HAYDOCK suffered an agonising defeat in their top-of-the-table clash with Tarleton.

Tarleton won what proved to be a very important toss and backed themselves to do well as they immediately decided to bat and this they did in some style.

P McDermott was in good form with a fine 54 not out while M Gray 26 and D Scott 24 both chipped in as Tarleton reached 163-6 in 50 overs.

It was a long hot day in the field for Haydock although Adrian Barr bowled well taking 2-55 from 19 overs, whilst M Clarke did his bit with 1-13.

Being in the field so long did not seem to hamper the Haydock batsmen as they needed to win but they only had 34 overs to do it. Barry Cross made his intentions known right from the start a he played attacking strokes from the outset and made a blistering 33. Adrian Barr showed few effects from his bowling stint, with a quickfire 20. Tony Derbyshire 17 and Martin Clarke 13 not out tried to inject some urgency but with time running out and good Tarleton bowling Haydock fell short of the target with four overs to go as they were dismissed on 132.

The seconds had better luck as they travelled to Tarleton and came away winners in another exciting game.

Batting first Tarleton were all out for 141.

The Haydock batsmen came out in determined mood with Shaun Lathom coming to the fore with the bat. He produced a scintillating innings of 61. Chris Carlisle (27) chipped in as did Ian Brown 28 as Haydock made 142-4.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.