DANNY Gee stayed cool to steer Barnton to a victory on Saturday that keeps alive their hopes of securing back-to-back promotions.

Their latest success, by three wickets at home to Lymm, was made safe by the experienced batsmen’s run-a-ball 28 as they closed on 184-7.

Opener Callum Doyle (54 off 49 balls) had struck a dozen boundaries at the top of the order before Adam Garrod (22) and Cory Devanny (30) continued that early momentum.

Lymm rallied briefly, Andy Hossak taking 3-42, before Gee soothed any nerves.

Earlier, skipper Travis Scholes (93) was the outstanding performer for his side as they closed on 180 all out.

Neil Langham (2-43) and Devanny (2-37), made inroads before Garrod (3-62) caught and bowled Lymm’s danger man.

He then mopped up the tail in tandem with skipper Simon Hancock (3-32), concluding with a sensational catch by Langham to dismiss last man Syed Khan.

“With six games left, it’s all to play for,” said Hancock.

Winnington Park had the better of a draw at Woodford, where they scored 178-6 after losing the toss.

Captain Alec Butcher (50) and fellow opener Martin Evans (47) were their leading scorers, and Jonny Wales added 24.

They were denied a victory by their hosts’ last-wicket pair, who batted for two overs to secure a draw at 156-9.

Phill Amatiello (4-52) was again among the wickets, while Sam Barnes (3-24) returned after an injury to provide support.

Butcher said: “We can take a lot of positives, even though we fell just short.

“Our batting was particularly pleasing, providing a solid foundation for our middle-order to build on. It meant they could be aggressive until the end.”

Park continue to occupy the second promotion place in Division Two, 20 points clear of Chelford in third position.

Kingsley had no reply for Haslington’s Tom Gledhill, who returned figures of 7-66 after bowling unchanged from the start of their innings.

Captain Toby Mullins (50) and Ben Stoddart (27) made the only significant contributions in a below-par total of 136 after being put in.

Stoddart (2-12) and Brent Hartley (3-30) at least made the promotion-hopefuls work for their win, supported by Chris Martin (2-26), before they secured maximum points at 137-7 after 38 overs.

Oakmere will not have expected such a close finish after knocking over winless back-markers Prestbury for 120 at Overdale Lane.

Guy Groves (5-31), Nick Guest (2-30) and Matt Norton (2-35) did the damage after they had won the toss.

However their teammates toiled at the crease, except for Rick Lyons (50), before they squeezed to a single-wicket win at 124-9.

Results

UKFast Cheshire League

Saturday, August 6

Division One: Ashton on Mersey 83-2 Irby 80; Barnton 184-7 Lymm 180; Bredbury St Mark’s 154-9 Heaton Mersey 112; Disley 195-8 Hale Barns 99; Poynton 118-9 Stockport Georgians 132; Romiley 129-2 Runcorn 127

Division Two: Ashley 190 Stockport Trinity 219-5 dec; Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge 29 Port Sunlight 230-4 dec; Haslington 137-7 Kingsley 136; Oakmere 124-9 Prestbury 120; Woodford 156-9 Winnington Park 178-6 No game: Chelford