Radcliffe captain Sean Gibson praised opening batsman Anis Patel after his century helped the Central Lancashire League side secure their second win of the season at home to third-placed Crompton on Sunday.

Patel top-scored with 116, while youngster Conor Gately, making his league debut for the first team, also hit 28 as the hosts notched up 211.

Gibson said: “It was a great all-round performance but Patel was definitely our best player. “He had a really good day with the bat and Crompton helped by bowling to his strengths.

“They were bowling a lot of pull shots at him and he kept putting them away for boundaries every time.

“Gately came in at the end when we were trying to score some quick runs and he hit 28 off 12 balls. “He had a couple of sixes and it really gave us the momentum to get over 200, which is a big mental barrier in amateur cricket.”

It was also a good day for the bowlers as Jimmy Dixon took 4-77 from his 15 overs and pro Nadeem Ashraf took two wickets as the visitors were skittled for 157.

However, it was the bowling of Hafeez Afridi, who took 3-4 in six overs, that really impressed Gibson “Afridi came on when Dixon was getting tired and he was brilliant.

“We were at the point of the game where Crompton had lost a lot of wickets and were just trying to bat for a long time and he really put the pressure on them,” said Gibson. With confidence now running high, Gibson is hoping the win will act as a springboard for the remainder of the league campaign.

“I think where our confidence has been low, with comprehensive defeats and losing a few close games, this result has really given us a boost.

“It only takes one player to perform and everyone else will back them up,” said Gibson.

“Everyone was so happy after the game and I’m hoping we can use this confidence as a springboard to get a few more wins.”

League leaders Monton & Weaste defeated Radcliffe by eight wickets on Saturday.

Gibson top-scored with 55 as the hosts notched up 145 runs.

In reply, C Jonteer was the star man for the leaders taking three wickets and hitting a top score of 63 not out as the visitors scored 151-2 to win.

Radcliffe have a busy weekend as they travel to Unsworth for a Twenty20 tie on Friday, visit second-placed Milnrow on Saturday and play a one-off game against Little Lever XI on Sunday.