Heroic Royton win cup thriller

Royton celebrate Adam’s Good’s wicket of Shubham Harke.

AMID rapturous scenes in front of the Paddock pavilion, Royton overcame huge odds to beat the CLL's outstanding team and book their place in the semi-finals of the JW Lees Bitter Wood Cup.

Premier Division champions elect Walsden were expected to continue their winning ways against a Royton team which had struggled badly in recent matches.

But from an early stage it was clear Royton were not going to be bullied.

Indeed, Denny Hulme's men held the upper hand for long periods of this game and would have won convincingly but for a late wobble with the bat.

In a fraught and frantic finish, overseas amateur Sam Fielding and skipper Hulme saw them home by three wickets with two overs to spare.

Royton had looked to be cruising on 112 for two in reply to Walsden's 153 for eight, but as one Paddock regular remarked: "We never do things easily."

And so it proved. Once opening batsman Tony Walsh, a real limpet in Royton's reply, had holed out to mid-off for a heroic 55, the collective nerves on the terraces were jangling.

Fortunately for the home supporters, Fielding smashed fours through mid-off and mid-wicket and Hulme flayed a boundary square of the wicket.

One scrambled single later, it was all over.

There is no doubt this was a good toss for Hulme to win.

He asked the visitors to take first guard on a pitch tinged with green and which offered little in the way of bounce.

Walsden, who never stopped battling against the tide all day, turned 68 for six into something more meaningful thanks to number eight batsman Callum Rushton's gritty unbeaten 57 which included seven fours and a six.

Carl Taylor, with three for 24, was the pick of the home bowlers, but one had the feeling Walsden had been let off the hook runs-wise.

Ultimately, it mattered not. Aqib Zulfiqar (27) shared an opening stand of 66 with Walsh and although home professional Geeth Alwis had a moment of madness and was stumped, determined Royton completed their mission.

Rochdale await them at the Paddock in the semi-finals on Sunday.