FARNWORTH must wait another week to be crowned Bolton Premiership champions after Kearsley spoiled their party with a 59-run victory.

The shock win was only the Lavender Road side’s second defeat of the season – but it did not look likely early on.

After being reduced to 17-2, the Springfield Road side struggled until fourth man in Cameron Murray smacked 62 from 47 balls, an innings that included 11 boundaries.

Jack Berry and Richard Hamblett added 21 apiece as Kearsley put 210 on the board before they were bowled out. Kamran Younas (3-85), Imran Mirza (3-38) and Dan Higham (4-50) did the damage with the ball.

Dave Mather, the Bolton League’s leading wicket-taker with 54 victims, tore through the Farnworth batting line up in reply, producing figures of 7-87.

Mohammad Jameel (1-38) and Devendra Bundela (2-15) picked up the remaining wickets as Farnworth were dismissed for 145, Shaquille Cumberbatch’s 28 the top score.

Kearlsey skipper Grant Cordin said: “We needed to win because we didn’t fancy them lifting the trophy on our ground.

”Obviously by winning it still keeps our slim chances of winning the title alive, but they are very slim. We would need a lot of things to go wrong for Farnworth and right for us.

“If it wasn’t for our number 10 and 11 batsmen we might have only scored 160 then that could have been a different mindset for Farnworth.

“Cameron Murray was fantastic again. He doesn’t go out slogging, he just punishes bad balls.

“Our focus is now on securing a Lancashire Knockout spot.”

Meanwhile, Farnworth Social Circle beat Westhoughton by 63 runs.

The Piggott Park outfit batted first with opener Jake O’Byrne hitting 40. Skipper Tim Barrow added an unbeaten 54 batting at seven as the hosts put on 200-7. Westhoughton professional Qaiser Abbas was the only bowler of note with 3-49, and he struck 48 when he turned his hand to the bat.

Rob Brown top scored for the visitors with 51 but they were bowled out for 137 thanks to great spells by Richard Dempster (6-51) and Chris Barrow (4-42).

The win means Social Circle climb to third in the table, level on points with Bradshaw in fourth.

The Rigbys outfit kept up their pursuit of a Lancashire Knockout spot with a narrow win against Horwich.

Tom Billington (31) set the pace as the hosts opened the batting.

Fazil Hassan then added 35 but it all went downhill from there as the team collapsed under the bowling of Sachithra Serasinghe (6-20) and were dismissed for 139.

It took a while for Bradshaw to get going in reply, but Serasinghe kick-started the response, hitting an unbeaten 39.

With the score on 60-5 it looked worrying for the visitors, especially given the form of bowlers Liam Bones (4-44) and Phil Ingram (3-31).

But Darcy Cotter (16), Chris Evans (19) and Jordon Mason (13no) helped to push Bradshaw to a two-wicket win.

Eagley gave their incredible survival bid a huge boost by beating relegation rivals Lostock to move to within three points of safety.

After being cast adrift at the foot of the table for most of the year, three consecutive wins have turned their season around and given them a fighting chance of staying up.

A loss to Lostock would have all-but secured relegation to the Association Division, and it looked like it was going that way early on when they stuttered to 18-5.

But up stepped professional Agha Salman (87), who partnered ninth-man in Paul Rayment (41 not out) to save the innings, and possibly the season, to post a target of 183-9.

With 5-70, David Flanagan posted the best bowling figures.

Daniel Vincent (32) and Hasnain Abbas (19) put on a 51-run opening wicket partnership in reply but the bowling attack of Salman (3-67) and Will Shuttleworth (3-14) helped to dismiss Lostock for 135.

Eagley now sit three points behind Lostock in the table and skipper Dave Shuttleworth was buzzing with the result.

“I really hope we can complete the job now,” Shuttleworth said. “It’s unbelievable to have pulled it back to three points.

“We are all having a good time and enjoying our cricket. There is no pressure on us and the young lads are performing really well.

“I am thrilled to bits. The pro has really stood up in the last four games and the whole team is responding to that. Paul Rayment, an ex-pro in the league, he used to be one of the best in the league, batting at nine was excellent.

“We knew that, with our bowling, if we scored over 150 we would be fine and I thought 183 was fantastic.”

Heaton dropped to the foot of the table after losing to Walkden.

Adnan Ghaus bowled 6-20 as Heaton were bowled out for 84.

Ibrar Latif top scored with 33 not out in reply as the victory was secured with five wickets to spare.

Meanwhile, Daisy Hill need two wins from the final three matches to clinch the Bolton Association title.

They beat bottom side Golborne to move one step closer to glory, and seven points clear of second-placed Atherton.

Adnan Raees kick-started the first innings with a knock of 22 after the openers fell for just 16 runs.

The middle order stood strong against the bowling of Moeen Saiyed (4-50) to boost the score up to 190-9.

Mike Chilton (26), Stephen Hodgkinson (28) and James Mann (40) were all in the runs.

Only Saiyed scored any runs of note in reply, hitting 31, as Hodgkinson (4-51) and Raees (3-3) starred with the ball to dismiss Golborne for 96.

