Morecambe lose ground on leaders after defeat away at Penwortham

The home side batted first and managed a score of 217 all out, with openers Maji Rajdeep (45) and Ian Walmsley-Jnr (20) getting them off to a positive start.

However, Jamie Cassidy (2-47) got rid of Walmsley LBW and Tommy Clough 4-63) removed Tom Nowlan (0), who came and went without scoring, to halt Penwortham’s early progress.

Martyn James Brierley (23) came to the crease and put on a decent parnership with Rajdeep, but the former was bowled by Deno Baker (3-50) while the latter was dismissed by the same man, Graeme Cassidy taking the catch.

Ed Duckworth managed a knock of 40 before falling to Baker, with the help of Andrew Creech, and Kane Donaghy (1) was run out by Graeme Cassidy as Morecambe tried to assert their authority on the game.

Glynn Parkinson’s knock of 37 helped take the score on, but he was caught by Luke Pearson off Jamie Cassidy, while captain Ashley Billington (2), Declan Billington (19) and Matthew Finnerty (0) all fell to Clough as the hosts were bowled out in 44 overs.

Morecambe fell short in their reply, but they did get off to a good start until Sam Owen (19) was caught by Brierley off Finnerty (1-37), while Luke Pearson (30) was bowled by Sam Ryding (3-46).

Creech (14) reached double figures before falling LBW to Billington (4-40), as did captain Ryan Pearson (12), whose innings was also ended by the Penwortham man,

Billington got rid of Baker (0) quickly, the Morecambe batsman was caught and bowled, and Alex Briggs also failed to make an impact, he was out LBW to Rajdeep (2-52) without scoring a single run.

Lewis reached 13 before he was out, caught by Brierley off Rajdeep, and Reuben Orr managed a knock of 16 before falling LBW to Ashley Billington.

Graeme Cassidy did his best to get Morecambe over the line, finishing on 42 not out, but he ran out of partners, with Jamie Cassidy (1) being bowled by Ryding (3-46) and Clough (10) also falling to Ryding with the help of Brierley, as the Woodhill Lane club were all out for 184.

The results leave Morecambe 17 points behind leaders Lancaster and 15 clear of third place Croston. Morecambe were back in action on Sunday in the T20 Moore and Smalley Palace Shield competition, where they beat Garstang by two wickets to to stay top of Division One North.

Garstang captain Alasdair Egerton won the toss and elected to bat first, but only three players managed double figures as they were all out for just 110.

Allan Cook (53) was the top run scorer for the hosts, while Jack Asquith (29) and Ben Woodruff (10) also contributed, but the rest of their order fell apart, with five batsmen not even getting off the mark.

Deno Baker took five wickers (5-22), while Freddie Deeks (3-22) and Jamie Cassidy (2-17) also helped get the job done. Morecambe did lose Alex Briggs early on in the reply, he was out LBW to Woodruff (2-13) after scoring just one run, and Ryan Pearson fell in the same way to the same bowler for just 10 runs.

Opener Lewis Smith scored 24 runs before being bowled by Parwez Khan (3-31) while Luke Pearson (18) was stumped off the bowling of Tom Wells (2-13) as Garstang tried to get themselves back into the game.

Rueben Orr (4) was run out while Khan removed Creech (8) and Stefan Dixon (2), but Jamie Cassidy (15no) and Deeks (2no) got Morecambe over the line with three balls to spare, leaving them top of the group, six points clear of Great Eccleston in second.