PREMIER Division survival is not the main aim for Walshaw cricket chairman Mike Mills – he wants more.

After watching his club beat fourth-placed Flixton on Saturday – a result that moved Walshaw up to third-bottom in the GMCL top tier, three points off safety – Mills believes a charge up the table in the second half of the season is not out of the question.

Walshaw are only 13 points behind Flixton and Mills is adamant that a place in the top four is still a realistic prospect.

“The key thing is to build on our win against Flixton,” said Mills.

“We have three matches this weekend, starting with Bamford Fieldhouse in the T20 (tomorrow), then the league leaders (Denton St Lawrence) at home on Saturday and Roe Green away on Sunday.

“We have shown if we raise our game we have nothing to fear from any team in what is an extremely competitive division.

“But we need to be consistent. If we achieve that then the second half of the season will not be about finding the key to survival, it will be about stringing together five or six wins, then a top-four place beckons.”

South African all-rounder Dylan Blignaut took 4-42 and Shabnan Ali 4-21 as Walshaw bowled out Flixton for 147. Blignaut was then joint top scorer with the bat, hitting 33, along with sub pro Dimuth Karunaratne, while Ally Dickson scored 31 and 15-year-old Ollie Pilkington weighed in with 26 as Walshaw reached their target with five wickets to spare.

There was also a good win for Woodbank – by six wickets at Roe Green – which moved them back level with league leaders Denton St Lawrence. Chris Read set up the victory with 6-71 as Woodbank restricted Roe Green to 226-9, then John Whitehead took over, smashing 13 boundaries in his 113 as the visitors passed their target with four overs to spare.

Bury’s recent good run came to an end with a seven-wicket defeat at home to Clifton, which saw them drop back to second bottom.

Greenmount, long time leaders in Division One, slipped to fourth place in the table following a second straight defeat. They lost at home to in-form Stand by 12 runs. After being set 221 to win, Greenmount set off at a fine pace with Saad Khan hitting 36 and fellow opener Kaustub Pawar making 68. Danny Hornby also added 34, while 13-year-old Evan Williams finished 19 not out, but the home side eventually ran out of overs.

Unsworth, meanwhile, were unable to defend their total of 198-8 against Winton, the division’s bottom side, who rallied to claim their first win of the season.

Fifth-placed Elton remain an outside bet for the Division Two title after beating Prestwich seconds by eight wickets on Saturday.

But Brooksbottom were brought down to earth with a bump after a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat at leaders Astley and Tyldesley. The result saw them drop down to fourth.

Elton Vale, meanwhile, remain top of Division Three after a four-wicket victory over Deane and Derby.