Burscough clinch runners-up spot in the Merseyside-Southport Alliance and earn place in the Liverpool Competition First Division

Sep 18 2008 by Our Correspondent, Ormskirk Advertiser

Burscough clinch runners-up spot in the Merseyside-Southport Alliance and earn place in the Liverpool Competition First Division

PURE theatre ... that's the only way to describe Burscough's stunning and sensational 11th-hour surge to clinch runners-up spot in the Merseyside-Southport Alliance and earn a place in the Liverpool Competition First Division for the 2009 season.

School Lane was no place for the faint-hearted on Saturday, as both fourth-placed Burscough and fellow promotion hopefuls Alder discovered when a tense and nerve-tingling showdown entered the last hour.

News had filtered through that Norley Hall, who went into the final round of fixtures in third position, had beaten champions Rainhill and were assured of 384 points, but victory for either of their promotion rivals would pip the Wigan outfit for second place.

It was a case of win or bust for both sides and in the end Burscough triumphed with only a few overs to spare, taking the runners-up berth by a single point.

Elated skipper Darren Le Marinel said: “The pressure was unbelievable from the start but when we knew what was required to gain promotion the match intensified 10-fold.

“Thankfully, the lads kept their bottle and showed tremendous character to pull off the kind of win which they are never likely to forget.”

Burscough’s hopes of victory had looked less than remote when, batting first, they lost their first four wickets for only 30 runs.

But then Alan Murray took centre stage, stroking a magnificent 83, which included two sixes and nine fours.

He shared a fifth wicket stand of 52 with Le Marinel (nine) and then a partnership of 59 alongside Paul Dobson (20), putting Burscough firmly in the driving seat at 144-7 on a wicket where runs were difficult to score.

Steve Disley weighed in with a quick-fire 16 which allowed the hosts to declare on 178-9 off 50.5 overs.

In reply, Alder, who went into the game second in the table, relied heavily of overseas professional Mohammad Masroor and while at the crease he looked capable of producing a match-winning performance.

But when he was dismissed for a sparkling 55 – the ninth Alder batsman to be dismissed – the writing was on the wall and the visitors were all out for 130.

Their tormentor-in-chief was spinner Madura De Silva, playing his last game for Burscough before returning home to Sri Lanka.

He grabbed 4-42 from 15.2 overs and was given great support by Dobson (3-16) and Le Marinel (2-28).

Promotion will hopefully herald the beginning of a new chapter in the history of a club whose executive committee took a bold decision last winter to plan for the future by ploughing hard-earned funds into the building of a new extension, which will be up and running by next season.

“It was a gamble to go ahead with the project,” admitted executive chairman John Yates, “but elevation to a higher standard of cricket has vindicated our decision. We have already added further backbone to the club by extending our junior set-up and achieving Clubmark status and hopefully next season will be able to attract further quality players at senior level.”