Grappers may have to be content with second place

GRAPPENHALL came off second best in a drawn top-of-the-table battle and may now have to be content with second place in the RSK Cheshire County League division one table.
Traveling to title-rivals Cheadle they had to hang on for a draw, picking up only six points to the home side’s 15.
The result leaves Cheadle on top by 10 points, which means Grappers must win at home to Congleton and will still rely on Cheadle dropping points in their game at relegation threatened Marple.
Grappers are, of course, already promoted to the ECB premier division
The game at Cheadle could have ended different had the home side not won the toss and elected to bat.
Cheadle posted 203-5 and when Grappers replied they got off to the worst possible start, losing four wickets for 37.
Ben Bodha and Eddie Barnes batted superbly to give Grappers hope and got them within a chance of winning with three overs to go. But when Bodha fell for 59 with the score on 180, Grappers never got going again. Barnes fell a few balls later for a superb 78 and Grappers hopes of a win were gone as the last pair dug in for the draw. Grappers finished on 187 for 9. The draw gives Grappers an outside chance of still claiming the title – but their fate will depend on others.
Grappenhall 2nd put on a superb second half performance at home to top of the table Romiley as they chased down 150 in the last over, with nine 9 wickets down.
Romiley had been bowled out for 150, Stanley Pennington and Steve Rooney picking up three and two wickets respectively. In reply Grappers were struggling on 39-5 and then 101-9 with the game seemingly over. Then Zach Tully and Stanley Pennington came together and put on a superb partnership to get them over the line with 25 and 30 runs respectively. The win leaves the 2nds fourth in the table with one game to go.
Grappenhall 3rd travelled to second-placed Bramhall for their final game of the season and finished with a superb win.
Bramhall were bowled out for just 122 off 31 overs with Fameesh Azeez taking 4-30 and Matt Hardman 3-12 Grappers chased down the runs for the win with relative ease, finishing four wickets down with 10 overs to spare. Yuvan Sunderanmoorth scored 40 and Zak Judge 34 not out. The result leaves Grappers fifth in the table with other teams still with a game to play.
Warrington are now condemned to playing in the third division next season after losing by two wickets at Christleton.
Put in to bat they were dismissed for 140 in 45 overs. James Lewis top scored with 28 not out and, Asmir Ali hit 26 and Umer Zeb 23.
The home side did not find things easy but won by two wickets. Brad Roden, with 3-23 was the pick of the bowlers.
It has been a disappointing season for a Warrington side clearly missing a number of players who had been regulars in recent years.
Warrington 2nd drew at home to Neston after asking the visitors to bat first and restricting them to 166-8, Adam Lawton taking 3-46 and Rohan Gadepalli 3-53.
Warrington could only reach 130-7, Ravi Sabba top-scoring with 56 and Jonathan Howell contributing an unbeaten 22.
In the UKFast Cheshire League, Lymm Oughtrington Park lost at home to Heaton Mersey after skipper Travis Scholes had won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first.
Mohammad Bhola took 4-38 as Heaton Mersey were bowled out for 156.
Lymm’s batsmen never settled and the side were all out for 91.
It has been a disappointing season for Lymm who will now be playing second division cricket next season.
Appleton chalked up a big win at home to Trafford Metrovics, batting first and totalling a challenging 290-4.
Ali Sharif hit 134 not out and skipper Adam Pearson 95.
Trafford were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 82 in 28 overs.
Appleton 2nd went down by three wickets at Bunbury after being put in first and held to 178-6.
Antony Hurst hit 52, Ian Mason 32, Paul Jackson 30 not out and Nick Williams 30.
Bunbury chased down the runs for the loss of seven wickets, Paul Jackson taking 3-16.
Appleton 4th won by three wickets at Wirral after bowling them out for 81, Terry Major taking 4-19 and Harry Little 3-14. Appleton made a poor start and only claimed victory thanks to an eighth wicket partnership between Roger Cawthorne, 23 not out and Martin Othick, 16 not out.
Women’s Cricket
APPLETON ended their season in the Cheshire Women’s League by defeating new champions Leigh by seven wickets.
The result left Appleton as runners-up thanks to a strong finish to the year.
Leigh batted first and hit 134-8, with Annie Rashid, 2-16, Emily Page 2-22 and Amy Seddon, 2-23 taking the wickets for Appleton.
The Lyons Lane team chased down the runs in 33.3 overs, Holly McCurrie hitting 56, Kathryn Jackson, 22 and Georgia Heath 23 not out.
After her century the previous week, Heath had only 12 balls to face but made the most of them, seeing her side home in a hurry!
Lymm Oughtrington Park went down heavily against Heaton Mersey Village, who hit 123-4. Angela Evans took 2-20.
In reply, Lymm were reduced to 45-9 in 20 overs with only Evans, 10, reaching double figures.