RAINHILL remain bottom of the Love Lane Liverpool Cricket Competition Premier Division after being held to a draw by fellow strugglers Birkenhead Park.

The visitors recovered from 96 for eight to post 178 for nine declared thanks to a brilliant 93 from Sam Kershaw with support from Simon Brown (22no). Imliwati Lemtur (3-28) and Dan Kelly (3-37) made life awkward for Park but they held on to close on 137 for eight. 

Newton le Willows are fourth following a brilliant win over reigning champions Northern. Three wickets apiece for Jack Morley (3-50) and Afaq Ali Sartaj (3-77) were the highlight as the Crosby outfit decked on 221 for seven off 50.2 overs before a stunning unbeaten third wicket stand of 200 between Rizwan Haider (122no) and Ben Walkden (87no) saw the hosts record an impressive eight wicket victory.

Rainford lost ground on the Division One frontrunners after losing to Bootle. Winning the toss and electing to bat, John Dotters' side could only reach 106 all out with Paul Farrar (46) top scoring. Dotters (3-50) tried his best to restrict the hosts but they overhauld the target for the loss of eight wickets.

Division Two saw a low scoring thriller in the derby clash between Sutton and St Helens Town after William Griffiths (3-29), Craig Black (3-16) and Sharan Rajendran (3-17) combined to bowl the hosts out for just 79. Town were quickly 0 for two but it was left to Jamie Greener (3-16) and then Joe Smith (5-21) to seal an eight run win as the visitors lost their last four wickets for 11 runs.

The Southport and District League Premier Division saw Prescot and Odyssey win a strange game at Hesketh Bank. Batting first, the visitors were dimissed for just 46 but the modest target proved too much for the opposition who were then bowled out for 34 with Cris George Toms' four for six the pick of the figures. 

Haydock also struggled with the bat collapsing for just 46 after Graham Paterson (4-24) and Harry Cross (3-26) restricted Skelmersdale to 148 all out.