Church 191-5, Accrington 187-6
28th June 1981

Accrington 1st XI 1981 ©Stephen Blunt

Accrington lost for the third match running going down to a 5 wicket defeat at Church. Graham Beech's fifth half century of the season helped Accrington make 187-6. Beech was run out for 59 after adding 70 with Geoff Hayhurst (22) and 45 with professional David Stead who made 51 before falling to Jack Houldsworth (3-53). Neil Jones (21) and skipper Alan Richardson (15) also fell to Houldsworth with professional Brendan McArdle trapping Trevor Hatch for 4. McArdle hit a match winning unbeaten 93 after Jones had removed openers Gerard Metcalf (7) and Shoaib Khan (12) and Hatch had removed Ian Osborne (7) and Steve Metcalf (10). Ian Birtwistle had Paul Scholes stumped by Paul Graham to have Church in trouble at 69-5 but Tommy George hit an unbeaten 42 in an unbroken match winning stand of 122 with McArdle to see Church home with 5 balls remaining. Accrington dropped three places to 13th in the table after 14 games. Scorecard

If you have any memories of 1981 please email Nigel Stockley