THE closest first round match in the Mayor of Hyndburn's six-a-side Challenge tournament saw Griffin's Head from Huncoat beating St Phillip's from Blackburn after the scores had finished level.

The Huncoat side went through as they had lost fewer wickets.

Dave Parsons playing on his old stamping ground, hit 61 not out, gaining good support from Pervez Ali (36) in the Griffins' 109-4. Dave's knock contained two sixes and nine fours.

St Phillip's captain Mark Devoy was the pick of the bowlers with 1-9. The Blackburn team began badly, losing last Saturday's hero Ian Crutchley to a spectacular head-high catch by Safras Ali off Nick Whittaker's first ball of the innings. Ian Lawrenson kept the score moving with 26, but St Phillip's were in trouble at 45-4. Enter Mark Devoy to play a captain's knock of 46, which included three hard-run threes, putting on 53 with Kevin Lofthouse.

The tide turned St Phillip's way in the eighth over when the pair had already plundered 19 off the second over. Safras then stepped up to dismiss Devoy, leaving last man Lofthouse with 12 runs to get. Urged on by landlord Robin Foster, the experienced Percy Parsons - the only player from Accrington's 1975 Championship-winning team still playing competitively - ambled up to bowl the final over with four runs required for an outright win.

Three singles came from the first three balls, but the old head stood firm and a run out off the last ball saw the Griffin through to a quarter-final tie against Haslingden Methodists tonight. Taverners B defeated St Francis from the Chorley League in the other match by 28 runs.

Jack Taylor top scored for Taverners with 61, including four sixes, putting on a rapid 38 for the first wicket with Azar Khan (27) as their team reached 123-3. St Francis had a disastrous start, losing two wickets in the first over and were always behind the scoring rate. Neil Sears hit 27 and Steve Taylor 25 for the Darwen-based team.

Friday's fixtures are: Attock v Peel Park; Haslingden Methodists v Griffin's Head.

Results: Great Eastern 65 (S Brankin 25, T Teasdale 2-10, C Addison 2-16), Peel Park 88-2 (T Teasdale 37 not out, R Addison 29 not out, M Tafel 2-21), Peel Park won by 23 runs; Everest Jnrs 143-1 S Hussain 76no, M Hussain 37, T Dean 1-30, L Hillman 0-16), Masons Marauders 89-5 (P Stanley 50, T Dean 11no, M Hussain 1-10), Everest Jnrs won by 54 runs.

Gerber Foods v Millennium - Millennium won on a walkover; Accrington A 54 (M Shah 17, N Stockley 16, L Khan 1-3, N Elahi 1-6), Attock 108-4 (K Elahi 30, A Shah 22no, N Mohammed 1-15, N Stockley 1-19), Attock won by 54 runs. Hodsons Choice 96-3 (G Bardsley 29, J Phillips 16no, J Longden 16, Z Aslam 2-23), Supreme Frames 117-2 (W Ali 49no, S Mohammed 48no, A Gardener 1-19, J Longden 0-12), Supreme Frames won by 21 runs; Haslingden Methodists 89 M McCarrigan 25, J Stanton 17, M Swift 1-8, D Swift 1-15), Taverners A 85 (A Nawaz 27, B Swift 20, W Haworth 2-13, J Stanton 2-22), Haslingden Methodists won by four runs.

Taverners B 123-3 (J Taylor 60, A Khan 27, S Taylor 1-14, J Chambers snr 1-18), St Francis 95-5 (N Sears 27, S Taylor 25, A Khan 1-141, M Cox 1-15), Taverners B won by 28 runs; St Phillips 109 M Devoy 46, I Lawrenson 26, S Ali 2-7, D Parsons 1-12), Griffins Head 109-4 (D Parsons 61no, P Ali 36, M Devoy 1-9, I Lawrenson 1-19), Griffins Head won by losing fewer wickets.

Fixtures - Quarter-finals: Attock v Peel Park, Haslingden Meths v Griffins Head (July 23); Everest v Taveners B, Millennium v Supreme Frames (July 30).

Semi-finals, Friday August 6: Winners match 1 v Match 4; Match 3 v Match 2.

Final: Friday. August 13.

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