Little Lever came out on top in a high-scoring clash with Atherton.

Batting first, the Victory Road outfit started well with Adam Hilton (51) and Adil Nisar (30) opening the batting.

Third man in Simon Anderton top scored with 86 as Little Lever posted 235-7, Muhammad Baig taking 3-70.

David Tantsis-Hall hit an unbeaten 81 when he opened the reply. Baig then added 52.

However, Anderton (3-60) and Nisar (4-71) cranked up the pressure with the ball and Atherton were dismissed for 220.

Atherton occupy the final promotion spot with three games to go but are only one point ahead of Blackrod.

The Vicarage Road outfit missed out on a chance to leapfrog Atherton into second place as they were beaten by Astley Bridge.

Andrew Mills hit an unbeaten 48 as Astley Bridge recovered from 73-7 to finish on 121. Thueshendra De Zoysa (3-67) and Matthew Fanning (3-22) did the damage with the ball.

Jack Southworth top scored with 17 in reply but Irfan Puda led a bowling attack which had Blackrod dismissed 20 runs shy of the target.

Fourth-placed Darcy Lever beat Little Hulton to keep their faint promotion hopes alive.

Alex Lee took 4-35 and Dominic Gavin 3-42 as Little Hulton struggled to 49-8.

Naveed Ullah tried to rescue the innings with a knock of 45 not out as the overall score was taken to 92 before the final wicket tumbled.

Arshad Khan tried to limit the response with 4-21, but the low target was chased down with five wickets to spare – Chris Fenn (38) and Joseph Gavin (27no) leading the reply.

Adlington recorded a three-wicket win in a mid-table clash against Tonge.

Nigel Partington hit 28 for Tonge but he had little support until Connor Lord, batting at nine, added 23 not out.

Jack Shovelton (3-38), Sajawal Khan (3-24) and Majid Majeed (3-27) led the attack as the visitors were bowled out for 110.

The Huyton Park side responded with Stewart Plowes scoring 21 and Majeed 25 as the target was achieved with three wickets to spare.

Tilaksha Malshan was the only bowler of note, taking 3-47.

In the Greater Manchester Cricket League, Egerton and Woodbank could not be separated once again as they fought their way to a second draw of the season.

Gavin Nichol opened with a knock of 94 for Woodbank before Chris Read added 42.

Sahan Suraweera bowled 5-61 and Ramiz Patel took 3-47 as the hosts posted 207-8 after the 50 overs.

Professional Mahela Udawatte scored 87 as Egerton began the chase.

The Blackburn Road side had to withstand the bowling of Steve Dearden (4-44) to take the game right to the wire.

Sixth-placed batsman Suraweera and Dave Hamnett, batting at eight, added 33 and 35 not out, respectively, but the game ended level as Egerton also racked up 207-8 from their 50 overs.

Egerton remain in the relegation zone, three points from safety.

Astonishingly, Edgworth also followed suit in Division One as they tied with Stand.

Adam Syddall bowled a five-wicket haul for 23 runs as Stand were bowled out for 91.

Chris Thomas was the only batsman to hit double figures, with a score of 27. Edgworth had their own problems with the bat. Despite pro Clyde Fortuin leading the way with 46, they were also out for 91.

In Division Two, Astley and Tyldesley surrendered top spot after losing at South West Manchester.

A magnificent knock from Hammad Malik, who scored 148 from 137 balls in under an hour, set the hosts a fantastic base to their innings.

Mohammad Nana added 46 as they posted 266-8. A&T skipper Jimmy Cutt was the only bowler of note, taking 4-73.

The Gin Pit outfit fought back with Cutt scoring 80 when he turned his hand to the bat.

Aaron Booth added 57 but the visitors fell 50 runs short of the target.

However, despite dropping to second place in the table, Cutt’s side remain on track for promotion to Division One.

They sit one point behind new leaders Thornham.

Bolton Cricket League Premiership Division results: Eagley 183-9, Lostock 135. Eagley won by 48 runs.

Farnworth Social Circle 200-7, Westhoughton 137. Farnworth Social Circle won by 63 runs.

Horwich 139, Bradshaw 143-8. Bradshaw won by two wkts.

Kearsley 204, Farnworth 145. Kearsley won by 59 runs.

Walkden 87-5, Heaton 84. Walkden won by five wkts.

Association Division results: Astley Bridge 121, Blackrod 101. Astley Bridge won by 20 runs.

Daisy Hill 190-9, Golborne 96. Daisy Hill won by 94 runs.

Little Hulton 92, Darcy Lever 93-5. Darcy Lever won by 5 wkts.

Little Lever 235-7, Atherton 220. Little Lever won by 15 runs.

Tonge 110, Adlington 111-7. Adlington won by 3 wkts.

GMCL results: Woodbank 207-8, Egerton 207-8. Match tied.

Stand 91, Edgworth 91. Match tied.

South West Manchester 266-8, Astley and Tyldesley 216-9. South West Manchester won by 50 runs.