CHERRY Tree skipper Mark Hadfield was delighted with the display of his Ramsbottom Cup first round stars – even though he admits the win over Settle came at a hefty personal price.

Hadfield’s men managed to dodge the rain to beat Settle in the only tie not to be settled by a bowl out as overseas amateur Ruan Sadler led them to a thrilling seven-wicket win.

However, the smile was wiped off Hadfield’s face when South African Sadler launched a six straight out of the Preston Old Road ground – and straight through the skipper’s car windscreen leaving him with a repair bill.

“I’ve told Ruan he’s sacked,” joked Hadfield.

“I suppose it was just my luck that one of his massive sixes out of the ground went straight through my windscreen and I went round and there it was with a big hole in it.

“But seriously, it was a great knock from Ruan and good to watch.

“He is fitting right in at the club and he has had a pretty good start to the season with the ball and on Sunday he did it with the bat. It was a fine innings and hopefully he can now carry on in the same vein.”

Like all first round ties, the Cherry Tree v Settle clash was washed out without a ball being bowled on Saturday and the sides went back for Sunday’s reserve date.

Hadfield and Settle skipper Eddy Read agreed to reduce the match to a 25-over-a-side game and they managed to get that in between the heavy showers that saw all the other ties settled on a bowl out.

“I’m glad we did that,” said Hadfield.

“We knew that whether we won or lost it was from a cricket game rather than a lottery.

“We lost to Padiham on a bowl out last year and it is probably the worst way to lose any match whereas if you play you can’t really have any complaints with the result.”

Cherry Tree’s reward for their win over the Dalesmen is a trip to Edenfield in the quarter-finals with the tie set for the middle of next month.

And Hadfield is already looking forward to the trip to Gincroft Lane.

“I think we are a decent cup side,” he said. “We have plenty of bowlers so that is never an issue for us and the batting line-up has runs in it.

“But I know we can’t take anything for granted. “Edenfield will be thinking that it is a game they can win too and they are a good side on their own patch so it promises to be a good game, especially if both sides play to their best.”