STAND-IN professional Asif Mustaba proved a match-winner as Lowerhouse destroyed Todmorden, in Saturday's Transco League..

The Norden player joined up in style as Lowerhouse recorded a six-wicket success, claiming nine victims for 61 runs and then plundering 103 with the bat.

The Todmorden camp, who tagged the reason for their defeat as being simply "out-pro-ed", could have few complaints about their own paid man as Western Australian Matthew Nicholson was the mainstay of their innings scoring 61 of a total of 167.

But Mustaba was in the kind of form few could have resisted as he claimed his victims off 24.5 overs, of which nine were maidens.

His batting then proved equally as irresistable as he guided Lowerhouse to 168 for the loss of just four wickets.

Brad Hodge scored his fifth century of the season -- his second in succession -- to maintain Ramsbottom's climb from the lower reaches of the table.

Hodge made 109 including seven fours and four sixes with Nick Riley chipping in with a crucial 37 in Ramsbottom's total of 205-6.

Colne made a quick-fire start to their reply and seemed in control on 86-0 after 20 overs -- but that was before Hodge got in on the act again.

Openers Jeff Ellis (51) and Gary Hunt (31) both fell to the Australian but the third wicket was his most crucial, dismissing professional Marcus North for 21.

It was then that Mark Price set about destroying the rest of the order, his 5-53 making it a 21-run win for Ramsbottom.

Dale Benkenstein had his best performance with the ball and bat for Burnley to knock Rishton's title hopes.

The South African made 91 -- just two less than his highest total this season -- which included eight fours and three sixes from just 98 balls.

His third-wicket partnership of 118 with David Brown (45) helped the Turf Moor side amass a formidable 242 with the loss of just six wickets.

Rishton pro Clinton Perren bowled tightly to try and restrict Burnley, ending with figures of 2-38 but Peter Sleep (2-63) and Neil Wells (2-68 including Benkenstein's scalp) could not stop Burnley piling on the runs.

Benkenstein then worked wonders with the ball, taking the valuable wickets of Sleep (32) and Perren (16) as Rishton's reply faltered.

John Seedle top scored with 37 but Benkenstein's 5-64 and David Connolly's 3-32 sealed a 50-run win and maximum points for the Turf Moor outfit.

Incidentally, Steven Holden took a catch on the boundary to help to celebrate his 20th birthday with a Burnley win.

Defending champions Bacup strengthened their position at the top of the table after another star performance from professional Shaun Young secured a crushing nine wicket win over Accrington.

The talented Aussie all-rounder destroyed the visitors' top order, snapping up three early victims as Accrington slumped to 17-5.

Mas Ahmed (28) and Matt Wilson (48) then sparked a gutsy fightback as the Thorneyholme Road club recovered to 138-8, despite Young's impressive figures of 5-35.

But the current league leaders then made short work of their run chase as Young (50 not out) and opener Peter Thompson (74) shared an unbroken stand of 90 for the second wicket to lead their side to an emphatic victory with 16 overs to spare.

East Lancs kept up the pressure on the leaders, however, with the first of two comprehensive victories over Church in the space of 24 hours.

Aussie professional Brad Young was once again in imperious form with both bat and ball as the men from the Meadows cruised to a seven wicket win.

Church found run-scoring difficult against a miserly East Lancs attack before eventually being skittled for just 124, with Young claiming 5-55.

The home side then knocked the runs off with the minimum of fuss as Young struck eight boundaries in a typically stylish 41 to lead his side to maximum points inside 30 overs.

South African professional Martin Van Jaarsveld won the battle of the big hitters at Dill Hall Lane as Enfield breezed to a seven wicket win over Rawtenstall.

Van Jaarsveld and Rawtenstall professional Matthew Mott went into the game occupying first and second spots in the Transco Lancashire League batting averages.

But there was no doubting who came out of the contest on top as a match-winning knock from Van Jaarsveld steered his side to victory.

Mott, in contrast, suffered a rare failure with the bat, scoring just five before becoming one of Mark Greenhalgh's three victims, as the visitors struggled to 100-9.

In reply, Enfield openers Liam Jackson and Russell Edmonds then both went cheaply before South African Van Jaarsveld steadied the ship with a commanding 41 as the home side eased past their victory target with 15 overs to spare.

Lancashire county player Ian Austin led by example as Haslingden took the full 12 points with an 80-run success at Nelson.

The Haslingden skipper and professional blasted 76 runs as his side powered their way to 222-7.

Nelson were hampered as their paid man Wade Wingfield had to bow out of the attack with a back problem but the South African weighed-in with 46 with the bat and his partnership with Marcus Phelan, who notched 43, looked to have potential.

However, Nelson were left high and dry as Imtiaz and John Cairns claimed four victims each as the home side were ousted for 162.