LOWERHOUSE took another step towards only their second Lancashire League title on Saturday as they shot 15 points clear of the chasing pack after Jon Finch inspired them to a win over Haslingden.

And while The House were going clear, Accrington roared into third spot as they eased past Todmorden at Centre Vale to further enhance an already enthralling title race.

And the top three now have a gap between themselves and the chasing pack after Church's game at Colne was abandoned and reigning champions Ramsbottom were rocked by a fourth straight loss as Burnley won at Acre Bottom.

The House won for the 15th time in their 18 games as they beat Haslingden after restricting the visitors to 142-9 from a rain reduced 44 overs.

Finch was the star as he claimed 6-24 to pass 40 wickets for the season and then Joe Martin made 40 and pro Francois Haasbroek hit 34 not out as Lowerhouse strolled in.

Accrington won by 38 runs at Todmorden in the midst of the Todstock festival.

Pro Ashar Zaidi hit 87 as Accrington posted 185-2 with Stuart Crabtree carrying his bat for 65.

Nick Barker (42) and Qaiser Abbas (41) gave Todmorden hope but they eventually fell 38 runs short with Jimmy Hayhurst, David Ormerod and Zaidi each claiming two wickets.

Ramsbottom were stunned as Burnley claimed a three-wicket win as they chased down the home side's 193-6 at Acre Bottom.

Pro Shanan Stewart hit 93 and David Bell scored 57 as Rammy seemed to be back on track.

Jon Fielding claimed 5-68 as Burnley replied but Qasim Ali was sensational as he plunded 84 and Josh Whitehead made 33 as Burnley got home with three overs and three wickets to spare.

Andrew Payne maintained his excellent run of form as Rawtenstall beat East Lancashire at Bacup Road.

And professional Nilantha Cooray also starred with the bat a week after he and Payne shone in the record breaking win over Ramsbottom.

Last week they shared an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 200 and on Saturday they shared 193 for the fourth wicket as they coasted past East Lancs 213.

Payne made 73 and Cooray a thrilling 114 as they won in style after being 21-3.

Earlier Payne had picked up four wickets as Ockert Erasmus top scored with 75 and David Pearson chipped in with 43 in East Lancs decent total.

Nelson borrowed Derbyshire's brilliant South African Wayne Madsen for their game at Enfield - but they were rocked by a big loss at Dill Hall Lane.

Werner Coetsee hit 76 for Enfield as they posted 200-7 and despite Madsen top scoring with 41, Nelson were rolled for 104 with Liam Jackson the pick of the bowlers with four wickets.

Ali Sartaj claimed five wickets as Rishton beat Bacup in a thrilling game at Blackburn Road.

Shaun Wyse top scored with 33 as Rishton were128 all out with sub pro Pieter Malan, who is set to break the Northern League batting record, failing with the bat.

But Malan produced the goods with the ball and claimed four wickets and Sartaj bagged his five as Bacup were 109 all out.

Enfield v Nelson

Enfield
A Fazal b Halstead 16
Z Afzal b Meade 2
Coetsee c Dibb b Meade 76
LL Jackson st SM Lemon b Madsen 23
S Hussain b Nazir 9
AP Bracewell c Halstead b Thompson 43
J Wrigley c SM Lemon b Thompson 7
JE Cook not out 8
K Demaine not out 4
Extras 12
Total (7 wickets) 200.

Meade 13 1 54 2, Halstead 11 2 27 1, Lord 3 0 9 0, Madsen 8 1 39 1, Nazir 6 0 42 1, Thompson 3 0 25 2.

Nelson
SR Lemon b Coetsee 24
NS Thompson c Gowers b Jackson 11
Madsen c Bracewell b Jackson 41
DA Crotty lbwJackson 7
P Dibb run out 1
SM Lemon c Wrigley b Jackson 0
K Nazir run out 2
TA Lord run out 2
CJ Heap c and b Coetsee 6
RA Meade not out 4
S Halstead c Afzal b Coetsee 0
Extras 6
Total (10 wickets) 104.

Afzal 2 0 9 0, Jackson 18 7 37 4, Coetsee 17.2 2 55 3.

Enfield won by 96 runs. Enfield 12 pts, Nelson 0 pts.

Lowerhouse v Haslingden

Haslingden
GA Knowles b Walker 3
Hayes c Beneduce b Finch 38
J Taylor lbwWalker 10
M Imtiaz c Cottam b Finch 21
LG Ingham c Haasbroek b Finch 9
SJ Kershaw lbwFinch 15
M Ahmed st J Martin b Finch 22
G Sudworth st J Martin b Finch 1
M Griffin c and b Beneduce 1
A Marcroft not out 10
J Walker not out 1
Extras 11
Total (9 wickets) 142.

Walker 7 2 15 2, Haasbroek 19 1 66 0, Russell 5 2 20 0, Bailey 2 0 8 0, Finch 9 3 24 6, Beneduce 2 0 5 1.

Lowerhouse
BR Heap c Hayes b Griffin 27
J Martin b Sudworth 40
PTBM Martin c Taylor b Griffin 3
Haasbroek b Walker 34
FB Bailey not out 16
JA Finch c Taylor b Walker 8
CR Cottam not out 6
Extras 9
Total (5 wickets) 143.

