lankan Janith Liyange, who took 7-35 from 12 overs on his NPCL debut. The hosts at least improved on Saturday’s performance and reached three figures, thanks largely to a late 41 from Alex Ryder, but they succumbed for 103 from 33.1 overs. Fleetwood remain rooted to the bottom but St Annes’ weekend efforts saw them rise to ninth. Other results: Lancaster 148 beat Leyland 141 by seven runs, Longridge 170-8 beat Chorley 129 by 41 runs, Netherfield 173-7 beat Garstang 172 by three wickets. Lytham also played two home games over the weekend after Covid call-offs, winning both to jump into the top half of the table. They were another side who dismissed their opponents cheaply after putting them in on Saturday, though Lytham made hard work of chasing 77 before sealing victory over Rainford. The St Helens side had no answer to Afghan spinner Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, who dismissed the top four batsmen on his way to 7-36 from 15.1 overs. Akbar claimed two wickets before a run had been scored, and although captain John Dotters attempted to inspire a Rainford fightback with 29, he saw his side slump from 53-4 to 58-8. They toiled 31.1 overs for their 77 but Lytham found batting tricky too, eventually crossing the line at 80-6 and requiring almost 28 overs to do so. Tom Jefferson held the reply together with 28, helping Lytham to progress from 13-2 to 66-4, despite Andrew Davies’ 3-29 from 10.5 overs. Akbar was at it again on Sunday, taking 5-47 from 19 overs after Liverpool were dismissed for 118 in 38.4 overs at Church Road. Liam Naylor was the visitors’ top scorer with a run-a-ball 34 but his dismissal sparked a collapse from 64-2 to 81-8. Tom Myerscough took 4-12 from his seven overs. Lytham’s run chase was easier on the nerves this time, a six-wicket win achieved in 36 overs. Captain Matt Taaffe came in at 53-3 and propelled his side over the line at 121-4 with an unbeaten 43 (seven boundaries). It means Lytham have left the relegation zone behind with three straight victories since Covid kept them off the field for a fortnight. Kirkham and Wesham are up to third in the Moore and Smalley Palace Shield after Stephen Wright and Sean Bovington both scored unbeaten half-centuries in the seven-wicket derby win over bottom club South Shore. Moore and Smalley Palace Shield results PREMIER DIVISION: Fylde 106 (J Driver 3-26, J Marsh 33-30) lost to Croston 128-9 (J Parsons 37, J Lee 3-26) by 22 runs, Great Eccleston 188-7 (A Rhodes 82, R Roberts 3-41) beat Penwortham 187-9 (C Parker 60, W Metcalf 3-23) by three wickets, Kirkham and Wesham 148-3 (S Wright 64no, S Bovington 56no) beat South Shore 143 (A Wilson 4-40) by seven wickets, Penrith 47 (A Ellison 5-26, J Apperley 3-8) lost to Thornton Cleveleys 183-8 (J Eade 41, G Cameron 3-39) by 136 runs, Eccleston 136-9 beat Barrow 71 by 65 runs, Preston 131 lost to Vernon Carus 162-5 by 31 runs. DIVISON 1B: Fulwood and Broughton 2 290-7 beat St Annes 2 133-8 by 137 runs, Kendal 2 211-9 (O Killiner 105no, J Wilkinson 3-45) lost to Fleetwood 2 213-2 (J Davies 77no) by eight wickets, Leyland 2 191-7 (S Pallett 53, P Whittle 4-65) beat Great Eccleston 2 62 (W Jacques 4-1, W Clarke 3-23) by 129 runs, Morecambe 2 210-5 (A Ward 109no) lost to Blackpool 2 278 (D Henshall 111, B Heath 54, C Wilkinson 4-72, A Ward 3-59) by 68 runs. DIVISION 2: Norcross 137-9 (K Fletcher 31, H Procter 3-20, T Howarth 3-36) lost to Longridge 3 224 (T Howarth 62, I Davies 4-70) by 87 runs, Penwortham 2 179-4 (N Walmsley 115) beat Wrea Green 176-9 (B Hall 64, E Cox 4-30) by six wickets, Thornton Cleveleys 2 164-6 (W Weber 39, S Saiyad 3-38, A Basireddy 3-57) beat Ingol 125 (A Smith 38no, J Rolinson 6-32) by 39 runs. Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 for your first month. Try us today by clicking here