John Watson elected to bat on winning the toss but his batsmen rather let him down and the situation looked distinctly unpromising when half the side was out for 48.  There were decent efforts from Luke Atkinson (20) and James Stanley (19 not out) but the highest stand of the innings was only 20 and Bootle were dismissed for 113 after 46 overs, Sam Green taking 5-33.

Northern had 51 overs to play with, but by the time the last twenty began they needed only 32 to win with 9 wickets in hand.  Openers Paul Ralston and John Mooney put on 37 together, and Ralston teamed up with Phil Sloan to add 51 for the 2nd wicket to give their side total command.  Chris Reardon took 3-33 for Bootle but Northern, despite the loss of some late wickets, won in the 43rd over by 4 wickets.

Having been invited to bat first, Bootle lost Josh Brady and Luke Atkinson cheaply but our innings was illuminated by a magnificent century from Andy Johnson, whose 102 spanning 2 hours 41 minutes included 12 boundaries and was his first three figure score for the club.  He shared in stands of 51 for the 3rd wicket with David Britt and 61 for the 5th with James Watson before being bowled by Ali Khan off the 120th delivery he had faced.

James Watson quickly got rid of Vince Abel and Paul Eastham, but once John Watson and Gary Pike were introduced into the attack it spelt the beginning of the end for the visiting team.  Skipper John gave fulsome praise to young Andrew at the end of the game, saying that the hundred was "richly deserved by a fine young cricketer who has worked hard on his game in recent times and has improved his concentration one hundred per cent."

Something of a Watson family jamboree as the Third XI beat Ainsdale at Thornton in what was officially an away match, since our opponents share the Civil Service ground with us.  Ainsdale, having reached 54-2 after seventeen overs, suddenly found themselves in deep trouble, losing four wickets for only 4 runs.  Kenny Riley and Tom Cooper steadied the ship with 53 for the 7th wicket and their side must have been relatively pleased with 151 after forty-five overs.

Bootle had forty-seven overs at their disposal but only James Watson and David Britt of the top order contributed substantially, and at 85-7 Ainsdale were clear favourites.  Gary Pike then teamed up with his captain and they put together a super, unbroken partnership of 67 which settled the match in our favour.

With all the rain that fell during the morning there was never the slightest chance that this match would take place and the abandonment was a formality.

A batting disaster at Thornton after John Watson had elected to go in first.  Stewart Lunt and Paul Murphy captured three wickets before we had reached double figures, and when half the side was sent back with only 25 on the board a rescue act was badly needed.  It did not arrive and it was just as well that Paul McKenna and Chris Reardon were able to raise 28 for the 10th wicket to take us to 77 all out in the 26th over, the entire innings lasting only 1 hour 24 minutes.

Bootle fought back immediately when James Watson ripped out the Liverpool top three at a personal cost of 3 runs, and at 25-4 the visitors were in no better shape than ourselves at the equivalent stage.  A 5th wicket partnership of 30 between Charles Prior and Will Goulden helped their side immensely, and although Gary Pike and John Watson struck two more blows Liverpool limped to the winning post in the 24th over to win by 4 wickets.

A welcome win for the Third XI after losing their previous three league games.  Bootle were indebted to a fine 7th wicket stand of 59 between Sahz Safdar and James Watson which took the total to 182-6.  Mark Baille made short work of our tail with 4 wickets in eight balls and we were all out for 186 in 41 overs, leaving the home side with 49 back.

 The Ormskirk openers provided a stand of 29, but wickets then began to fall at regular intervals and at 69-6 Bootle were in the box seat.  Baille and Lawrenson revived their team with 50 for the 7th wicket but once John Watson had made the breakthrough by trapping the former lbw for 23 the match was there to be won and this we duly did, dsimissing Ormskirk for 141 with ten overs to spare.  

Easy win over a club which appears to be struggling in all areas at the present moment.  Wallasey turned up with only ten men and were invited to bat first first on losing the toss.  They were in trouble straight away against the Bootle attack, especially James Watson who took 5-30 from 12.3 overs.  Mark Bainbridge and David Bridge tried their best to shore up the middle order but the visitors got no further than an inadequate 110 all out.

Tom Meskell was dismissed without scoring but James Stanley and David Britt then took charge to put on 67 for the 2nd wicket before James and Shaz Safdar finished the job off in the 22nd over.

An exciting and high scoring cup tie which thrilled the crowd and sent Bootle through to an Embee Trophy semi-final against Newton-le-Willows at Crow Lane East on July 25th.  After electing to bat first, the visitors enjoyed two good partnerships of 51 for the 2nd wicket (Neil Blanchard and Mark Williams) followed by 53 for the 3rd (Williams and Ben Helme) which set them up for a competitive total.  Formby also scored their runs at a brisk rate, and a final push by Mike Poole and Campbell Williams, who added 78 for the 7th wicket, allowed them to set a stiff target.

Bootle were required to score at 6.07 per over to win, and although good efforts from David Britt and James Stanley gave us a reasonable start, with 121-6 on the board after 23 overs we were probably second favourites at that stage.  The game then suddenly turned in our favour.  Jonathan Smith and Danny Clifford put on 65 together in rapid time, and when Jonathan was bowled by Louis Burt for 37 the target had been brought down to 57 from eleven overs.  Dave Gilder strode out to the middle and he and Danny knocked off the remaining runs in fine style to win the match with 7 balls to spare. 

Northern elected to bat first and with 75-3 on the board after 27 overs it was quite an even contest.  Gareth Davis and Phil Jones then got after the Bootle bowlers to raise 96 for the 4th wicket, Davis making 94 and his partner 42.  This allowed a declaration at a healthy 193-7 after exactly 45 overs, leaving us 38 in return.

Bootle progressed steadily with Shaz Safdar and David Britt sharing in a partnership of 63 for the 3rd wicket, and when the last twenty were called we required 109 to win with 8 wickets intact.  At 140-6 Bootle were still in with a shout but when three wickets were lost for only 3 runs it was time for the shutters to go up.  Dave Gilder (26 not out) and Chris Reardon safely played out the last six overs to secure the draw.

The Thirds will sadly not be contesting the Embee Trophy final on August 15th after losing their semi with Newton-le-Willows.  Bootle were inserted on losing the toss and with half the side out for 67 after 21 overs we were in a difficult situation.  Acting captain, Tony Molloy, then weighed in with an aggressive 66 at better than a run a ball and at the end of our allocation the total had gone up to 164-9, which at least gave the bowlers something to defend.

A good start they made too as the home top five were sent back for 52 with 14 overs bowled.  That, unfortunately, was as far as we got because John Humphreys and Martin Murnan shared in an unbroken 6th wicket stand of 115 which won the game in the 38th over, Humphreys hitting twelve boundaries in his 77 not out.