LEIGH Thirds fielded a comparatively experienced side agsinst Fleetwood on Sunday but it was interspersed with several young players who are proving their worth in the team.

Put in to bat, Leigh opened with Paul Jones and Paul Blackburn but the partnership was soon broken when Blackburn missed a straight ball and was bowled. Brother Nick joined Jones and they progressed confidently to 33 until Nick fell foul of the big off spin of Foster.

Dave Grayson, showing some form on his return to the club, put on a further 36 runs with Jones until he was also bowled for a score of 14. Craig Fletcher, another promising young player, was looking solid until he was also outdone by the spin of Foster. This brought Michael Eccles to the middle and along with the steadfast Paul Jones he scored 30 putting on a partnership of 68 be fore he was unfortunately run out.

Captain Pete Taylor didn't last long being bowled attempting to pull a half tracker which bounced just over ankle height. This was soon after Jones had been run out for an excellent 75 which had been the backbone of the Leigh innings. Billy Banner and Alex Roussak saw the innings through until the declaration on 170.

Adam Roussak and Craig Fletcher opened the bowling in the Fleetwood innings and although Roussak in particular bowled well there was little evidence they were going to blaze through the batting.

It was once again left to the experienced Billy Banner and rising star Alex Roussak to out think what was a useful top order. Banner, perhaps not yet at his best this season, did a job at one end by taking two wickets but it was Roussak at the other end who bamboozled the Fleetwood batsmen with his leg spin and occasional googly. His was a tremendous performance and he finished with figures of 13 overs, 4 maidens, 7 wickets for 42 runs.

Although Fleetwood resisted towards the end there was a feeling of inevitability about the outcome and Leigh ended the Fleetwood innings at a score of 132 adding twenty points to their overall league total.