Padiham survive by skin of their teeth

Kevin Hitchon’s side dropped in to the bottom two of Senior League A with defeat to Barnoldswick on the penultimate game of the term but they did enough on the final day to survive by the skin of their teeth.

Jimmy Gray top scored with 48, batting at number seven, as the visitors closed the innings on 159-9 at Victory Park.

After Chalana De Silva (5-44) made an impression with the ball for Barnoldswick, batsmen Adil Khan (37), N. Ahmed (33), Asad Latif (35 not out) and Matthew Haines (35 not out) made the difference in their response.

Fortunately for the Ramsbottom Cup champions, Owen Deakin-Pickard and professional Siviwe Gidana combined to help preserve the club’s top tier status.

The amateur batsman finished with a half-century in the home side’s 159 run total at the Arbories before the South African all-rounder tidied things up.

The paid man took 5-42 to restrict Cherry Tree to 138 to spark celebrations as Barnoldswick’s defeat to Salesbury filtered through.

Elsewhere, Read wrapped up the runner-up spot when closing the campaign with a 24-point weekend.

Bailey Richards and skipper Andrew Rushton took three wickets apiece to limit Settle to 136.

Openers William Wrathall (56) and Michael Whalley (55) then hit half-centuries to secure a nine-wicket win at Whalley Road.

And a phenomenal innings from professional Matthew Walker made it a very unpleasant final outing for Feniscowles.

The league’s third most prolific batsman finished unbeaten with a seasonal best 251, which included a staggering 41 boundaries.

Wrathall also made 71, adding 172 for the second wicket with his paid man.

The visitors simply had no answer and surrendered to a 263-run defeat.