RAWTENSTALL spin king Keith Roscoe became only the fifth amateur bowler in the history of the Musbury Fabrics Lancashire League to take 1,000 wickets - and celebrated with another five to dent Haslingden's title hopes.

Roscoe reached his 1,000 on Saturday when he dismissed Nelson's David Crotty on his way to figures of 3-40 in a three-wicket defeat.

The slow left-armer took his place in the record books 25 years after launching his league career with Bacup and was congratulated by Pat Calderbank, the former Nelson bowler who was the last to perform the feat in the mid-1980s.

It was a gesture appreciated by Roscoe, who also passed 50 wickets in a season for the eighth time - all for Rawtenstall - and then by Sunday night took his career haul to 1,008 wickets as his 6-57 spun Haslingden to a 22-run defeat and gave him his 57th five-wicket return.

"It hasn't been the perfect weekend because we lost on Saturday, and the team comes first," said Roscoe.

"But I am very proud to have got to 1,000. It wasn't something I set out to do when I started out but it's just come along and it's nice to have done it."

Roscoe's first 198 wickets came for Bacup but it's in two spells at Rawtenstall, either side of stints with Edenfield and Sunderland, where the 42-year-old has wheeled his way to lasting acclaim.

Roscoe had too much guile for Haslingden's batting line-up as a failure to chase down Rawtenstall's 130 all out let Church open up a nine-point gap at the top of the table.

Paul Blackledge's men have the chance to make amends before they entertain Church next Sunday by beating Todmorden in a re-arranged fixture on Saturday.

But they will be kicking themselves for letting an opportunity slip by after Steve Dearden had claimed his second five-wicket haul of the weekend to put himself on the threshold of his own major milestone.

The all-rounder now has 49 wickets for the campaign and completed one leg of the double when he hit his first ball from Roscoe for six to pass 500 runs.

Dearden earlier struck the crucial blow when he removed Rawtenstall professional Andrew Payne for 16 and it took a 61-run stand for the fifth-wicket between Will Cook-Martin and Richard Wood to repair the damage.

Wood hit a six and five fours in his 39, but after he went with the score on 101, the home side lost their last six wickets for just 29 runs with substitute professional Asif Mujtaba picking up 4-59.

Haslingden also needed runs from the former Pakistani Test man but it was his controversial dismissal, after Barry Knowles had passed 400 runs for the season for the first time, which sparked another dramatic collapse.

Mujtaba would have survived gloving Roscoe to Payne at slip, via a deflection off wicket-keeper Vinny Hanson, had his inclination to walk not finally prompted a positive reaction from the umpire, despite second thoughts from Mujtaba as he sensed a possible reprieve.

Excellent close catching gave Haslingden no respite and by the 39th over they were teetering on 83-9.

Alan Howarth did a fine job as he hit 17 to take the score to 108 but with three needed for a fourth batting point, and Howarth having already survived a dropped catch in the last over, Michael Blomley edged the final ball of the match from Payne to hand Rawtenstall victory.