The Seconds kept up their pursuit of the league leaders Liverpool (who have played 3 games more than Bootle) with a sound victory at The Oval.  Having been inserted, Bootle made a dreadful start when Andy Johnson and Jonathan Hine were out without scoring.  Andy Ehlen and Adam Burton quickly righted things with a stand of 88 but our innings was a curious one as there were no fewer than six ducks.  The captain, however, was at his belligerent best hitting 15 fours and a six before being lbw to Ben Parker for 82.  Andrew Gill matched the knock of 31 by Adam and Billy Smith made 11 not out at the death as Bootle expired for 176.

Lee Gallagher and Andrew Gill opened the bowling and quickly had the home side in all manner of trouble as they slumped to a disastrous 47-9 in the 21st over of their reply.  The match looked, to all intents and purposes, to be over but the final Wallasey pair, Andy Ward and Mykal Graham, dug in resolutely to add 56 for the 10th wicket before Billy Smith had Graham caught by Jonathan Hine for 32 and Bootle prevailed in the fifth over of the last twenty.

Not so much a Bootle victory as a complete annihilation.  When the visitors went in first, Andy Ehlen opened with Anthony Molloy and James Watson, who bowled the first 14 overs in tandem giving up 31 runs and taking the wicket of Neil Aconley, whose 11 turned out to be the highest individual score of the innings.  The introduction at that point of Andrew Gill and Billy Smith effectively spelt the end of Wigan as between them they captured the remaining nine wickets whilst only 26 runs were added to the total.

Bootle were left with a seemingly simple task, though Ryan Parry worked hard to take the scalps of the captain, Andy Johnson and Thomas Carr.  From 26-3 Jonathan Hine and Adam Burton ensured that there were no further alarms and Bootle duly completed an easy win.

The Seconds maintained their unbeaten league record with a well deserved win at Church Road, where the Lytham bowlers made us work hard for our runs.  Andy Johnson hit a good half-century whilst sharing in a useful 4th wicket partnership of 48 with Mark Sinclair, but wickets nevertheless fell regularly and at 146-8 Bootle were looking at a below par total.  Anthony Molloy and Jonathan Smith then put on an unbroken 51 together until rain stopped play at 4.38 and tea was taken.  Andy Ehlen declared on 197-8 during the 70 minute stoppage having used up 48 overs and leaving the hosts with 39 back.

The Lytham top three were back in the pavilion by the sixth over with only 28 on the board but David Cartmel and Martin Hibberd got things moving in the right direction with a stand of 46, and when the last 20 overs began the home side needed 114 to win with six wickets intact.  Mark Sinclair (4-39) and Billy Smith (2-37) then took the game by the scruff of the neck and fired Lytham out for 134 to secure a fine Bootle victory by 63 runs.

This was a solid all-round display by the Seconds against a good Formby outfit.  After Lee Gallagher had bowled Duncan Fraser in the second over for a duck, Tom Mills and Andy Eastwood put on a useful 49 for the 2nd wicket.  At 129-7 after 41 overs Bootle held the upper hand until Richard Scanlan and Lewis Read fashioned an unbroken stand of 79 which allowed a declaration at 206-7 in the 57th over - which in 2nd XI cricket is a lot of overs.

Bootle had only 38 in return, but Andy Johnson and Jonathan Hine (making his club debut) gave us a reasonable start with 37 for the opening stand.  The last twenty began with 97 required and six wickets intact, but two fine partnerships were to win us the game.  Firstly, David Eccles and Lee Gallagher extended their 5th wicket stand to 68 in just seven overs, and when Mark Sinclair joined Eccles following the dismissal of Lee these two added a further 59 to take us to within 2 runs of victory before they were both out.  Ged Radford duly struck the winning boundary as Bootle triumphed with six overs to spare.

Andy Ehlen batted first against newly promoted Orrell Red Triangle when he won the toss at Winstanley Road.  Chris Kirby and Dave Pallett performed well with the ball for the home side, and at 103-6 the match was evenly poised.  David Eccles and Ged Radford then put together a fine partnership of 78 which was still ongoing when Andy felt confident enough to declare on 181-6 after 47 overs, to leave his opponents with 51 back.  David hit 8 fours and 3 sixes in his 64 not out and Ged provided excellent backing with his undefeated 31.

The Orrell reply was built mainly around a solid innings from opener Stephen Pegg, and when the last 20 started they were still in contention, requiring 77 to win with five wickets intact.  After Chris Cunningham at last clean bowled Pegg for 55, Billy Smith really got the bit between his teeth as the last four home wickets added only 12 to the total and Orrell were all out for 146 to leave Bootle the winners with 11 overs to spare.

After being put in by Andy Ehlen, the hosts top order did a sound job with Adam Sandalls (59), Mike Hughes (55) and Tom Horrocks (32) all making decent runs.  The Bootle bowlers stuck to their task, though, especially Billy Smith, and New Brighton declared at 214-8.

