White Coppice 1st XI rose to fifth place in Division Five of the Palace Shield with a 12-point win over rivals New Longton 2nds after both teams started the match locked on 147 points each.
Meanwhile, Coppice 2nd XI beat Penwortham 5ths by 87 runs in a game reduced to 20 overs a side.
In the 1st XI game, skipper Jake Smalley won a crucial toss and had no hesitation inviting the hosts to bat first on a sticky track.
Matt Tinsley continued his habit of taking a wicket in his first over by bowling big-hitting Adam Smith for a second ball duck.
Experienced Paul Fairhurst then pulled Tinsley to Daniel Preston, who took an excellent catch at square leg.
Uresh Patel was then brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Ant Dark and then James Yates missed a straight one from Ryan Adderley to leave the score at 5-4 off six overs.
Simon Marsh was then run-out by a brilliant bit of fielding from Ussy Akram while dangerous Chris Ward fell to a diving slip catch from Jake Smalley for a duck.
When Gabriel Sardais was stumped first ball for 0, New Longton were in dire straits at 10-7.
The home team didn’t hit their first boundary until the 18th over when Zaheer Ahmed pulled Adderley for two fours in quick succession.
He perished to Tinsley trying to repeat the shot to be caught by Chris Maguire to give a Tinsley a much-deserved five-wicket haul – his second of an impressive season.
Michael Watkinson dug in for a 75-ball innings of nine before gloving one to Dark to leave his side at 34-9.
The catch was the wicketkeeper’s 23 dismissal of the season – five ahead of his nearest rival.
Justin Abbotts was the beneficiary of three drop catches – all off the unfortunate Ibby Akram – before departing to another good slip catch by Smalley as New Longton were routed for 49 in 37.4 overs.
The only New Longton player to reach double figures was number 11 Michael Jones, who finished unbeaten on 10.
Tinsley finished with 5-17 to end the season with an impressive 39 league victims.
Adderley burgled 2-16 and now has 27 league victims while Ian Aldred ended with the economical figures of 2-8 off 9.4 overs.
White Coppice opened with Dan Preston and Maguire and they definitely had the best of the conditions.
Preston reached 11 with two fours before top edging a pull with the score at 16.
Adderley was bowled by a good ball from Simon Marsh for two but Maguire and Jordan Halliday took the score to 47 and the brink of victory.
Halliday eased the nerves with a crunching four through the covers off the back foot before Maguire hit the only six of the match with a flick over square leg.
Halliday fell trying to hit the winning runs before Maguire sealed the 12 points by sweeping Simon Marsh for four to finish on 28 not out.
Smalley’s team head into their final game of the season against Chorley 3rds knowing that a point will guarantee fifth place.
Special mention for Mike Houghton who stepped in last-minute and was excellent in all areas.
Jeff Smith captained White Coppice 2nd XI in the absence of Martin Cuerden in their penultimate game of the season against Penwortham 5ths.
Both captains agreed to reduce it to a 20-over match with the threat of showers and a thunderstorm – which didn’t materialise until much later.
Smith won the toss and rejigged the order to throw his big hitters in first.
Anis Haider top scored with 43 off 36 balls but there were contributions from everyone, including a cheeky little 10 not out from Joe Seager.
Penwortham’s batters were never able to get going and were dismissed for 32 with Haider (2-9); Smith (3-6); Adam Mannan (4-9); and Ubaid Rehman (1-7) sharing the wickets.
Coppice took seven catches, including an excellent catch at long-off by Ellis Haughton on his debut.
Mannan now has 24 league wickets in an impressive debut season for the club.
The side finish their season with a trip to title-winning Preston Strikers hoping to upset the odds.