THE strains of Des O'Connor's "Careless Hands" could be heard in the Greenmount dressing room after their four wicket BOLTON LEAGUE defeat by title-chasing Tonge.

After being restricted to 105 for 9 by the home club the village side contrived to spurn several easy catches, with skipper Gary Chadwick chief culprit, crucially dropping Paul Berry who went on to make 29.

Jim Aspden saw the Castle Hill side home with an unbeaten 34 despite paceman Mark Stewart's 4 for 56 return.

Greg Dimery was once again the kingpin for Elton as they bid for BOLTON ASSOCIATION championship glory.

The talented Aussie all-rounder hit an unbeaten 72 in the Leigh Lane side's 133 for 3 reply after his 4 for 65 performance with the ball had restricted Blackrod to 129 for 7.

With nearest rivals Adlington winning by five wickets against Daisy Hill it looks as though the title chase is going to go right to the wire.

It was a sorry day for Walshaw who were skittled to 62 all out by Spring View.

Ian Murphy and Andy Fox helped themselves to all the wickets before the Wigan side cruised to 65 for 1 from 16 overs.

In the MANCHESTER ASSOCIATION Bury had the worst of a drawn game against South West Manchester at the Sports Club.

On a surprisingly dry ground the Bury attack grafted without much luck as the visitors accumulated 189 for 4 from their 50 overs.

Pick of the bowlers was left arm spinner Nick Kennedy who picked up 3 for 31 to take his season's tally to 32.

In reply the local side struggled to38 for 8 off their allotted 45 overs with professional and skipper Owen Steverson compiling a sheet anchor 67 not out as wickets fell regularly around him. The only other significant contributor was Dave Leach with 24. Brooksbottoms cruised to a comforable victory in a low-scoring match at Summerseat.

Visitors Flixton could only muster a total of 88, mainly thanks to Eddie Hoyle's excellent 5 for 14 haul.

That target proved well within the reach of Brox with Simon Morris' unbeaten 44 the pick as they finished on 89 for 3.

Fresh from their heroics with the bat the previous weekend, it was back to the basic business of bowling for Prestwich's Andy Bradley and Dave Sandiford when they played host to Denton St Lawrence in the LANCASHIRE COUNTY LEAGUE.

The pair bowled unchanged to both claim five wicket hauls with the Saints all out for 112 in the final over, an innings reduced to 34 overs due to the weather.

In reply, Prestwich timed their effort almost to perfection with the winning runs coming off the first ball of the last over. Although the consistent Garstang for once went cheaply, Knowles and Orrell guided the score past the 50 mark before the pro was bowled by his Saints counterpart for 33.

Hey joined his skipper and some brisk running took the home side to within sight of the target, before a mix-up saw Orrell run out for a captain's innings of 40, leaving the 16-year-old to take charge.

By the time Bocarro claimed the youngster's wicket for a confident 27, Prestwich were on the verge of an excellent victory as they continue their climb away from the next-to-bottom spot they occupied earlier in the campaign.

Woodbank travelled to Glossop but failure to set a high enough total proved their downfall.

Only Andy Coles with 32 looked like mastering the Glossop attack and the local side's innings petered out a run short of the century mark.

Professional Neil Ridehaugh helped himself to three wickets while the Holder brothers and Dave Walsh picked up one apiece but the home side still managed to pass the target in the penultimate over.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.