PADIHAM clinched the Jennings Ribblesdale League championship in a cliffhanger final day.

They picked up five points after beating Barnoldswick by six wickets, but were left hanging on the telephone as they waited to hear how Great Harwood's match at Cherry Tree ended. After an agonising 10 minutes Harwood's chase for the title came to an end and the celebrations started.

The final day saw Great Harwood, Padiham, Ribblesdale Wanderers and even Cherry Tree all in with a chance of winning the title.

Padiham professional Andy McNicholas said: "We were a bit down on Saturday night. It was out of our hands but things went our way yesterday. It was a roller-coaster weekend but that was perhaps on the cards the way things have gone.

"We were happy that there wasn't too much pressure chasing 124, it's certainly better than chasing the 265 we were on Saturday. We managed to get there with four down and Steve Gee was out there at the end in his last game which was very fitting and all the lads cheered him off.

"They had quite a late finish so it was about twenty-to-eight when we heard the last wicket went down at Cherry Tree and the fun started." Stephen Gee was at the wicket as he saw the Arbories club to victory on his last day before retiring from the game. He left the field with tears in his eyes.

Barnoldswick scored 124-9 with Ian Scothern batting through the innings for 62 not out and Padiham clinched victory with four wickets down.

Cherry Tree set Great Harwood a target of 185-8 with Michael Veevers on 52 and Nigel Robbins scoring 66. Daniel Cheesbrough led Great Harwood's reply with a magnificent 78 and John Hughes took five wickets for 64.

Ribblesdale Wanderers beat Blackburn Northern by 10 wickets with professional Shahid Nawaz rattling up 120 and Richard Palmer also in the runs. And, if Padiham had faltered, that would have been enough for the title.

Clitheroe ended on a high with an easy victory over Edenfield who collapsed to 80 all out as Neil Bibby picked up five wickets for 10 runs. Stephen Benjamin scored 48 not out in Clitheroe's nine wicket win.

Earby's season limped to a close when they were beaten by Settle whose professional Surendra Bhave scored 86 not out. Earby set a target of 187-8 with captain Steve Rushton scoring 64 and Steve Hipgrave 54. Read defeated Whalley with Peter Haworth scoring 61 and Terry Little 77. Baxenden secured a four wicket win over Oswaldtwistle Immanuel. On Saturday Great Harwood secured top spot with victory over Padiham with Indian professional Shantanu Sugwekar 105 and Paul Houldsworth 74. Cherry Tree dealt a blow to Ribblesdale Wanderers' hopes with John Hughes taking 5-37 and Gary Bolton 55 not out. Oswaldtwistle Immanuel defeated Earby with Gerard Metcalfe taking 6-31 and Roger Watson scoring 62. Blackburn Northern professional Mark Lomas rattled up 122 not out and Derek Pratt took 5-56 to secure a 12 run victory over Edenfield despite Pat Taylor's 63.

Clitheroe beat Baxenden with professional Stephen Benjamin taking 5-50 and Baxenden pro Ronnie Davies scoring 52. Settle suffered an eight wicket defeat at the hands of Read. Barnoldswick clinched victory over Whalley with professional Raja Arshad 111 not out, Graham Knowles 88 for the home side. Results: Baxenden 195 (0), Clitheroe 212-9 (7); Edenfield 193 (0), Blackburn Northern 215-6 (7); Oswaldtwistle 183-6 (7), Earby 111 (0); Padiham 175-8 (0), Great Harwood 265-7 (5); Read 157-2 (5), Settle 154-7 (0); Ribblesdale Wdr 110 (0), Cherry Tree 111-4 (7); Whalley 187-7 (0), Barnoldswick 191-3 (5).

Sunday: Barnoldswick 124-9 (0), Padiham 125-4 (5); Blackburn Northern 175-6 (0), Ribblesdale Wdrs 176-0 (5); Cherry Tree 185-8 (7), Great Harwood 138 (0); Clitheroe 81-1 (7), Edenfield 80 (0); Earby 187-8 (0), Settle 190-7 (5); Oswaldtwistle 104 (0), Baxenden 105-6 (7); Whalley 202 (0), Read 249-6 (7).

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