IT was a mixed Bank Holiday weekend for E.D.S. Leigh when, after struggling to draw at New Brighton, they finally managed their first league win of the season by 70 runs at home to bottom of the table Newton-le-Willows.

Leigh won the toss and asked New Brighton to bat first hoping that their bowlers could take advantage of any early life in the wicket.

Things did not turn out as hoped, however, as the game soon reached virtual stalemate at 13 for 0 off 10 overs. At this stage Dave Dove decided to turn to his spinners and was rewarded by Heath Pedrola trapping Davies lbw in his first over.

Important wicket

Chris Melia then claimed the important wicket of Sri Lankan Test player Chandika Hathurusingha caught behind for 5 but, after this success, the bowlers were made to labour long and hard for their wickets.

Cheshire opening batsman Paul Bryson occupied the crease for 169 minutes in scoring 58 and he was given valuable support by Richard Smith (28) and Martyn Evans (38). The home side continued their innings after the tea break and eventually declared in the 60th over with a score of 183 for 7.

Pedrola took 2 for 47 off his long 19 over spell and Ronnie Davis and Paul Vallance also claimed two wickets each.

Leigh's reply started disastrously with Batterley being lbw to Verry in the first over and Dove soon following caught behind off Peters.

With Tim Rees bowled playing round a yorker from Peters things looked grim at 9 for 3 off 9 overs.

Heath Pedrola and Gareth Cross threatened a revival until Pedrola (17) unwisely advanced down the wicket in spinner John Horrocks's first over and was stumped. This initiated another collapse with Mullaney and Davis out without scoring and Cross soon following after having batted superbly for 31. With the notable exception of Cross it was difficult to remember Leigh's highly rated batting line-up having performed so abjectly.

With the score on 65 for 7 and 17 overs to go, Leigh's saviour turned out to be the second youngest member of the side Greg Jennings who upstaged his more experienced colleagues and confidently withstood intense pressure from New Brighton's bowlers and fielders as he batted through to the end of the game for an outstanding 38 not out including six fours and a six.

His performance was made even more noteworthy by the fact that the wicket became more difficult as the innings proceeded with numerous deliveries lifting unexpectedly. One of these hit Brendan Donkers, who was batting without a helmet, causing his retirement with a nasty facial cut. Chris Melia came in to bravely assist Jennings for the last half hour of the innings and they held out for a draw at 112 for 7.

Against Newton, after another early departure by Batterley, Dove (24) and Rees put together a steady 54 partnership for the second wicket. After Dove's dismissal Pedrola produced his usual aggressive strokeplay to score a fine 32.

The star turn, however, was Rees who scored a stylish 65 off 104 balls including nine boundaries. This helped the Beech Walk side to gain a third batting bonus point as they declared at 175 for 8 after 50 overs.

The visitors' most successful bowler was spinner Wakefield who took 4 for 37.

Donkers (1 for 18) and Davis (2 for 21) put Newton's batsmen under pressure from the start and Davis ensured that Indian test star Shiv Sunder Das continued his nightmare start to the season by getting him out lbw for 5. Thanks mainly to Ian Walkden's 29, Newton recovered from 31 for 3 to 76 for 4 but the frailty of their batting was then exposed by the Leigh spin bowlers. Pedrola (3 for 19) and Melia (4 for 26) caused them to collapse to 85 for 9 before brief resistance from Finney (17) took them to an all out score of 105 with 16 overs still to go.

Missed game

Wicketkeeper Gareth Cross missed the game after being called up to play for Lancashire 2nd XI, but his deputy Neil Williams, another of Leigh's highly rated youngsters, produced a confident performance including a brilliant stumping off Melia's bowling.

Leigh travel to Wadham Road on Saturday for their next league game to face another tough test as they take on Bootle for the third time this season.