NUMBER eight batsman Phil Mason was the saviour of Silverdale.

His battling 42 when the home side were struggling on 40-6 followed by a bowling spell of 6-39 was enough to bring victory over Shireshead, who also found the going tough on the drying wicket.

Shireshead won the toss and asked Silverdale to bat and the bowlers made good use of the helpful conditions to reduced Silverdale to 29-3, 40-6 and 52-7.

Mason’s gutsy 42 in two crucial partnerships of 32, with skipper Paul Moffat, and 35, with number 10 Chris Speak, frustrated the Shireshead attack, however, and enabled Silverdale to reach a respectable total of 121 all out.

Shireshead’s innings started in a similar vein to Silverdale’s with the scoreboard soon showing 28-3.

A fourth-wicket partnership of 29 then swung the balance of the game back in the favour of Shireshead before good fielding from Silverdale saw the last four wickets fall for just 10 runs.

P. Yates was left stranded on 40 not out and Shireshead were all out for 104.

Mason also starred with Silverdale with the ball, finishing with 6 for 39.

Burneside bounced back to winning ways with a five-wicket victory over Sedgwick.

Mike Curran, who took four wickets, bowled 22 overs from one end and Barry Metcalfe, three wickets, and Chris Dixon, two, shared duties at the other end.

Good tight bowling by all three prevented any of the Sedgwick batsmen making significant runs, although the visitors survived their full overs to close on 104-9.

Burneside then found batting tricky and were in difficulties on 33-4 before David Batty, 36, and Mark Wilson, 26 not out, got them back on track for victory on 105-5.

The win puts them back in contention after last week’s shock defeat by Bare and also sees them in good heart for a tough weekend when they meet second-placed Westgate in the league tomorrow and leaders Milnthorpe in cup action on Sunday.

Leaders Milnthorpe picked up another 10 points with a 53-run victory over Ibis.

Put in to bat they lost openers Mills and Baldwin with only 13 runs on the board.

Naylor and Bowman steadied the ship, but at 52 two more wickets fell.

After 23 overs Milnthorpe were 67-5 and struggling, but a stubborn partnership between Lee Illingworth (64) and Nathan Burr (42 not out) led a recovery to a final total of 181-7.

Ibis started their reply with a first-wicket partnership of 41, which increased to 78 before the fall of a second wicket.

Runs continued to flow and after 29 overs Ibis were 97-2 and well placed.

Then for no apparent reason the middle order collapsed. Seven wickets fell for 17 runs as the game was turned on its head.

Poor batting enabled Mike Halhead to claim three wickets in an over as Ibis were dismissed for 129 despite a well-crafted 53 by opener Spencer Samson.

A quality innings from Arnside captain Ian Bullough was not enough to halt determined Westgate.

Bullough hit 93 aided by M. Shepherd (23) Bob Baldwin (20) and R. Shepherd (17 not out), before being bowled by Dave Lord.

The final tally of 217-8 looked like enough.

When Westgate replied, Lord hit a quick 50 before being bowled, but with the dangerous Peter Wilson out for 16, they were wobbling on 102-3.

Andrew Wilson added a speedy 36, but when three more wickets fell Arnside still looked favourites. Thanks to opener Nigel Parkinson, who carried his bat for 58 not out and Andy Nisbet, 13 not out, Westgate upset the odds, however, to win on 218-8 with three overs to spare.

Second-placed Warton kept up the pressure on the leaders at the expense of lowly Trimpell.

Put in to bat, Warton were in trouble on 21-4. Main batsman Paul Wetherill then went for 10, but Ricky Nelson then took the fight to the bowlers and was unlucky to be denied his century when run out to a direct hit on 91.

Closing on 189-9, Warton quickly set about Trimpell and paceman James Rafferty enhanced his reputation with an awesome 6-10 from 11 overs, clean bowling five of his victims.

Skipper Clement (25) was the only batsman to stand firm as Trimpell were skittled out for 65.

Good bowling gave Windermere a chance to record a second league victory at Bare on Saturday, but a batting performance that lost its way after a bright start ultimately cost them the match.

Friday’s rain produced a lively wicket, and Matt Hartnett prospered with 6-41 from 23 overs, well supported by John Baines with 2-11.

This was achieved despite numerous dropped catches, leaving Bare to close on 101-9, with G. Bissett top-scoring with 26 not out. James Crawford gave Windermere a bright start in response hitting 38 in double-quick time as Windermere were 42 without loss in nine overs.

The tenth became the turning point as Baines was caught and Cheetham (6-38) quickly grabbed four more wickets to leave the Windermere innings stalled on 53-5.

Mick Notley and Martin Thwaites rallied for a while, but when they were both out the end was in sight, and the visitors were bowled out a frustrating six runs short.

n Rain forced Warton and Sedgwick to decide the area final of the National Village Competition with a bowl out.

Winners Warton entertain Streethouses Cricket Club from North Yorkshire in the next round on Sunday (2pm) and, if successful, will be only three games away from the final at Lords.