NALGO must have left Burrows Lane on Sunday evening still trying to comprehend how they lost their Kaufman Cup quarter-final against Prescot and Odyssey.

The game see-sawed throughout the afternoon.

NALGO, put into bat by Tony Bonner, were reeling at 60 for 7 after the spin of Alan McComb and Ian Wilkinson had cut through them. When McComb took two wickets in consecutive balls, it looked as if P&O would be chasing a target of around 80 at most. Yet NALGO dug their way out of trouble with a defiant eighth wicket partnership of 40 and eventually were dismissed for 129.

P&O's start was woeful. Steve Edwards was caught behind from Lance Mulholland's first delivery. Andy Greenwood had struggled and was dismissed lbw for 4, also off Mulholland.

The in-form Alan McComb and Don Hurst came together at the wicket to add some cohesion to the innings.

Although slow, they made sure progress in taking the score to around 55 by the half-way mark of the innings.

It seemed a secure base from which to launch their offensive to victory.

Yet they found it difficult to up the run rate. Once McComb was out lbw for 30, it signalled a further collapse. Keeble, Wilson, Whelan and Jolliffe came and went in quick succession with little addition to the score. Hurst and Paul Dagnall threw caution to the wind and added some quick-though few- runs. When both were out caught in consecutive balls (Hurst for a combative 37) P&O seemed dead-and-buried at 91 for 9 with just five overs remaining.

With nothing to lose, skipper Tony Bonner and keeper John Jinks conjured up some improvised strokeplay to keep the score ticking over. It didn't seem to be enough as they continued to slip behind the required rate. With two overs remaining they needed 18 for victory.

Bonner and Jinks continued their improbable march towards their target and the growing pressure on the NALGO fielders took its toll with a succession of mis-fields and wild overthrows.

The last over came and it dawned that P&O could win the game in equalling NALGO's score by having lost fewer wickets, a difficult single became an easy three runs thanks to another fielding blunder, the batsmen scampered further ones and twos with intelligent shots into a field that was now set back deep.

With one ball remaining, they were 126 for 9. Three runs were sufficient to win it. Bonner struck the ball straight to the fielder on the mid-on boundary. The ball was returned to the bowler who took the bails off in an attempt to run out Jinks though he had made his ground in completing the second run. The ball was still 'live' and the batsmen turned to make the third-improbable-run. The bails having been removed from one set of stumps, any run out would have to be completed at the other end, towards which Tony Bonner was now scampering. The throw to the NALGO keeper was wayward, fumbled and the resulting throw at the wicket missed. Bonner completed the third run, P&O had tried the scores but completed the win having lost fewer wickets.

Bonner scored 16 and Jinks 11 in a truly amazing fightback that will take some bettering.

Earlier in the week, P&O had secured a semi-final spot in the 20 over Lever Cup competition with an emphatic win over St Mary's College Old Boys at Burrows Lane. Don Hurst (25) and Andy Greenwood (16) were top scorers as P&O scored 78 on a difficult, wet track. St Mary's were never in it, thanks to accurate bowling and some superlative fielding and catching. They were dismissed for 48 with Paul Dagnall taking five wickets.

In Saturday's league fixture, P&O crushed Mersey Park by 85 runs. P&O had batted first and declared on 156 for 8, Don Hurst typifying his return to form with 53. Tony Bonner and Paul Dagnall made immediate inroads to the Park batting who at one stage were 3 for 3. Some lusty blows signified a fightback but this was short-lived. Alan McComb - in form now with both bat and ball - was brought into the attack and his first ball netted a wicket. From there Mersey Park collapsed to 71 all out.

Meanwhile, P&O recovered from a poor start to beat Mersey Park. Lockwood and then Pearl did themselves no justice and with only one run on the board two wickets had fallen.

Jim Naughton strode to the wicket and played the captains innings and with some excellent support from Ewen (28), Yates (41) and some lusty blows of his own went on to make 68 not out in a total of 174-6.

Mersey Park were soon four wickets down and an early finish looked on the cards but the team from the Wirral entrenched themselves.

Into the last 20 overs and Hayhurst made the decision to test his injury and he started his second spell at something like the pace he normally achieves.

This paid dividends as he knocked over the stumps in his first over.

Also reintroduced into the attack Cartmel unusually bowling up the hill tore through the lower order batsmen to claim a well earned victory for the Burrows Lane outfit and a vital 20 points. Hayhurst finished with 3-35 and Cartmel 6-27.

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