With the destination of the Conference South title long since settled, focus shifted to Conference North in the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League, where the title will only be settled in the final round of fixtures with Cherry Tree in the box seat - but Ribblesdale Wanderers still in with a shout if results go their way.

Despite a mixed weekend which saw a win and a loss, Cherry Tree moved to the top of the table and the title destiny lies in their hands depending on their results on the final weekend.

Saturday saw them entertain Burnley’s second team and in a thrilling game, Burnley came out on top by two runs. Daniel Lord, with 5-27, and Jack Fenwick (3-19) helped restrict Burnley to 123, of which Aaqib Hussain made 24 and Naveed Iqbal 22. Lord then top scored with 25 and Michael Timmis hit 22 in the run chase, but 5-28 from Aadil Husain and 3-24 from Ali Shabar secured the win. On Sunday they hosted Barrowford seconds and came up with a four-wicket win. Chasing 147, Craig Kennedy led the way home with 34, aided by Haris Saleemi (29) and Timmis (25), despite three wickets each for Ulfat Ali and Fezaan Imtiaz. Ali had earlier top scored with 49 as Barrowford made 146 with Hamid Bushy adding 30, while Lord returned 4-45 and Brendan Arrowsmith 4-11.

Leaders Barrowford sit second, two points adrift but having only one game to play after a four-wicket home win against Stacksteads. The visitors had six batsmen in double figures but only Andrew Holt (30) and Ellis Hussey (26) got past 20 in a total of 132-8, as Ulfat Ali took 3-33 and Imran Karim 4-13. Barrowford then raced home with 17 overs to spare, led by Zaraq Ali, with 54, and Fazaan Imtiaz (26 not out).

Ribblesdale Wanderers’ hopes of the title took a severe blow as they were hammered by Foulridge by 144 runs. Mohammed Haroon led the Foulridge charge, making exactly 100, aided by Jabbran Sajjad’s 29 and Umar Ayyub, who hit 44no, at number nine as they reached a healthy 230-9, despite Graeme Kershaw taking 4-16 and Waqas Khan 4-62. In reply, Wanderers collapsed to just 86, with only 33no from Luke Spencer providing much resistance to a spell of 5-34 from Mohammed Haroon. Ribb now need to pick up wins in both games and for Cherry Tree not to pick up enough points from theirs if they are to land the title.

Read made the day’s highest score as they rattled up 306-5 on their way to a 138-run win against Earby. Henry Higson led the charge with 92 and Jon Harvey added 53, while Ben Woodall, Mohammed Zafran, Oliver Watson and Warren Eastham all made scores in the 20s. Eastham then turned in a spell of 6-34 to thwart any chance of Earby winning. despite Luke Chapman making 79 and Joe Swarbrick 37.

Brinscall came out 38-run home winners against Burnley Belvedere in a hard-fought game which saw more than 400 runs scored in the day. The home side made a handy 234 all out, with Andrew Scambler leading the way on 82 while Danushka Lakshan added 38 and Peter Berry 37 as Abdul Haleem took 3-22. In reply, Abid Khan led the chase with 87 and Seroze Hussain made 43, but Lakshan, with 3-52, and Oosmangani Patel (4-12) helped restrict them to 196 all out.

Another tight game at Chatburn saw the home side beaten by three wickets as Barrowford seconds chased down a target of 156. Abdul Waqas made 20 to help Barrowford home, despite Chris Mulhearn taking 3-54. Chatburn’s 155 had mainly been due to Ashley Bennett (44), Mark Nerenberg (33) and Jamie Birtwell-Jones (21) with Waqas Pervez taking 3-31.

Salesbury came away from Barrowford seconds with a comprehensive nine-wicket success after bowling out the home side for just 69, thanks mainly to a spell of 6-21 by Sam Bristol with Sarath Babu (23) scoring a third of the total. Salesbury knocked off the runs in the 15th over, led by Daniel Robson (38) and Ben Riley (25no).

A similar scoreline at Oswaldtwistle Immanuel saw Baxenden come away with an eight-wicket win after bowling out their hosts for just 92. Adam Macholc, with 4-18, and Henry Hindle (3-15) did the damage as just three batters reached double figures. Ben Brierley (34no) and Adam Nawaz (24no) saw Baxenden home in the 18th over.

Paul Dockerty enjoyed a good day as Settle beat Barnoldswick by 30 runs last weekend. First of all, he hit 40 as Settle made 146 all out with Richard Brindley adding 23 as Wasque Ali took 4-40. Then, when Barlick replied, he took 5-30 as he and John Tarbox (3-14) helped dismiss them for 114, despite Shazab Ali making 40no.

Conference South saw games scheduled on both days, although only one was actually played through to a finish on the Sunday.

Champions Farnworth inevitably picked up wins on both days as they continue to sweep all comers aside. Saturday saw them rattle up 344-5 against Walkden after Chris Baxendale (153) and Zahid Butt (68) had made 177 for the first wicket with Aaqib Javed, Rizwan Pervez and Neil Hyde all adding 20-plus as Nabeel Asgher took 3-41. Asgher then added 69 with the bat but, despite a valiant effort, Walkden were bowled out for 185 in reply with Michael Daley taking 5-45 and Si Harrison 3-37. On Sunday they visited Eagley and, despite using 11 bowlers, swept them away for an emphatic 10-wicket win. Only Tom Mitchell, with 23, offered much with the bat as Eagley were bowled out for 124 as Sam Bradley took 4-14. Bradley then added 33no as he and Javed (77no) knocked off the target in the 15th over.

Little Lever chased down a useful target set by Kearsley, of 210, to record a seven-wicket win at Victory Road. Tom Taylor (52), Callum Hill (51no), Gareth Moxon (49) and Adam Clark (40no) starred with the bat for Lever. Earlier, Fenton Davies had led the way for Kearsley as he made 81no, with Grant Cordin adding 42 and Harvey Wild 24. On Sunday, Kearsley were handily placed on 66-1, chasing 189 to beat Blackrod, when the rain washed out the rest of the game. Earlier Jacob Stevenson had made 97no and Jacob Ashworth 48 in a total of 188-4 by Blackrod.

Tonge enjoyed a good weekend as they defeated both Lostock and Astley Bridge. On Saturday, they made fairly short work of Lostock as they chased down 165 for the loss of just one wicket, led by Sajid Patel (59no), Ed Lynch (55no) and Dave Whittle (35). Rob Tully had earlier taken 4-31 to restrict Lostock to 164-9 after Ste Kaye (64) and Amit Dashore (49) had got them off to a great start. Sunday saw a seven-wicket win by Duckworth-Lewis-Stern as they had reached 129-3 chasing 171 to beat Astley Bridge when the rain came. Dane Hargreaves found himself stranded on 99, but had the consolation of his side winning on DLS. Bridge had earlier made 170-9 on the back of handy scores from Rob Hitchon (47), Jamie Cooper (27) and Hashim Akhtar (22no) as Fenton took 4-64 and Rob Tulley 3-35.

Farnworth Social Circle were just eight overs into their pursuit of 191 to beat Walkden when their game was abandoned. Nabeel Asgher had made 45 and Haroon Abbasi 22 for Walkden as Marsden Mulligan took 4-38 and Lewis Whittle 3-38 for Social who had moved to 28-2 in reply.