​Euxton shock league leaders to boost survival hopes in Northern League

The strugglers got the better of league leaders Fleetwood at Balshaw Park.

James Bone’s men collected 12 points in a winning draw to move out of the bottom two.​

They have been replaced by St Annes whose season goes from bad to worse after they were well beaten by rock-bottom Mawdesley.

In a rain-affected match reduced to 22 overs per side, Euxton batted first and posted a challenging 137-5.

After losing Joseph Barker for a duck in the opening over, Ben Houghton and Bone put on 58 for the second wicket.

Houghton cracked 33 off 23 deliveries and found the boundary rope on seven occasions.

Bone went on to hit an unbeaten match-winning half-century. His 55 came off 62 balls and included three fours. Matthew Siddall took three wickets.

Overseas star Zane Gilder (3-37) put the pressure on the visitors and then the skipper took two wickets in one over, including that of top scorer Andy Drake (37) to seal an excellent result for the hosts.

Mawdesley gave their survival hopes a major boost thanks to a four-wicket win at Vernon Road.

The home side batted first and were dismissed for 149. Joshua Unsworth took 4-46 and Joshua Adamson returned figures of 4-29.

Lukman Vahaluwala and Thomas Bradley hit 35 and 38 respectively.

Daniel Unsworth (43) and Fyffe Dennis (37) put on 79 for the first wicket, while Dominic Hendricks continued the momentum with 34.

Joe Hayton’s 3-24 gave the hosts some hope but Lee Berrie’s unbeaten 14 eased Mawdesley over the finishing line.

Matches involving Kendal and Longridge, Garstang and Netherfield, Settle and Leyland were all abandoned due to the inclement weather.

​It was a mixed weekend for Chorley.

​On Saturday, they were beaten by Fulwood & Broughton at Windsor Park in a rain-affected match.

But they bounced back a day later by getting the better of Mawdesley by 61 runs at Rectory Field in a match reduced to 33 overs per side.

It was a superb 81 from professional Marques Ackerman paved the way for victory. His knock came off just 61 balls and included nine boundaries and three sixes as Chorley posted a sizeable 173-9. Joshua Unsworth (3-44) and Joshua Adamson (3-50) were among the wickets for the home side.

In reply, Mawdesley were all out for 112, with Sam Steeple, pictured, taking 4-21 and Matt Dawson chipping in with 3-40. Ben Munslow and Adamson provided some respectability to the total with 35 and 24 respectively.

On Saturday, Chorley were bowled out for just 88 in response to F&B’s 125-5 off 25 overs.

Khalil Patel (5-23) and Simon Kerrigan (4-21) were the visitors’ match-winners with the ball. Zayn Wadiwala top scored with 34. Earlier, F&B skipper Ben Parkinson hit an unbeaten 34.