FOURTH Division newcomers Apples took the Allspeeds Cup with a convincing 5-1 win over Brierfield.

Adam, Simon and Ian were in devastating form as the young guns took the first game 21-13, 21-13. Derek Parkinson pulled one game back for Brierfield to square the match at 1-1. Apples then took complete control and ran out worthy winners.

In the Fourth Division Brierfield are champions and Apples, Baxenden and Whalley all finished with 101 points, so a play off is necessary for the other promotion spot.

In Division One the champions are Allspeeds, who were beaten in their last match by worthy runners up New Era for whom Chris Byrne and Simon Ledwick were unbeaten. Both players have had a tremendous season.

Buraccs could finish only third in the league this season due to dropped points in mid-season. This week they crushed Mixed 9-1, Roger Whewell and Barry Hall starring for the winners.

In Division Two, Haslingden Cricket Club are runaway victors, losing only two matches all season. This week they destroyed Tek-Neek 10-0, Peter Barham, Mark Halstead and Gordon Robinson the fearsome threesome. Runners-up Sunnybank had a similar demolition scoreline over Sports and Social, S Nelson, P Beetham and N Henderson the winning trio.

Fourmost confirmed their relegation status with a 7-3 defeat at the hands of Stanhill; once again Nigel Penberthy was the star for the village team with three victories, captain Ian Pickles winning two for the losers.

Pedigree Chums, with Duncan Wareing in full flow, had a close 6-4 win over SAS. Rachel McHugh, a rising star, crushed old contemptible Geoff English 21-17, 21-12, in a fine win.

In the merit table championship in the Third and Fourth Divisions, which were played this week for the top eight players, Trevor Elkington, who tops the merit, showed what a worthy champion he is with a 12-21, 21-18, 21-15 semi final win over Danny Chamberlain and then defeated Peter Grihault in the final 21-17, 16-21, 21-10.

In the Fourth Division merit, Derek Parkinson clinched the title with a two set win, 21-14, 21-14, over Simon Walsh, having first defeated Des Logan in the semi-final.

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