Grappers drop into relegation zone

GRAPPENHALL dropped into the relegation zone in the Chapel Press Cheshire County league premier division after suffering a heavy defeat at Oxton.
It was a game Grappenhall badly needed to win after a string of poor results, but the odds were stacked against them from the minute skipper Guy Emmett lost the toss.
It was a very dry wicket and obviously likely to cause problems later on so the home side had no hesitation in asking Grappenhall to bowl first.
Grappenhall’s bowlers toiled in the sun but could not prevent the home side from posting a challenging target of 223-8.
When the visitors’ innings opened the pitch had become a minefield and only former Lancashire batsman Richard Green was the only one to trouble the bowlers. He hit 36, before holing out in the deep and only two other batsmen reached double figures as Grappenhall crashed out for 103.
The result left them second to bottom in the league.
Grappenhall also departed from the national cup competition when they lost to Walmley, from Birmingham, at Broad Lane.
Batting first, Grappenhall hit a respectable 233, Richard Green hitting 75 and Iain Wright 37.
The visitors were in trouble at 32-2 but an injury to Tony Hurdley put him in hospital with a gashed eye and left Grappenhall one bowler short. The Walmley side which included a Dutch international and a Warwickshire 2nd XI player, recovered to reach the target with five overs to spare.
Grappenhall 2nd enjoyed a two wicket win over Bramhall at Broad Lane.
The visitors batted first and were restricted to 188-9, Peter Talbot taking 2-25, Sam Baxter 2-59 and Albert Pennington 2-72. Grappenhall coasted to 189-8, wicket keeper Mike Sambell hitting an unbeated 70 and skipper Mike Holder contributing 43.
Grappenhall 3rd defeated Bramhall by eight wickets in a cup game, restricting their opponents to 140-8 and replying with 141-2
Warrington were held to a draw by Malpas, despite a fine batting performance that included 76 from James Hughes, a splendid 107 from Martel and a useful 29 from Liam Heaphy.
Malpas replied with 211-8, Simon Hewitt taking 3-47 and Martel 3-79.
In the Cheshire Alliance, Glazebury, who have topped division one for most of the season, lost at Hartford and dropped to third place.
The home side hit 173, with Glazebury’s bowling honours shared by skipper Andrew Calvert, 4-56, Sam Stanier, 3-41 and Dave Acton, 2-23.
Although there were good innings from Wayne Hargreaves, 38, Dean Lord, 37 and Simon Green, 21 they never looked like reaching their target and were dismissed for 134.
Appleton’s nightmare season continued as they went down by 40 runs to second-placed Haslington, who batted first and were able to declare at 225-7. Ed Sygrove took 2-48 and Vish Moheshwari 2-44.
Early losses left Appleton struggling at 24-3, and although they rallied with good innings from Lee Stoll, 38, Gareth Bailey, 22 and Tom Shard, 43, they could only reach 185.
Appleton 2nd had an exciting two-run victory over Haslington at Lyons Lane.
Mike Arnold hit 57 and Chris Tomlinson 25 as Appleton reached a modest 125. But good bowling by Arnold, 4-17 and Michael Cumberland, 3-34 dismissed Haslington for 123.
Appleton 4th went down by two runs in a closely fought game with Mossley, who batted first and totalled 179, Paul Hesford taking 3-49 and Inzy Rashid 3-37. Appleton were dismissed for 177, with Dom Smith hitting 66 and Peter Hesford 27.
Rylands lost by 36 runs at Old Parkonians, who batted first and hit 221-6 declared.
Adam Peters top scored with 41 and there were good innings from Tony Huddart, 40, Ian Mason, 27 and Sean Peters 22, but Rylands were all out for 185.
Stretton 2nd won by four wickets against Northwich who were dismissed for 139 while Stretton 3rd went down by seven wickets against Oxton after hitting 169.