WOODBANK skipper Anthony Harris says he will not let his players get carried away after Saturday’s victory over Prestwich saw them move to the top of the Greater Manchester League Premier Division.

The Stafford Street club claimed a fourth straight win, beating last year’s runners-up by seven wickets in a rain-affected game.

But they face an instant challenge to their position at Clifton on Saturday when they face the side they leapfrogged to go top.

Harris said: “We are obviously pleased with the position we are in but aware that it is a very long season and we are competing against very good teams.

“Even though we have moved top, I feel we are still a very long way from playing our best cricket yet.

“But hopefully we can maintain the form we have shown so far against Clifton.

“It’s a cliche, I know, but we just have to continue to perform, try to raise our levels even higher and just take each game as it comes.

“It’s my job as a captain to make sure we stick together as a team and that nobody gets carried away with our start, and that’s what I will do.”

Woodbank’s win against Prestwich followed another 49 runs from professional Jon Whitehead, while Nick Murphy and Gavin Nichol shared six wickets.

Walshaw, meanwhile, ensured they did not get cut adrift at the foot of the table with a first win of the season against local rivals Bury.

An unbeaten 52 from Mohammed Jamal helped Bury reach 127-6 in a rain-affected game.

Further bad weather did not stop Walshaw in their reply, with Mikey Watt’s men chasing down a reduced target of 122 with five wickets to spare.

Their key men took responsibility, with pro Saif Bhojani hitting 41 after opening the bat and overseas amateur Dylan Blignaut taking them to the cusp of victory with 54.

Blignaut had earlier taken 3-37 to set up the victory, while Bury’s Alex Breckin finished with 3-38.

Walshaw remain bottom but are now just one point behind three teams – Bury, Egerton and Glossop.

Bury’s bad weekend continued with a 94-run defeat at Leyland in the opening round of the Lancashire Knockout.

Jon Wiggans took 3-36 as they restricted the hosts to 199-7.

Karl Cross top-scored for the hosts with 55 before he was trapped lbw by Wiggans.

But the visitors endured a difficult start to their reply, collapsing to 39-5 before Dominic Morris led a recovery. He led the Radcliffe Roa men to 102-6 with 46 from 48 balls before being dismissed and Bury lost their remaining three wickets for three runs.

GREENMOUNT made it five wins out of five to go top of Greater Manchester League Division One.

While a number of matches in the division fell foul of the weather on Saturday, Phil Heaton’s side were rewarded for their patience at Worsley, where they claimed a 69-run victory.

Once play eventually got under way in the reduced-overs contest, professional Kaustub Pawar carried the fight to the hosts almost single-handedly, scoring an unbeaten 115 as Greenmount finished on 175-6.

Worsley fell well short of their target, with Ashar Eric top-scoring on 30 as Greenmount all-rounder Danny Hornby took 3-16.

While Greenmount’s bid for promotion has started promisingly, Unsworth are yet to get going. Jack O’Brien’s men fell to a third defeat in five matches, going down by 45 runs at Dukinfield to remain eighth in the table.

Elton’s rollercoaster start to the Division Two season continued at the weekend, when they followed up a 15-run win against Whalley Range on Saturday with a seven-wicket defeat at home to Brooksbottom the following day.

Skipper Andy Donnelly believes the problem has been a lack of strength in depth, with the majority of their three defeats from six matches coming when key players were unavailable for selection.

Elton have acted by signing two new players this week, with young seamer Tom Booth arriving from Ramsbottom and experienced top-order batsman Mark Goddard joining from Heyside.

Anwar Ul-Haq’s 4-39 was key to Elton’s win against Whalley Range, helping to restrict the visitors as they chased down a reduced target of 127.

But Ul-Haq was powerless to stop them succumbing to Brooksbottom, who bowled them out for 57 then knocked off the runs with seven wickets in hand.

Moshin Iqbal was the star of the show, taking 7-21 for the visitors.

The result, which helped Richard Ernill’s men bounce back from a tight defeat to South West Manchester, moved Brooksbottom back up to third in the table.

Edenfield, meanwhile, dropped to seventh after Saturday’s match at home to Hindley St Peters was abandoned without play and they lost by 66 runs at leaders Astley and Tyldesley on Sunday.

Elton are one place below them in eighth.

Results

Saturday

GMCL

Premier Division: Walshaw 122-5, Bury 1

27-6, Walshaw won by 5 wkts (reduced target). Woodbank 113-3 Prestwich 118-9, Woodbank won by 7 wkts (reduced target).

Division One: Dukinfield 140-7 Unsworth 95-9, Dukinfield won by 45 runs. Worsley 106-7 Greenmount 175-6, Greenmount won by 69 runs.

Division Two: Brooksbottom 114-9 South West Manchester 106-5, South West Manchester won by 5 wkts (reduced target). Edenfield v Hindley St Peters, abandoned without play. Elton 138-5 Whalley Range

112-7, Elton won by 15 runs (reduced target).

Division Three: Littleborough Lakeside 195-7 Elton Vale 67-3, match abandoned. Radcliffe 90-8 Denton West 92-5, Denton West won by 5 wkts.

Division Four West: ELPM v Tottington St Johns, match abandoned without play.

Lancashire League

Ramsbottom 11-1 Nelson 114-8, match abandoned.

Sunday

GMCL

Division Two: Astley and Tyldesley 205-6 Edenfield 139. A&T won by 66 runs. Elton 57 Brooksbottom 58-3, Brooksbottom won by 7 wkts.

Lancashire Knockout

Leyland 199-7 Bury 105, Leyland won by 94 runs. Ramsbottom 169-3 Glossop 168, Ramsbottom won by 7 wkts.

Fixtures

Saturday

GMCL

Premier Division: Bury v Denton St Lawrence, Clifton v Woodbank, Glossop v Walshaw.

Division One: Greenmount v Stretford, Unsworth v Denton,

Division Two: Hindley St Peters v Brooksbottom, Swinton Moorside v Elton, Thornham v Edenfield.

Division Three: Astley and Tyldesley 2nd XI v Radcliffe, Elton Vale v Clifton 2nd XI.

Division Four West: Roe Green 2nd XI v ELPM, Woodbank 2nd XI v Tottington St Johns.

Sunday

Derek Kay 1st XI Cup: Bury v Hindley St Peters, Elton v Edenfield, Greenmount v Edgworth, Stretford v Walshaw, Woodbank v Denton, Woodhouses v Unsworth.

1st XI Championship Cup: Friends Sporting Club v Brooksbottom, Radcliffe v Thornham.

Lancashire League

Rawtenstall v Ramsbottom.