PADIHAM sneaked above Ribblesdale Wanderers in the Jennings Ribblesdale League after an incredible game at Cherry Tree.

And the top two are set for a ding-dong Ramsbottom Cup semi-final after safely negotiating their second round ties.

Padiham limped home on Saturday at Preston Old Road when 18 wickets fell for just 113 runs on a horrible track.

Sean Rashid claimed eight Cherry Tree wickets for 37 runs as Cherry Tree were bowled out for 56.

But Padiham were also soon in trouble until crucial boundaries from Nasser Mehmood and Andrew Robinson clinched a tense victory.

Their passage into the cup semis was more straightforward as Pankaj Tripathi scored 59 not out to overcome a Settle target of 107.

Ribblesdale Wanderers also had trouble in chasing a small target in the league after Barnoldswick had posted 88-9. The disappointment at missing out on a bonus point was tempered with a three wicket victory. Their cup victory was more impressive, Shahid Nawaz continuing his stunning form with 132 not out as his side passed Oswaldtwistle's target with three down. Pro Russell Whalley had hit 88 and Roger Watson 65 in Immanuel's respectable 228 target.

Whalley meet Cherry Tree in the other semi-final after dismissing Great Harwood for 117 before Mark Fallon steered his side home with 54 to ease the pain of defeat by Baxenden the previous day.

Only Earby were amongst the runs, pro Jon Harvey smashing 151 off 125 balls in their 90-run drubbing of Blackburn Northern, for whom Neil Weaver scored 60.

Stephen Benjamin led by example for Clitheroe, following an unbeaten 84 with 5-73 as Great Harwood who fell seven runs short despite 80 from Paul Houldsworth.

Read slipped into third place with a comfortable win over Edenfield and Surrendra Bhave proved his all-round ability with 6-30 in their victory against Oswaldtwistle after Tim Green scored 52 not out.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.