For the second week in a row there was a remarkable reversal in fortunes for the Clifton Cricket teams as the luckless thirds and firsts both won and the seconds went down to a second successive defeat.
The firsts bowled and fielded well and with Cheetham finding pace and bounce and Gareth Cross bowling his usual wicket-to-wicket nibblers, Unsworth struggled to put together a meaningful partnership until the fifth wicket pair put on 81.
14 year old Sarfraz Jan was selected again after his three wickets last week but was less effective this week as Unsworth closed on 161-7.
Sam Brown and Will Davidson didn’t end the season as they had completed August, with both back in the pavilion with 17 on the board, but there appeared to be none of the usual jitters as Crossy reached 50 with a massive six (p and went on to score 87 as the Unsworth total was surpassed with 20 overs to spare.
The seconds struggle to bat with any fluency at Unsworth and could only manage 148-8 in the 50 overs. Ian Morris top scored with 28 and three players scored 21.
Robert Lord was one of those and he went on to capture three Unsworth wickets as well as they struggled to 95-6. However, the sixth and seventh wicket pairs gritted their way to victory as the double winning season ended in defeat.
The thirds strangled the life out of the Royton batting line-up and they could only manage 115-7 in their full 40 overs. Gary Royle, Chris Royle, Danny Ainscough and Andy Tocher then all scored in the twenties to secure the win.
