BOTTOM club Astley and Tyldesley went so close to achieving only their second victory of the season.

They had Daisy Hill reeling with nine wickets gone, no chance of winning and four overs left.

But, try as they might, A&T just could not shift Mark Wood and Steven Evans and the side which started the day two places above their opposition held out for a hard fought draw.

Dave Nolan smashed 62 and Jim Cutt 38 as A&T scored 157. A&T were eyeing victory right through the Daisy innings but they hit upon a thorn in their side in the shape of John Norburn who went in at number seven and hit an important top score of 30. Chris Jones chipped in with 27.

The big performances of the day came from bowlers Steven Hodgkinson of Daisy and A&T's pro Nigel Doyle who both took magnificent eight-wicket hauls.