After we had reached 65-4, Andrew Gill and Lee Gallagher raised 70 together for the 5th wicket to give us a chance of victory.  Once these two had departed the run chase had to be called off and it needed the two Smiths, Billy and Jonathan, to see out the last four overs to secure an honourable draw. 

Choosing to bat first, openers Rob Jones and Oliver Gallagher gave the visitors a good start with a stand of 62, but 3 wickets then fell for no addition as Bootle began to gain the upper hand.  We annoyingly allowed two tailenders, Shaun Brocken and Andy Clews to raise an unbeaten 28 for the 9th wicket and Ormskirk declared at 175-9 after 54 overs.

Our batsmen were, however, in sharp form and all of them made a worthwhile contribution with Andrew Gill spearheading the effort as he hit 8 fours and a six in his 52 not out.  Andrew shared in a 4th wicket stand of 58 with David Eccles and afterwards teamed up with Lee Gallagher to add an unbroken 38 for the 6th, which took Bootle past the target as we won by 5 wickets in the 38th over.

The Second XI got off to a flyer at Aigburth when Ehlen and Carr raised 77 for the opening stand in the first 11 overs.  Andrew Gill stayed for 99 minutes and 103 balls making 49 not out and these three were in fact the only Bootle batsmen to attain double figures. 

Liverpool had 46 overs in return, but Gill soon had them in trouble by removing Martin Ho, Tony McCarthy and John Crossley with only 15 scored.  James Howarth and Owen Jones, who hit 12 fours and a six, got things moving again with a partnership of 89 and at 136-4 with the best part of 20 overs remaining the hosts were reasonably well placed.  Chris Cunningham was then recalled for his second spell and the impact was immediate as he took four of the last six Liverpool wickets - which added only 34 to the total. 

This was a match which ended in controversy.  The game did not start until 3.08 pm and Andy Ehlen put his opponents in on winning the toss.  Billy Smith and Chris Cunningham at length worked their way through the Northop Hall batting until the visitors were all out for 154 in the 43rd over.

Bootle had 33 overs back, and after the loss of the skipper at 21, two of our youngsters, Andy Johnson and Thomas Carr, added a magnificent 108 together.  The last 20 overs had begun with 104 needed to win and 9 wickets intact, and when the twelfth of those overs started the total was 132-2 with Thomas and David Eccles at the wicket.  At this point, with rain admittedly falling steadily, the Northop Hall umpire walked off the ground swiftly followed by the visiting team.  The match result was recorded as a NO DECISION - much to the dissatisfaction of the Bootle players. 

Another frustrating draw for the Seconds who were always up against it once Karl Garcia and Joey Snellgrove had compiled a 3rd wicket stand of 125 for the hosts.  When Northern tried to accelerate towards a declaration they lost 7 wickets for the addition of 14 runs and came off once the 200 had been passed.  Anthony Molloy turned in a splendid bowling effort for Bootle.

Our batsmen were determined to chase the win, but when the last twenty overs began they still required a daunting 154 with only 6 wickets intact.  Andrew Gill and Anthony Molloy put on 60 for the 6th wicket and Adam Burton (27) continued to force the pace, but Jack Woosey is a wily opponent at this level and Bootle had to settle for parity in the end.

The Seconds tossed away a wonderful opportunity to record their first league win of 2010 when they put Wallasey in and reduced them to 57-7 in the first 20 overs.  They then allowed Barrie Beaver and Mykal Graham to add 152 for the 8th wicket, Beaver hitting 6 sixes in his 104. The visitors were eventually out for 220, but by then the damage had been done.

Andy Ehlen and Roger Smith put on a rapid 85 together as Bootle reached 98-2 by the 17th over of the reply and further good efforts from Anthony Molloy (43) and David Eccles (23) kept us in the hunt for victory.  Wickets then started to be lost more regularly and the chase had finally to be called off.  Wallasey had ten balls at our last pair but Chris Cunningham and Billy Smith survived without too many alarms to earn a draw.

This was a hard fought contest which ended with honours even.  Bootle were put in after losing the toss and found themselves in a slightly precarious position at 66-6, but Andrew Gill and Anthony Molloy put on 55 for the 7th wicket, Andrew defying the Wigan bowlers for 2 hours 2 minutes making a very good 46 while Anthony needed pnly 50 minutes for his more aggressive 40.  Skipper Andy Ehlen called a halt at 168-9 after 53 overs, leaving his opponenets just 40 in return.

The Wigan innings followed a remarkably similar pattern to our own, though their top scorer (Brian Gore) made only 28 and the last twenty overs began with 97 required to win and 8 wickets intact.  The victory hopes of the home side were dashed once Billy Smith began to find his range as he helped himself to five consecutive wickets at a cost of just 20 runs.  Wigan were now more than happy to shut up shop and settle for a draw with 128-7 on the board at close of play.