Ahmed 8 2 26 0, Sudworth 19.5 6 63 1, Griffin 7 0 22 2, Walker 5 0 30 2.

Lowerhouse won by 5 wickets. Lowerhouse 10 pts, Haslingden 1 pt.

Ramsbottom v Burnley

Ramsbottom
J Pilling c Burton b Lalor 1
KT Webb c Brunt b Hayman 0
Stewart c Tate b Wasim 93
DM Bell b Wasim 57
JM Fielding c Capstick b Wasim 18
RE Read not out 7
AW Bell not out 1
Extras 16
Total (5 wickets) 193.

Lalor 18 3 39 1, Hayman 6 0 20 1, J Whitehead 4 0 20 0, Wasim 15 0 70 3, Capstick 7 0 42 0.

Burnley
J Whitehead c Parton b Stewart 33
MQ Ali b Fielding 84
A Tate b Fielding 0
Wasim c and b Fielding 17
CT Burton c AW Bel b Fielding 19
MJ Brown c DM Bell b Hakin 6
G Whitehead c SEJ Read b Fielding 0
SR Brunt not out 11
C Hayman not out 4
Extras 23
Total (7 wickets) 197, Haslam 9 1 40 0, Hakin 6 1 23 1, Fielding 20 2 68 5, SEJ Read 3 1 17 0, Stewart 9 1 40 1.

Burnley won by 3 wickets. Ramsbottom 3 pts, Burnley 10 pts.

Rawtenstall v East Lancs

East Lancashire
DJ Pearson c DG Barlow b Roscoe 43
Minhaj Bhada c DG Barlow b Shafiq 24
JPA Turner c and b Shafiq 0
Erasmus c Dean Barlow b Payne 75
MC Lomas c Cooray b Roscoe 0
PB Kelly lbwPayne 22
A Clague c Hanson b Shafiq 13
NJ Turner c Kershaw b Shafiq 3
PG Turner c Cooray b Payne 21
D Chester b Payne 1
M Egan not out 1
Extras 10
Total (10 wickets) 213.

Shafiq 15 1 72 4, Payne 14.1 1 51 4, Roscoe 10 3 39 2, Cooray 10 1 47 0.

Rawtenstall
J Kerrigan c PG Turner b NJ Turner 12
Dean Barlow c PG Turner b Chester 0
AJ Clough c and b Chester 8
Cooray not out 114
A Payne not out 73
Extras 7
Total (3 wickets) 214.

Chester 8 0 45 2, NJ Turner 10 1 46 1, PG Turner 6 0 38 0, Erasmus 8 1 47 0, Kelly 5.3 0 36 0.

Rawtenstall won by 7 wickets. Rawtenstall 12 pts, East Lancashire 0 pts.

Rishton v Bacup

Rishton
A Bisoodwall c Farragher b Warren 8
S Wyse c Highley b Spencer 33
Malan b Warren 2
A Bartley c Highley b Spencer 6
Irfan Muhammed run out 1
JT Bibby c Farragher b Bodi 2
MT Leathert c Farragher b Spencer 14
M Patel c Warren b Bodi 19
SP Greaves c Farragher b Lord 8
S Hutchinson not out 22
AA Sartaj c Highley b Bodi 1
Extras 12
Total (10 wickets) 128.

Spencer 14 3 33 3, Warren 10 0 45 2, Bodi 8.4 1 31 3, Lord 5 0 13 1.

Bacup
J Cunliffe lbwMalan 8
A Highley c Bartley b Sartaj 24
Bodi c and b Malan 36
H Butcher c Bartley b Sartaj 1
JT McGregor b Malan 1
T Farragher c Bartley b Malan 13
M Thompson c Hutchinson b Sartaj 0
A Spencer c Wyse b Sartaj 0
S Thompson run out 11
B Lord st Bartley b Sartaj 0
D Warren not out 1
Extras 14
Total (10 wickets) 109.

Hutchinson 6 1 20 0, Malan 18 3 37 4, Sartaj 12.4 1 48 5.

Rishton won by 19 runs. Rishton 12 pts, Bacup 6 pts.

Todmorden v Accrington

Accrington
GL Sneddon c Pearson b Abbas 9
SPS Crabtree not out 65
GD Lloyd c and b Abbas 5
Zaidi not out 87
Extras 19
Total (2 wickets) 185.

Abbas 14 1 83 2, SR Barker 10 0 68 0, A Sutcliffe 1 0 9 0, Morgan 3 0 24 0.

Todmorden
SD Newbitt c Ormerod b JE Hayhurst 12
BD Sutcliffe c Lloyd b JE Hayhurst 3
Abbas c Ali b Zaidi 41
N Barker b Ormerod 4 2
A Sutcliffe b Zaidi 9
SR Barker not out 16
MJ Brierley b Ormerod 3
PD Senior not out 5
Extras 16
Total (6 wickets) 147.

JE Hayhurst 10 0 51 2, Ormerod 14 2 77 2, Zaidi 4 0 15 2.

Accrington won by 38 runs. Todmorden 2 pts, Accrington 10 pts.

Colne v Church

Church
LBP Wolfenden not out 8
CM Fergusson c Quereshi b Walker 0
Saeed Anwar not out 0
Extras 10
Total (1 wickets) 18.

Holt 2.5 0 12 0, Walker 2 1 1 1.

No result Colne 3 pts, Church 3 pts.