BURY delivered a warning shot to relegation rivals Egerton on Saturday in what turned out to be a dress rehearsal for next month’s Derek Kay First XI Cup final.

Karl Belston’s men raced past the target of 159-9 set by Egerton inside 35 overs, with six wickets in hand.

Results elsewhere meant the Radcliffe Road outfit remain second bottom of the Premier Division, still eight points from safety.

But they are continuing to fight hard, and dragged reigning champions Egerton further into the mire, now just three points ahead of Bury in third bottom.

Both sides put their league scrap to one side on Sunday, winning through their last-four ties to make it through to the Derek Kay final, which will be played at Greenmount on Sunday, August 13.

Bury endured a rollercoaster ride at home to Premier Division title chasers Denton St Lawrence before winning 3-2 on a bowl-off.

Only 48 hours earlier, the two sides had met in the Archway GMCL20 quarter-finals, which the Denton Saints won by two wickets after getting past Bury’s target of 181-7 on the penultimate ball of their innings.

It was a crushing blow for Bury who had put in a valiant effort.

Kasun Adikari top scored with 74, before Mukhtar Nasir (38 not out) and Sam Nolan-Massey (24no) ended their innings with an unbeaten stand of 69 runs.

Five of the seven Bury bowlers used gained wickets but 50 off 29 balls from Denton Saints’ Mark Dillnutt and an unbeaten late burst of 17 from nine balls by Dan Moriarty proved the difference.

That defeat would have still been gnawing at the Bury players when they took on Egerton the following day, but they quickly refocused and all but won the game in the field as Alex Brekin, Jon Wiggans, Adikari and Nolan-Massey each took two wickets to restrict the hosts to a relatively low total. Opener Mohammed Jamal made sure there were no hiccups chasing it down, kicking off with 65 and Adikari saw the side home with an unbeaten 34 to inflict a body blow to their relegation rivals.

Bury then kept their nerve the following day, scoring 158 all out in difficult conditions then reducing Denton St Lawrence to 68-4 before rained stopped play in the cup semi-final. And the team showed their all-round prowess with the ball to book a place in the final in the bowl-off.

Bury were not the only ones celebrating at the weekend, though, as Walshaw pulled off a shock three-wicket victory at title-chasers Bamford Fieldhouse.

Joe Smith-Butler took 4-59 and pro Dylan Blignaut 3-40 as Walshaw dismissed Bamford for168.

Blignaut then steered the team to a famous win, coming to the crease with the visitors teetering on 60-3 and keeping his head, as wickets continued to tumble at the other end, to finish on 74no.

The win moved Walshaw up to fourth-bottom, four points from safety, and allowed Woodbank the chance to move back top, which they did with a regulation five-wicket victory at home to bottom side Glossop.

GREENMOUNT and Unsworth continue to battle it out at opposite ends of the Greater Manchester League Division One table.

Phil Heaton’s Greenmount side gave themselves some breathing space in the race for the top four after beating fifth-placed Edgworth by three wickets.

They cemented their place in second, two points behind leaders Woodhouses and 11 ahead of Edgworth who, along with in-form Stand in sixth, are the only two sides that could deny them promotion.

Greenmount pro Kaustub Pawar finished with figures of 2-37 after removing two of the top four Edgworth batsmen. He also produced a smart catch to help Mark Stewart remove opener Bret Ernst. Stewart went on to share six wickets with Heaton as Edgworth were bowled out for 140.

Pawar, the division’s top runs scorer, hit 42 to kick off Greenmount’s reply, while Sachin Varadarajan helped them over the finish line with an unbeaten 34.

Unsworth, meanwhile, are third bottom after losing by three wickets at Stand, who made it six wins in a row.

After being bowled out for 74, Unsworth skipper Jack O’Brien attempted to rescue the situation, taking 4-26, but to no avail.

ELTON’s hopes of a league and cup double were dashed at the weekend.

They were knocked out of the Archway GMCL20 at the quarter-final stage by Premier Division outfit Denton West on Friday.

Their innings, reduced to 18 overs due to rain, never quite got going, with only two batsmen making it into double figures.

Opener Adam Stansfield hit 22 from 24 balls, while Johnathon Birkett, coming in at number five, managed 21 from 26. But they eventually ended on 93-8, which was never going to be enough against the top-tier visitors. Anwar Ul-Haq (2-24) did his best to restrict the West Wildcats, but they raced past their target with five wickets and more than six overs to spare.

Promotion from Division Two of the Greater Manchester League is the main objective for Elton this season, but leaders Astley and Tyldesley had too much for them on Saturday, inflicting a seven-wicket defeat. Last-man-out Daniel Lomax top scored on 31 as Elton were dismissed for 134 and Aaron Booth’s 66 not out for A&T ensured they passed their target with the minimum of fuss. Despite the defeat, Elton remain fourth and in the thick of the promotion battle.

Elsewhere, Edenfield claimed their eighth win of the Division Two campaign, bowling out South West Manchester for 103 after setting them a total of 113 to win in a match reduced to 25 overs. Opener Paul Gallagher top scored for Edenfield with 45, while Jim Flitcroft made 32 and George Hall finished not out on 23. Fred Nixon took 4-26, while Gallagher and Flitcroft shared four wickets as South West Manchester tried in vain to chase down the total.

Brooksbottom, meanwhile, remain locked in mid-table, one place above Edenfield in seventh, after suffering a four-wicket defeat at home to Wythenshawe.