Greenmount 1st Away

Westhoughton 1st team almost pulled off the unthinkable against top of the table Greenmount as they lost by one wicket with only 10 balls left of the home sides innings.
Having won the toss, Westhoughton elected to bat and this decision looked questionable as they were 36-2 from 12 overs. Things began to change though as Stephen Murdoch (34) and Dan Naylor (25) rebuilt the innings. Westhoughton were looking good as these two added a partnership of 54, leaving them 90-2 from 24 overs. But then, a piece of fielding that 99 times out of 100 would merely stop the single, led to the run out of the Pro after a great throw to the keeper to dislodge the bails. Things soon went downhill as Westhoughton lost another two wickets without scoring a run with Dan falling along with Rob Brown. Kieran Paisley (24) and top scorer Mike Entwistle (41*) added a further 47 before Kieran fell. Mike King and Entwistle would then share a 41 partnership before Kingy was caught trying to up the run rate. Westhoughton finished on a solid 185-7 having been 90-5.
In response, Greenmount got off to a perfect start reaching 50 before losing the first wicket to Kieran Edwards. Another wicket fell on 70 as Rob Brown dismissed dangerman Andy Kerr with his first ball. Ste Parker was the third bowler to strike, and this triggered a mini collapse as Greenmount went from 108-2 to 118-5. A partnership of 40 followed this and Westhoughton were left bemused when a massive caught behind shout against Greenmounts Pro, who top scored with 62, was rejected with him in the 30s. He had chased a wide one and a noise was heard all around the ground, but it was given not out and no wide was given. This seemed to spur the lads on as they took four quick wickets to leave Greenmount 169-9 as Brown, Parker and Edwards all took three wickets. However, in amongst the wickets there were two dropped catches which could have changed the game as one Greenmount batter went on to reach 31*, after being dropped on 0.
Unfortunately for Westhoughton, Greenmount got over the line and what would have been a major victory turned into a bitter pill to swallow as the lads were left with 1 point rather than 6. However, there were a huge amount of positives to take from this display as it proved the lads are capable of challenging the best team in the league and there position in the league is nowhere near where they should be. Hopefully this performance can lead to bigger and better things despite the final result going against the team!