ATHERTON CC made it four wins on the bounce since they axed professional Greg Dimery.

On Saturday they overhauled a near 200 score to beat Darcy Lever while the following day they just managed to defend a 200 plus score to beat Standish in a real thriller.

Darcy Lever chose to bat first after winning the toss but were held in check by some tight bowling from Ian Nuttall and Anthony Williams. Nuttall took the first wicket in the 10th over, having Mike Eccles caught by Paul Brown.

Fellow opener Nick Fawcett, benefiting from an early drop, was fast becoming the main scorer and with solid contributions from Yasir Bashir (26), John Norris (31) and Steve Small (23), Standish were able to post a formidable 197-6.

Fawcett looked well set for a century until Nuttall forced him into a false stroke and he was caught by Charlson for 92. Nuttall and Charlson shared the six wickets to fall.

Best opening stand

The Atherton reply was opened by Paul McLoughlin and wicket-keeper Phil Williamson and the pair put together the best opening stand of the season, 60, scored at just under four an over.

Williamson was the first to go, for 29, to be followed three balls later by Phil West without scoring. When McLoughlin went with the score on 77, the home side looked a shade vulnerable.

Charlson and Phil Wakefield came together and after a slow start they picked up the momentum and took their side to 156 by the 40th over. There was a slight stutter when both were dismissed for 40 and 37 respectively together with Paul Brown in the space of five balls.

But Paul Walsh and Mark Parry added 26 for the seventh wicket, leaving Walsh and skipper Rob Clews to steer Atherton home off the second ball of the last over.

Clews again lost the toss on Sunday but this time Atherton were asked to bat first.

McLoughlin did most of the early scoring with twos and fours while Williamson dealt superbly with professional Arindam Sarkar. Williamson went for six while McLoughlin reached 41 before being bowled.

West and Wakefield made a slow start but blossomed to produce a partnership of 79. After reaching an excellent half century West picked out a lone fielder on the square leg boundary and was caught. Wakefield went on to complete a superb 84 with 9 fours and a six before being run out in the last over. His efforts helped Atherton to close on a formidable 223-6.

Any thoughts Atherton had of an easy win were soon dispelled when, after the early dismissal of Gary Edwards, skipper Simon Maiden joined Steve Knowles and together they took the Atherton attack apart. By the 23rd over they had 135 on the board, scored at the rate of 7.5 an over. Suddenly Knowles edged a catch to the keeper and the door was open.

Sarkar fell to a slip catch by Brown and a second wicket in the same over gave Dave Baines a double wicket maiden. When Maiden himself was wonderfully caught by Walsh at midwicket, the end was in sight.

Superb bowling by Baines (6-5) and Wakefield (3-37), backed up by three super slip catches by West, gave Atherton a 14-run victory.

Golborne visit Atherton on Saturday while on the following day the Higham Park side visit Walshaw in the semi-final of the Cross Cup.