THERE may have been some gold medal performances in Athens last Saturday - but Prestwich staged their own Olympian effort to stay at the top of the Lancashire County League over the weekend.

The Heys side prevented the Saints from marching on and above by inflicting a dramatic 43-run defeat.

Rivals Denton Saint Lawrence were just one point behind the leaders before Saturday's crunch encounter, but left the Heys Road ground empty-handed and stunned.

Ian Walker's determination with the bat, demon spells from bowlers Chris Humphreys (5-35) and Andy Bradley (4-40), and a wonder catch from skipper Steve Orrell proved pivotal in Saturday's crucial triumph.

On an unpredictable wicket and slow outfield caused by the heavy downpours, Prestwich had the ideal man to graft his way to a half century and steer his side through to a total of 140 for 9 in their allotted overs.

Walker quelled the terrors and surprises thrown up by the damp wicket to register his sixth half century of the season.

The home side needed a good start and Bradley pinned Paul Gould leg before.

Humphreys produced a similar ball to trap Simms the same way and the scoreboard showed Denton wobbling at 2-2.

The game then undertook a sudden transformation with the appearance of Steve Dublin at the crease as he powered his first ball for four through mid-off and crashed a six and another four in seven balls faced.

But Bradley hit back, bowling a corker to find the edge of Dublin's bat.

The total of 18-3 became 18-4 when Chris Thomas comfortably pouched Hawley's miscue at cover, but skipper Steve Hampson was another in no mood to prod and poke.

He crashed two sixes before Bradley struck again, Hampson offering a simple catch back to him.

At 31 for 5, the opponents appeared to lack any batsmen willing to graft but Mike Bocarro changed his normal aggressive tactics to dig in and the renowned big-hitter took 21 balls to get off the mark.

When Bocarro finally threw caution to the wind in a bid to break free from the stranglehold, he found himself brilliantly caught by Orrell.

At 57 for 7, Prestwich were now in the driving seat and Humphreys took a simple return catch to dismiss Morrell, while Bradley flattened Walton's leg stump.

A last-wicket stand of 22 between Nadeem (18) and McMenemie kept the home supporters waiting before Duxbury's spin forced Nadeem to top edge a sweep to Bradley.