After winning their first four league games Bacup came down to earth with a bump at Lanehead against local rivals Haslingden. Despite putting on 44 for the first wicket with Newbitt making 29 and Chris Gansler 13, Bacup, who chose to bat first, were rolled over for just 97 in 36.3 overs. It was the introduction of spin to the attack which caused all the problems. Left arm spinner Gary Sudworth bowled with great precision taking 6 for 21 and professional Ryan Burl also proved a handful with his quick leg spin in taking 4 for 34. Bacup professional Serasinghe made 21 but the majority of the Bacup batsman failed to apply themselves, albeit in difficult conditions, against some excellent bowling. Another 20 or 30 runs might have proved too much for the opposition.
Haslingden's chase proved to be a difficult one, finding themselves in trouble at 56 for 6. Serasinghe's off spin also caused lots of problems as he spread panic in the Haslingden ranks taking 6 for 33. However, crucially, Bacup only had one spinner and the away team claimed victory getting home for the loss of 7 wickets taking 12 points to Bacup's 3 points. There were contributions from Burl(17), Griffin(15) and G. Sudworth(13) who departed to an amazing and potentially match winning catch from Naylor. However, it was a crucial eighth wicket 25 run partnership between skipper Sipocz (12 not out) and Shannon (10 not out) which took Haslingden over the line.
It was also a disappointing day for the second eleven who crashed to defeat at Bentgate. Bacup were bowled out for a paltry 64 in only 23 overs. Extras top scored with 20 with Collinge being the only player in double figures with 19. Horrocks was the pick of the bowlers with impressive figures of 5 for 16 whilst Bromley saw off the tail with 3 for 4.
In response there were another couple of wickets for George Sumner, but Haslingden chased the runs down in only 13.3 overs for the loss of 3 wickets with Nicholls making 29 claiming a comprehensive victory.
The third eleven, however, claimed an excellent victory at Rishton, making it four wins out of five, in moving to the top of the table. Rishton were bowled out for 159 in the fortieth and final over. Charlie Gansler continued to impress taking 3 for 10 in 6 overs and Michael Rabbett weighed in with 3 for 33. Simon Harris made 30 at the top of the order but it was an excellent innings of 60 not out from Josh Holt, with crucial contributions from George Sumner (16) and Charlie Gansler (12), which saw Bacup home on 160 for 6 with Jake Bracewell finishing in style on 8 not out.
