DARWEN enjoyed two impressive victories over Blackpool at Stanley Park this weekend.

On Saturday in the Northern Premier League, Darwen put Blackpool into bat. A steady start saw Blackpool reach 12 without loss before Danson was caught behind off the bowling of Semple for six in the sixth over.

From then on it was downhill all the way as Mercer struck taking three quick wickets with Semple taking a second to leave Blackpool reeling on 32-5 from 19 overs.

When Gareth Cordingley joined the attack he too had success as he picked up a further two wickets before Lomas and professional Sharp staged a mini comeback to take the score from 39 to 57 before Darwen's captain Jeff Hacking rounded off the innings in real style. In his first over he had Sharp caught behind as Parkinson claimed his fourth victim and Cresswell and Hackett trapped lbw to end the innings with a memorable hat trick. Lomas was left stranded on 20 not out.

Darwen quickly put Blackpool to the sword as Hadfield and professional Keith Semple scored 23 and 27 respectfully to ensure Darwen took the 12 points for the loss of one wicket.

On Sunday it was the League Cup and this time Darwen decided to bat first and in glorious sunshine went about entertaining the crowd with a display to match the weather

After the loss of two early wickets Semple and Gareth Cordingley took the score to 55 before Cordingley was caught by Mercer off the bowling of Danson for 25. Semple and Lowe then added a further 51 before Lowe fell with the total on 106 from 29 of the allotted 45 overs.

Semple now decided to give a demonstration of why he is one of the top ranked batsmen in the League as he demolished the Blackpool attack plundering 113 runs including 10 fours and two sixes to finish on 113 not out. He was ably assisted by Graham Ainslie who hit 35 as Darwen added nearly 100 from the last 10 overs to set the massive target of 244 for the loss of just six wickets.

Blackpool were never in the hunt and seemed content to avoid the humiliation of the previous day as the object of their reply seemed to preserve wickets at all cost. Mercer and Semple bowled with their usual accuracy to restrict the home side as Mercer took 2-8 from six overs and Semple 0-8 from his six overs.

Darwen decided to give the whole team a bowl as everyone chipped in. Horsfield took two wickets and Hadfield one. There was late punishment for Lowe as he went for 26 from his one over which was enough to enable Lomas to complete his century as the Blackpool innings finished 59 runs short of the target.

Darwen 2nd also enjoyed a win double over Blackpool. In the League they won by six wickets as Michael Grant took three wickets for 31. Bateson scored 58 and Brown 40. On Sunday they won by 58 runs with Heys scoring 91 not out. Painter 54 and Davies took five wickets for 28.

BLACKPOOL 59-1

DARWEN 57

Blackpool 0 pts

Darwen 12 pts

BLACKPOOL

P Danson c Parkinson b Semple...6

C Simcock b Mercer...8

S Croft lbw Mercer...4

M Lomas not out...20

C Barrow c Parkinson b Semple...3

S Mercer c Parkinson b Mercer...6

M Griffiths b G Cordingley...0

K Marsland c Semple b G Cordingley...2

Sharp c Parkinson b Hacking...2

D Cresswell lbw Hacking...0

M Hackett lbw Hacking...0

Extras...6

Total (all out)...57

Bowling: A Mercer 19-8-21-3; K Semple 12-4-16-2; G Cordingley 7-2-16-2; J Hacking 0.5-0-0-3

DARWEN

G Jackson c Hackett b Croft...5

M Hadfield not out...23

K Semple not out...27

Extras...4

Total (1 wkt)...59

Bowling: M Sharp 7-0-20-0; S Croft 5-2-24-1; K Marsland 1.3-0-13-0

DARWEN 244-6

BLACKPOOL 186-6

DARWEN

M Hadfield c Lomas b Croft...8

J Cordingley b Sharp...0

Semple not out...113

G Cordingley c Mercer b Danson...25

C Lowe c Hackett b Sharp...27

G Ainslie c Danson b Pickles...35

A Mercer run out...3

J Hacking not out...10

Extras...23

Total (6 wkts)...244

Bowling: Sharp 9-3-29-2; P Danson 9-1-30-1; S Croft 8-0-41-1; C Barrow 9-0-49-0; K Marsland 3-0-26-0; M Pickles 6-0-43-1; M Lomas 1-0-10-0

BLACKPOOL

M Pickles lbw Mercer...9

C Simcock c and b Mercer...0

S Croft run out...14

M Lomas not out...103

P Danson lbw Horsfield...2

C Barrow b Horsfield...32

S Mercer c and b Horsfield...1

M Griffiths not out...20

Extras...6

Total (6 wkts)...186

Bowling: G Jackson 2-0-13-0; C Lowe 1-0-26-0; A Mercer 6-1-8-2; K Semple 6-3-8-0; J Hacking 9-5-10-0; G Cordingley 5-0-19-0; M Horsfield 9-1-39-2; J Cordingley 4-0-32-0; M Hadfield 3-0-26-1