A superbly gritty performance at Bamford Fieldhouse was not enough to guarantee Prestwich 1st team their GMCL Premier Division status for next season.
Despite the five-point victory, they need to beat Bury at home on Saturday to ensure they are not relegated.
Prestwich lie in eighth position, one slot above the drop zone, but any one of five teams could theoretically fall through the trap door.
So there could be a record number of nails being bitten during Saturday afternoon, providing the weather doesn’t stick its oar in and add to the number of possible outcomes and permutations.
Prestwich certainly showed they had the bit between their teeth on their trip to picturesque Bamford last Saturday.
Invited to take first hit, Prestwich gamely carved out a worthwhile total in the face of some classy Bamford bowling, and steady accumulation was the order of the day as opposed to carefree flambuoyance.
This was evident in the innings of Ryan Stanbury, who played one of his most restrained innings, yet arguably one of his most resolute and important. He made an excellent 56, facing 109 balls in doing so.
He had staged an opening stand of 33 with James Wharmby, who made 12, before being joined at the crease by Daryn Smit, a Derbyshire professional acting as sub pro. Smit rarely looked in trouble, but found it equally challenging to score freely, and notched two boundaries in his 37 before he was bowled by Babar Khan.
With the score on 123 for 2, and 11 overs left, Prestwich rightly tried to press the accelerator, but it only succeeded in increasing the flow of wickets, with former England leg spinner Chris Schofield coming to the fore, and grabbing 4 for 12.
A Nathan Bailey cameo of 10 not out at the end pushed the total to 159 for 8 at the completion of 50 overs.
Bamford’s top order then just proved how hard it was to bat on, as Andy Bradley struck with his second ball, bowling Elliott Wolfenden for 0, and Stanbury knocking over the stumps of Schofield.
Sam Holden clean bowled Ryan Senor and Samuel Felix, and Bamford were tottering at 48 for 4, a position from which they could not recover. Smit’s spin proved equally hard to score off, and he took 3 for 25 from his 15-over spell as the visitors took a vice-like grip on the game. Bailey too bowled superbly, with figures of 1 for 25 off 13.
Yet again, Prestwich were enthusiastic and razor-sharp in the field, resulting in a run out and good catches from Mike Hudson and Tom Scott.
The game ended with a slightly bizarre scenario of Bamford clinging onto 108 for 9 – even though that earned them no points. But what it did do was deny Prestwich a bonus point which would have drawn them level with Bamford in the table.
The 2nd team had a marvellous win against a good Edenfield outfit after notching a respectable total of 176 for 8. Haris Aziz (46), Dan Ahern (40)and Jack Doyle (29) were the main contributors.
Oli Holt grabbed four wickets and Nick Carter claimed three victims as Edenfield fell two runs short in a thrilling finale.
The 3rd XI could only muster 74 in their match against Friends United 1st XI, who passed the target with eight wickets in hand.
• Wickets are pitched at 12.30pm at The Heys on Saturday for the 1st team’s final crunch game with Bury.
• The 2nds, who do not finish their season until September 23, travel to the other side of Bury to play Brooksbottom 1sts.
