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.

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.

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.