AFTER the previous weekend's rainstorms, the Worsley Cup fizzled out into a damp squib for Hyndburn interest - as all four local clubs stumbled at the first hurdle.
Having slipped to an agonising six-run defeat at Colne in the league the previous day, ENFIELD suffered cup heartache on Sunday at table-toppers East Lancashire.
Enfield fell 38 runs short after half centuries from East Lancashire's in-form batting stars pro Shanan Stewart and Phil Bolton set them a challenging 205 for victory.
Adam Bracewell, with a cultured 51, was the only visiting batsman to capitalise on getting a start.
After two closely fought defeats and an irritating rain-affected draw when poised for victory in their last three games, the Dill Hall Lane outfit return to East Lancs in the league this weekend scenting instant revenge.
Captain David Bracewell said: "It's another trip to East Lancashire and hopefully we can get a win. They're top of the league, so we need to go there again and try and get one over on them.
"Shanan Stewart played very well against us and to be fair he hardly gave us a chance. I just hope that one of our bowlers can get him early."
If Enfield could grab a win, it would restore the confidence that has taken a knock since good early season form saw them setting the pace in the Lancashire League.
But Bracewell is still rueing the bizarre conclusion to his side's recent encounter with Ramsbottom, which saw Enfield denied a certain victory when the heavens opened with them just three runs short with eight wickets and six overs in hand.
"The Ramsbottom game annoyed us," said the skipper. "It threw it down, but the annoying thing was that they slowed the game down while we were batting. Every time we came off for the rain we waited to the end of each over before they came off. But they had only bowled two balls of that over. If the umpires had said we'll just see out this over it would have given us more of a chance to get the win. That was seven points lost.
"Having said that, we had more than 20 overs to get the runs and if we had been in their position we would have been happy to come off. When it rains there's always one side in a better position."
Enfield blooded a number of youngsters in their trip to Colne, but were left to rue a late flurry from the hosts' tail-enders which saw them post a competitive total of 184/9. Evergreen Bernard Reidy, 53, was once again the pick with a five-wicket haul.
Once again, though, the visitors just fell short when chasing, in spite of a stout 49 from Craig Fergusson at the top of the order.
Bracewell said: "Every game bar the Rishton game has been quite a close game. We just need someone to dig in and get us the win. In both games we have needed about 50 off the last 10 overs - it's just wickets in hand that have cost us. Someone's got to stick their hand up."
ACCRINGTON once again failed to get their season up and running on Sunday, as Todmorden knocked off a modest victory target with 13 overs to spare in the Worsley Cup.
Graeme Sneddon and pro Nishit Shetty were the mainstays of Accrington's 147. Simon Hanson (4/34) then gave winless Accy brief hope by removing both Todmorden openers cheaply, but the visitors held on to win by three wickets.
A solid batting performance from fellow strugglers Nelson proved more than enough as Accrington went down by 56 runs in the league on Saturday, despite a fine knock of 60 from Stuart Crabtree. Toby Bulcock's five-wicket haul was the fielding highlight of the Nelson innings, but consistent contributions saw Nelson to an imposing total of 212.
Next up for Accrington is the visit of local rivals Rishton.
RISHTON'S cup dreams were dashed as a fine six-wicket haul by Burnley's James Capstick saw them crash to just 111 all out. Pro Saaed Anwar Jnr's 48 prevented total meltdown, but only two other Rishton batsmen made it into double figures. In reply the home side cruised to victory in just 25 overs with eight wickets to spare thanks to an unbeaten 44 from Vishal Tripathi.
However, Rishton kept their impressive start to the league campaign on track on Saturday, by taking 12 points from Lowerhouse. A fine knock of 69 by John Cordingley held Rishton's innings together as they set Lowerhouse 185 for victory. In reply, only Chris Bleazard's 68 held up the Rishton attack as Anwar (6/57) and John Seedle (4/23) ripped through the hosts' lower order with little resistance. They travel to Accrington on Sunday.
CHURCH collapsed calamitously from 58/3 to 93 all out to pass up a golden opportunity to knock out Worsley Cup holders Nelson. Church looked set for victory after restricting Nelson to just 102 thanks to an excellent all-round bowling display on a low-scoring pitch. But after early contributions from the top three, Church slowly subsided in 43 overs, with Danny Kegg (2/10) and Martin Heap (3/12) proving particularly difficult to get away. Church's league game at Todmorden on Saturday was called off.
Ramsbottom are the visitors on Sunday.
