CLAUDE Henderson's amazing season continued with another five wicket haul as Lowerhouse found runs impossible to find.

They finished with just 57 from their 50 overs but hung on with nine wickets down to deny East Lancs the bonus points.

Henderson finished with 5-32 from his 25 overs to take his season's tally to 85 wickets.

And he was backed up by a remarkable spell from Nas Iqbal who conceded just 14 runs from his 18 overs.

East Lancs openers took just 10 overs to reach their target with Andy Clague unbeaten on 35 and Phil Bolton 20 not out.

Colne cruised to victory over Accrington thanks to an unbeaten 48 from pro Joe Scuderi, who has been offered terms to return to the Horsfield.

Accrington had been skittled for 99, with the Colne bowlers sharing the wickets and Glyn Sedman nmopping up the tail with 3-18 from nine overs.

Jeff Ellis, Gary Laycock and Kevin Cullen all weighed in with two wickets apiece.

Colne were never in trouble in reply after opener Gary Hunt steered his side to a solid start with 30.

Enfield's Neil Holmes took a hat-trick but he could not dent Haslingden's title challenge at Bentgate.

Haslingden - in trouble at 37-4 - were helped out by Mark Griffin's 46 and Charlie Lord's 78 as they made 199-9.

Holmes took an impressive 6-54. In reply Enfield were always struggling as Haslingden professional Brad McNamara got to work. He took 6-62 as Enfield were bowled out for 122.

Todmorden captain Richard Baigent is closing in on the club's amateur run record after falling just six runs short of a century in his side's 28-run win over Rawtenstall.

Baigent's 94 - he holed out on the long-off boundary in the final over - took him to within 96 runs of the record set by Harold Dawson in 1960.

The skipper shared in a 81-run stand with professional Brendan Nash, who later took a hat-trick, as Todmorden posted 206-6.

Rawtenstall were always behind the required run-rate after a slow start before Peter Seal provided some middle-order impetus with 67.

However he then became the middle victim of Nash's hat-trick after Glen Barlow had skied a catch and before Matt Hanson squirted a catch to gully first ball.

And in an eventful finish the last two overs produced 22 runs and three wickets as Todmorden clinched a maximum points win with one ball to spare and Rawtenstall picked up three batting points.

One high spot for Rawtenstall, however, was a 700th league wicket for skipper Keith Roscoe.

And passing the milestone was a family affair as Keith's son Mark pouched the catch at mid-on to dismiss Mark Clayton.

Nelson maintained their title challenge with a crushing 129-run victory over lowly Church.

Set 211 to win Church were never in the hunt as Roger Harper proved almost unplayable.

The visitors made a respectable start to their chase, reaching 49-1 after 14 overs.

However, just four runs were scored from Harper's seven overs and the professional maintained his stranglehold by claiming 6-12 from 17.2 overs as Church collapsed.

Harper had earlier made a solid 74 after Craig Walton had given the innings early pace with a run-a-ball 50 with five fours and two sixes. Harper hit just one boundary in his half-century before opening up with a further three fours and a six, sharing a 109-run partnership with Mick Bradley as Church were batted out of the game.

Professional Brad White took six wickets and top-scored with 42 as Bacup eased to a three-wicket win over Burnley.

Burnley lost four wickets for just two runs to slump from 64-2 to 66-6 as White got to work and it took an unbeaten 39 from Kamran Farooq late on to restore some respectability to the visitors' score.

However, it still wasn't enough as solid contributions from White (42), Peter Killelea (19) and Jason Cunliffe (26 not out) saw Bacup home with a couple of overs to spare.

Mark Price shone for Ramsbottom in their narrow win at Rishton, where the home side must have been kicking themselves.

All-rounder Price was top scorer with 35 as Ramsbottom were let off the hook to reach 158. They had lost four wickets without scoring a run to slump to 43-5 but then benefited from a simple dropped catch.

Rishton skipper John Seedle (4-45) bowled particularly well and then handed over to professional Paul Wiseman, who hit five fours and two sixes in his 81, after being told by the club that they would not be offering him terms for a second season.

But Wiseman, who shared a stand of 75 for the sixth wicket with young Richard Rostron (23) to lift Rishton out of trouble at 69-5, was dismissed with the winning post in sight. Needing just nine to win from the last two overs, Rishton eventually fell six runs short, unable to cash in against Price and professional Matt Pascoe.

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