SUPERB bowling displays from Walshaw's Kendrick Hatton and Greenmount's Ryan Senior, who took 17 wickets between them, stood out at the weekend.

But it was Unsworth's all-round team performance that could prove to be the most significant as they notched up their first win in the Greater Manchester League Premier Division.

Unsworth moved up two places and off the bottom of the table after claiming a first victory at the sixth attempt, beating mid-table Flixton by 109 runs.

Opener Chris Long made a confident start to the innings, hitting 10 boundaries on the way to 45 from 56 balls.

And while no Unsworth batsman was able to take the game away from their opponents, almost all the middle order made a contribution as they posted 223-9 – the first time they have passed 200 runs in the Premier Division this season.

Wicketkeeper Liam Parkinson hit a quickfire 38 while captain Chris Williams and John Wiggans both made 31 and Arthur Blake hit 27 from 28 balls after coming in at number eight.

"We know our bad start has been down to us not scoring enough runs," said Williams.

"It was a good wicket and the lads batted well, even if no-one managed to get a half century they all contributed.

"Our bowling attack has not been too bad this season and we knew if we could post a total over 200 runs then we would have a good chance of claiming the win, and that's how it turned out."

Flixton were never in danger of getting close to their target after losing wickets at regular intervals before being bowled out for 114 inside 30 overs.

Ashley Perry made 40 and Marlon Welcome-Goodman delayed the inevitable with 38 runs.

But after Ian Hall removed both openers cheaply on his way to 2-28, Jim O'Brien (3-34) and Kevin Ramsay (3-18) took three wickets apiece and Williams mopped up with 2-32 to seal a deserved win.

Senior had a day to remember for Greenmount as he scored a half century then took a hat-trick and finished with bowling figures of 8-63 in their 37-run victory at Heywood.

Greenmount's rivals looked well set after putting on 45 for the opening wicket as they chased down their total of 202-7, which included a top score of 66 from Senior.

But after removing Heywood's Chris Thomas in their 14th over, Senior set about dismantling their innings, bowling in tandem with the economical Phil Heaton, whose figures of 1-25 from 15 overs included six maidens.

Heywood started to lose wickets as they slipped off the run rate, but it was not until opener Bobby Cross fell for 81 that the wheels fell off.

Cross's wicket was the first of three in three balls for Senior in the 42nd over, as the visitors went from 140-6 to 140-9 before eventually being bowled out for 165.

Bury, meanwhile, were unable to build on their first win of the season the previous weekend, going down by seven wickets at home to Clifton, who moved up to second following the win.

Unbeaten Walshaw extended their lead at the top of Division One to seven points after earning their sixth straight win at home to title rivals Bamford Fieldhouse.

Nick Murphy's 62 underpinned their innings of 247-9, which also included notable contributions from Jack McClung (35) and Ally Dickson (32).

The visitors were just about matching the run-rate of five an over at 94-1 in the 20th over, but after Hatton had opener Grant Jones out lbw for 46 the bowler seized control.

Chris Tipper followed shortly after for 48 as Hatton went into overdrive. He took four wickets in the 28th over and finished with 9-31 as Bamford were bowled out for 145 to seal a 102-run win for Walshaw.

Woodbank are fourth in the table after beating local rivals Elton by eight wickets at home.

The visitors' total of 216-7 included an unbeaten 44 from David Murray and 57 from Harrison Smyth, while Brock Balgowan (33) and Chris Barlow (30) set Woodbank's batsmen a challenging target.

And the home side looked to be in some bother as they were reduced to 18-2 in the fourth over before John Whitehead and Gavin Nichol came to the crease.

The pair put on 202 for the third wicket, with Whitehead cracking 128 from 120 balls and Nichol adding 66 to ease Woodbank home.

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EDENFIELD’S Brandon Diplock proved to be the difference between his side and a struggling Radcliffe outfit in a low-scoring encounter at the Racecourse Ground.

