WOODBANK, Walshaw and Bury all made a losing start to the Premier Division season in the Greater Manchester League.
Anthony Harris's Woodbank side came closest to victory of the three, falling 35 runs short of the target set by visiting side Roe Green.
All five bowlers used by the home team claimed a wicket, with Lee Ingham leading the way with 3-30.
Ingham took three of the top four batsmen in the order, but Luke Williams, coming in at five for Roe Green fired 63 from 68 balls to push up their total before they were bowled out with three overs remaining.
Harris underpinned Woodbank's run chase, making a patient 36 after opening the batting.
But after losing their pro, Jon Whitehead for a duck, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals.
Steve Dearden (22), Tom Murphy (25) and Dom Gowers (22) all failed to convert starts into match-winning innings as they were bowled out for 166.
Adam Holt's 89 and a 50 from Sam Dorsey put Clifton out of reach for Bury.
The pair helped the home side reach 211-9 and Karl Belston's never looked like getting close before being bowled out for 124.
Jon Wiggans, a new signing from Unsworth, top scored for the Radcliffe Road men with 24, while pro Kasun Adikari and Mukhtar Nasir each took three wickets.
Walshaw, meanwhile, fell to a 123-run defeat at Flixton.
Alton Beckford hit 13 boundaries in his 80 from 60 balls as Flixton made 220, with Liam Riley claiming 4-47.
Shabnan Ali top-scored with 20 as only four Walshaw batsmen made it to double figures in their reply.
Division Two was a much happier hunting ground for our local sides, with all three claiming victories.
Brooksbottom bowled out Astley and Tyldesley for 88 after setting them a target of 141 to win, while Edenfield passed Whalley Range's total of 143 with eight wickets to spare.
Elton showed they mean business with a 44-run victory over Prestwich seconds.
Captain David Murray will be hoping his side can bounce straight back up after they were relegated from Division One last season.
Club professional Anwar Ul Haq should play a key role in any title charge. He made 51 of Elton's total of 201 all out then took four wickets, as did Steve Filkins, as the Prestwich run-chase folded.
Both Elton Vale and Radcliffe began life in Division Three with victories. Vale (171-9) beat Deane and Derby (101) by 70 runs, while Radcliffe (63-3) beat Littleborough Lakeside (62) by seven wickets in a low-scoring game at the Racecourse.
In Division Four West, there were wins for ELPM (117-3), by seven wickets at home to Winton seconds (114), and Tottington St Johns (133), who beat Greenmount seconds (118) by 15 runs.
GMCL fixtures
Saturday
Premier Division: Bamford Fieldhouse v Woodbank, Bury v Denton West, Denton St Lawrence v Walshaw.
Division One: Greenmount v Dukinfield, Unsworth v Woodhouses.
Division Two: Elton v Glossop, Swinton Moorside v Edenfield, Whalley Range v Brooksbottom.
Division Three: Elton Vale v Astley and Tyldesley, Irlam v Radcliffe.
Division Four West: Flixton 2nd XI v ELPM, Tottington St Johns v Bury 2nd XI.
GMCL ins and outs
Premier Division
Bury
Captain: Karl Belston
Professional: Kasun Abikari
Incomings: Jon Wiggans (Unsworth)
Outgoings: Mohammed Jahangir (Unsworth).
Walshaw
Captain: Mikey Watt
Professional: Saif Bhojani
Overseas amateur: Dylan Blignaut
Incomings: Shabnan Ali (Kearsley), Joe Smith-Butler (Litteborough), Ben Parkinson (Ramsbottom).
Outgoings: Tom Murphy (Woodbank).
Woodbank
Captain: Anthony Harris
Professional: Jonny Whitehead
Incomings: Chris Read (Edgworth), Lee Ingham (Haslingden), Tom Murphy (Walshaw)
Outgoings: Damion Stringer, Faisal Ahmed (Elton).
Division One
Unsworth
Captain: Jack O’Brien
Professional: Mangaliso Mosehle
Overseas amateur: Leighton Friend
Incomings: Aman Arora (Walkden), Shoaib Mohammed (Elton Vale), Mohammed Jahangir (Bury)
Outgoings: Chris Williams (Middleton), Jon Wiggans (Bury).
Greenmount
Captain: Phil Heaton
Professional: Kaustub Pawar
Overseas amateur: Sachin Varadarajan
Incomings: Cameron Smith (Newton Le Willows), Saad Khan (Rainford)
Outgoings: Andy Kerr (Heywood), Ryan Senior (Bamford Fieldhouse).
Division Two
Elton
Captain: David Murray
Professional: Anwar Ul Haq
Amateur: Gareth Edwards
Incomings: Rob Powell (Didsbury), Faisal Ahmed (Woodbank).
Brooksbottom
Captain: Oliver Hawley
Overseas amateur: David Schierhout (South Africa)
Incomings: Kyle Ogden, Oliver Argyle, Zaeem, Mohammed Hammed
Outgoings: none.
Edenfield
Captain: Adam Barnes
Professional: Paul Gallagher
Overseas amateur: Wade Van Zyl.
Division Three
Radcliffe
Captain: Martyn Coates.
Elton Vale
Captain: Zeeshan Anwar.
Division Four West
ELPM
Captain: Paul Hewart
Professional: Matthew Smalley (Flowery Field)
Incomings: Dan McCaffrey (Winton).
Tottington St Johns
Captain: Michael Watts
Incomings: Brett Collins (Woodbank), Ryan Wilkes (Woodbank), Mark Hague, Michael Proops, Mark Parkinson (Glodwick).
Outgoings: Stephen Brooks (Woodbank) and Lee Kenyon (Woodbank).
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