THE 'barmy army' started early at Todmorden where the first drum beat and horn blast arrived even before the rain.

For the next eight hours the peace and quiet was punctuated with shakes, rattles and rolls as they did their best to cheer on the home side -- and upset the visitors.

And while it was more primary school orchestra than Caribbean calypso, it partially worked as they just about upset everyone!

However, Ramsbottom skipper, Brian Taylor, was playing to a different beat.

The experienced captain shut out the din -- unlike batting partner Mark Gowers who became increasingly agitated -- as he carefully constructed a match-winning innings of 36.

It wasn't the highest of knocks but, on a track that favoured the bowlers, it was one of his more satisfying.

Taylor joined the fray with three wickets down and the Tod tails up.

Andrew Holt had already been dispatched for 12 before Ramsbottom lost two wickets in two balls, losing both Chris Wood and Chris Ullathorne.

Taylor and Gowers had to use all their know-how to keep the innings together, stifle the Tod bowling attack and silence the drums. Taylor did so with a full repertoire of shots while Gowers took more extreme measures, requesting the band turn it down a notch or two.

When he was eventually run out for 10, Tod's increasingly-merry band let him know just what they thought of his request!

The captain kept plugging away as partners came and went with the Kassif Abbas/Brown combination claiming the wickets of Robert Read and Jamie Cryer.

Taylor only surrendered his wicket when he decided to try and up the run rate and was superbly caught at point by Alistair Harrison off Lee Pearson.

It signalled another Todmorden fight back as four wickets fell for eight runs.

But Andrew Dalby came in and made his first significant contribution of the match with his dogged and unbeaten 17 helping the total crawl along to a defendable 124.

But the 'barmy army' didn't seem to think so as the noise level went up as the last wicket fell.

And they didn't seem to sense any danger when Todmorden found themselves two wickets down for 10 runs with the instrumental Taylor claiming both wickets -- Harrison caught by Gowers while Abbass was clean bowled.

The talented Brown and captain Simon Barker halted the slide but the runs were proving hard to come by.

Barker finally came a Cropper, caught by Steven Eardley and bowled by Martin Cropper for 15, before the vital wicket of Brown was snapped up thanks to a wonderful catch by Dalby off Eardley for 29.

Todmorden still offered stubborn resistance in the middle order but their failure to score runs at any rate -- at one stage they managed just eight in 10 overs -- was proving to be costly as the wickets began to fall, with Dalby playing his part with two more scalps.

James Morgan and Hurr Abbas did give Todmorden a glimmer of hope but a wonderful piece of quick-thinking by Rammy stumper, Andrew Holt, virtually sealed victory.

Going for a quick second, Morgan thought he was home and dry with the ball at the other end of the field.

But Holt had other ideas and, ditching his glove, he made a direct hit as a stunned Morgan cantered back to his crease.

It was the turning point of the match and the band knew it. Suddendly, the drums didn't beat so strongly and the whistles were no more than a wheeze.

There was still the formality of wrapping up the remaining wickets which Ramsbottom did with the last ball of the penultimate over.

Now the drummers, tambourine shakers and whistle blowers fell silent and the only noise to be heard now came from Ramsbottom's one-man band, Ron Cookson.

"Where's your drummer now," he roared triumphantly from beyond the boundary.

To Taylor and his team-mates, it was music to the ears.