Diplock removed the Radcliffe openers cheaply on his way to figures of 2-25 before hitting an unbeaten 36 to steer Edenfield to a four-wicket victory.

Fred Nixon and Paul Gallagher shared the remaining eight Radcliffe wickets as they were dismissed for 85.

Only two home batsmen made it into double figures, wicketkeeper Chris Berry top-scoring with 29 runs.

Edenfield did not fare much better with the bat, as five of their order fell in single figures, but Diplock kept his head to secure a fourth win of the league campaign.

Brooksbottom’s match at home to Denton was also a low-scoring affair as Richard Ernill’s in-form side fell to a five-wicket defeat.

Zohair Qureshi was a lone wolf in Brooksbottom’s lower order, eking out 30 runs as they were bowled out for 76.

The visitors were teetering on 35-5 in reply after Moshin Iqbal (4-43) took four early wickets, but Callum Clayton (16) and Alex Beeley (38) stopped the rot to see Denton past their target.

Elton Vale are fourth in Division Four West after claiming a one-wicket win at Elton seconds, while Tottington St Johns moved up to seventh with a 48-run victory at home to bottom side Worsley seconds.

ELPM were unable to make it a hat-trick of wins in the division as they lost by 95 runs against second-placed Roe Green seconds.

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Results and fixtures

Results

Friday

Archway GMCL20

Pool 4: Elton Rifles 135-2 Radcliffe Racers 134-6. Elton Rifles won by 8 wkts.

Saturday

GMCL Premier Division: Bury 180 Clifton 182-3. Clifton won by 7 wkts.

Heywood 165 Greenmount 202-7. Greenmount won by 37 runs.

Prestwich 236-9 Denton St Lawrence 116. Prestwich won by 120 runs.

Unsworth 223-9 Flixton 114. Unsworth won by 109 runs.

Division One: Walshaw 247-9 Bamford Fieldhouse 145. Walshaw won by 102 runs.

Woodbank 220-2 Elton 216-7. Woodbank won by 8 wkts.

Division Two: Brooksbottom 76 Denton 78-5. Denton won by 5 wkts.

Radcliffe 85 Edenfield 86-6. Edenfield won by 4 wkts.

Wythenshawe 170-9 Stand 114. Wythenshawe won by 56 runs.

Division Four West: Elton 2nd XI 141 Elton Vale 145-9. Elton Vale won by 1 wkt.

Roe Green 2nd XI 261-7 ELPM 166. Roe Green 2nd XI won by 95 runs.

Tottington St Johns 155 Worsley 2nd XI 107. Tottington St Johns won by 48 runs.

Sunday

Inter-league

GMCL 158-4 Pennine League 154. GMCL won by 6 wkts.

Pennine League U18s 225-5 GMCL Colts 199-8. Pennine League U18s won by 26 runs.

Lancashire League

Ramsbottom 176-8 Haslingden 155. Ramsbottom won by 21 runs.

Fixtures

Tomorrow

Archway GMCL20

Pool 3: Brooksbottom Bears v Edenfield Eagles, Egerton Earthquakes v Walshaw Warriors, Totty Tigers v Edgworth Fury, Woodbank Wildboyz v Greenmount Gladiators.

Pool 4: Bury Storm v Unsworth Draggons, East Lancs Millers v Prestwich Heat.

Saturday

GMCL Premier Division: Clifton v Unsworth, Denton St Lawrence v Bury, Greenmount v Prestwich.

Division One: Elton v Woodhouses, Swinton Moorside v Walshaw, Whalley Range v Woodbank.

Division Two: Edenfield v Stretford, Flowery Field v Radcliffe, Stand v Droylsden, Westleigh v Brooksbottom.

Division Four West: Bury 2nd XI v Tottington St Johns, ELPM v Elton 2nd XI, Elton Vale v Whalley Range 2nd XI,

Lancashire League: Todmorden v Ramsbottom.

Sunday

Lancashire Knockout: Ramsbottom v Walsden, Bury v Edgworth, Clitheroe v Prestwich, ELPM v Settle.