IT'S hats off to Walshaw who have been crowned champions of a Bolton Cricket Association which they have dominated almost from the opening delivery of the season.

They were assured of the Millennium crown on Sunday and the only disappointment was that they didn't grab the silverware in the grand manner on their home ground as they sought their fifteenth win of the summer.

Instead they fell 21 runs short of their target after Adlington had scored 169 for 9, but with closest rivals Clifton also going down, the champagne corks were soon popping at Sycamore Road.

It was a topsy-turvy encounter with third-place Adlington for the visitors had started well, slumped to 84 for 6 and then recovered to 169 for 9 as Haddon and Howard ensured an abundance of tail-wagging runs.

Opener Mark Goddard top-scored for the home side with 29 and Barry Hamilton raised hopes of victory with 27, but wickets fell too regularly as professional Matthew Taylor took 5 for 71 and Howard 4 for 34, Walshaw all out for 149 in 34 overs and desperate to discover how Clifton had fared following victory the previous day, by coincidence against Adlington.

As it was, Darcy Lever performed them a rare good deed by cantering to a six-wicket win and Walshaw whooped it up to make it a sunshine summer for the club.

Searching for a silver lining in their personal cloud are Ramsbottom who slipped from the top of the Lancashire League after taking a broadside from Nelson.

The Acre Bottom men can take heart that Brad Hodge is still on top form for he roared past the 1000-run mark for the season, the Aussie scoring 81 in of an all-out total of 122, the only Rammy man to get into double figures at Seedhill against the defending champions.

Trevor Kegg was the pick of the home attack with 5 for 38 before Keith Arthurton - ironically the Ramsbottom pro when they last won the title in 1992 - took the batting honours with an unbeaten 69 which included 11 boundaries.

With two matches remaining Ramsbottom are four points adrift of joint leaders Bacup and East Lancs, and with a maximum of 24 points to be won, there is everything to play for in the run-in.

Hodge is certainly up for it, but he badly needs his colleagues to bounce back to form in the chase for he championship.