Those Greenmount supporters who took the East Lancs Railway into Ramsbottom for Saturday’s crucial Lancashire League clash at a sun-drenched Acre Bottom could have been forgiven for wishing they’d stayed on to the end of the line.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, there was a calamitous start to the Mount innings with their first three batsmen back in the shed for only 19 runs.
Facing his first delivery at the start of the second over, professional Chesney Hughes was dismissed when he clipped the ball to Daniel Pyke at mid-wicket and there was more to follow as last weekend’s hero, Andy Kerr was involved in a third run mix-up with Evan Williams that resulted in him being run-out.
To make matters worse, shortly afterwards, Williams got a contentious caught behind decision to put the villagers well and truly on the back foot.
There was something of a middle-order recovery thanks to Lewis Dove (29), skipper Ryan Senior (28), Tom Heaton (15) and Matty Donnelly (14) but any hopes of the Mount accruing a total to challenge the home side were soon dashed as Rammy’s South African professional Senuran Muthusamy demolished the tail end with the last five wickets falling for only six runs.
Muthusamy’s 6 for 12 in 10.1 overs was a league best performance.
Rammy had failed to overhaul Lowerhouse’s total of 109 the previous weekend but they were in no mood to slip up for the second time.
At 30 for 2, Greenmount may have harboured thoughts of another collapse but they reckoned without the classy Tom Parton who hit an unbeaten 52 and, along with Muthusamy’s 32 not out, saw the home side home with relative ease in the 25th over.
The club’s second eleven game home game against Nelson, was postponed due to the visitors being unable to raise a team.
On a baking hot Sunday it was the turn of the third team to entertain at the Log Cabin when they welcomed Rawtenstall third eleven.
The valley side set off like a house on fire and ran up 35 runs in the first three overs, but once Luca Addleton bowled Ben Roscoe with the second ball of the fourth over the run rate radically slowed down.
The visitors were eventually dismissed for 111 with Max Birtwistle and Leigh Dickinson taking three wickets apiece; Sam Woolley took two and there was one apiece for Luca Addleton and Matthew Gilmore.
The Greenmount reply was a walk in the park for youngster Max Birtwistle (50) and the evergreen Nigel Franklin (45) and the opening pair saw their side home for a 10 wicket triumph in 20 overs.
The twelve point victory leaves the third team top of their Lancashire League 3rd Eleven League Group 3 table.