WOODBANK dropped to third place in the Greater Manchester League Premier Division despite beating local rivals Bury in Sunday’s derby.

The former leaders began last weekend’s double-header with a six-wicket defeat at home to Bamford Fieldhouse, who moved above them into second.

Rain reduced the match to 32 overs but only Gavin Nichol was able to make any headway for the hosts as they struggled to 136-9.

By the time the Woodbank opener was out for 56, his side were struggling on 120-7 and they failed to push on in the remaining overs.

The division’s leading wicket-taker, Babar Khan, took 3-36 and Chris Schofield finished on 3-19.

Bamford bounced back after losing Adam Ahmed for a duck in the opening over. Fellow opener Samuel Felix finished on 61 not out, while Mitchell Renwick added 31 as they passed their target with two overs to spare.

Bury suffered a damaging defeat on Saturday, losing at fellow strugglers Denton West by three wickets.

Karl Belston’s men did well to make a fight of it after being reduced to 37-6. Stephen Oddy ripped through their top order on his way to 5-18 before Dominic Morris stemmed the flow of wickets after coming in at number eight.

Morris plundered 15 boundaries on his way to 86 from 55 balls before Bury were bowled out for 147.

Alex Breckin and Mukhtar Nasir bowled well in tandem as they made life difficult for Denton West in their reply. They shared 28 overs, with Breckin finishing on 4-42 and Nasir 2-37, but Mike Berry’s unbeaten 51 was enough to see the home side past their target.

Nichol was again on top form for Woodbank against Bury, but this time his knock of 88 proved decisive. Pro Jon Whitehead chipped in with 29, although some tight bowling from Kasun Adikari restricted the hosts to 195-7.

A number of Bury batsmen made decent starts but were unable to break free to turn their innings into a match-winning knock.

Dangerman Mohammed Jamal kicked off the reply with 33, while Adikari and Breckin added 27 and 26, respectively.

But following their dismissals, Ryan Barker mopped up the tail with 4-24 and the remaining six wickets were shared between Nick Murphy, Steve Dearden and Nick Kennedy.

The result left Woodbank two points off top spot, while Bury fell to second bottom, 12 points from safety.

Walshaw, meanwhile, are third bottom, four points better off than Bury, after their match at home to leaders Denton St Lawrence was abandoned on Saturday and they fell to a four-wicket defeat at Roe Green the following day.

Greenmount remain in the hunt for the GMCL Division One title after two wins at the weekend.

They are third in the table, just three points behind leaders Heywood, but survived a real scare at Dukinfield to keep up their challenge.

Phil Heaton’s men were coasting at 111 without loss in replay to the hosts’ 150 before the wheels fell off.

Greenmount lost nine wickets for 38 runs, kicked off by the dismissal of pro Kaustub Pawar for a quickfire 74.

His fellow opener Saad Khan (52) was the only other batsman to reach double figures, yet Heaton and old-stager Mark Stewart somehow scrambled them past their target.

Stewart had earlier helped set up the win with 4-32, removing Dukinfield’s top four batsmen, while Pawar took 4-38.

There was no repeat of the panic the following day as Greenmount eased to a 100-run victory at home to Denton, which featured a stunning century from Pawar (127) and half-century from Danny Hornby (78).

Meanwhile, third-bottom Unsworth, fell further into relegation trouble following back-to-back defeats against the top two – Heywood and Woodhouses.

Elton continued their march up the Division Two table with a 122-run win against Glossop seconds and 14-run victory at home to Droylsden.

Anwar Ul-Haq produced the pyrotechnics at Glossop, reaching his half-century in 29 balls before ending on 87 from 49 deliveries. Opener Matthew Ward also contributed 61 runs towards the Elton total of 243-7 from 48 overs, while all five Elton bowlers took at least one wicket, Gareth Edwards leading the way with 3-37.

Ward made another 39 runs in Elton’s 184 against Droylsden, while opener Adam Stansfield top-scored with 43. Edwards and Steve Filkins then shared eight wickets to keep the visitors in check in their failed run chase.

Elton are now third in the table, seven points behind leaders Astley and Tyldesley.

Brooksbottom are fifth after beating Whalley Range on Saturday bfore losing to Swinton Moorside the following day.

Edenfield, meanwhile, had two tight games, beating Wythenshawe by one wicket on Sunday after their match against Swinton Moorside on Saturday ended in a tie.