Captain Hitchon guides Padiham to Rammy Cup final

The club now has the opportunity to secure a first piece of silverware in a decade when they feature in the competition’s showpiece on August 5th at Whalley Road.

Padiham, who beat Wanderers in the final in 2008, having beaten Settle in the last four that year, had their opponents bowled out for 142.

Bilal Ahmed top scored for the visitors with a half-century, made up of four fours and three sixes, at number five while David Steinson added an unbeaten knock of 20 to proceedings.

Padiham professional Siviwe Gidana, Toby Burrows and Tom Shirtcliffe all did their bit with the ball, taking three wickets apiece in their respective spells.

It was Owen Deakin-Pickard’s unbeaten half-century that provided the foundation for Padiham’s success.

He hit eight fours in making 51, partnering Callum Clarke (53) and Nathan Whitehead (24 not out) along the way.

Clarke found the boundary seven times in his 67-ball knock and Whitehead fired four fours and a six to get Padiham home and hosed with seven overs to spare.

Captain Kevin Hitchon, who was part of the last cup-winning squad, said: “They definitely made up for that defeat against Read. They played really well.

“Ribblesdale won the toss and opted to bat first and, having looked at the track, we were expecting to be chasing 200.

“We bowled really well to restrict them, they all put a shift in, and different players have stepped up and performed in different parts of the competition.”

He added: “Owen (Deakin-Pickard) and Callum (Clarke) then saw us home with the bat. Callum carried on his form with another 50 to cap a good all round display.

“He’s having the season of his life and he just can’t stop scoring runs. We’ve really relied on him this season.

“He has stepped up to the mark which is a very good thing because we would probably have been struggling without his runs this term.”