EGERTON remain at the summit of the Bolton League after seeing off a resilient Heaton, writes Mikael McKenzie.

The table-toppers struggled to break down a tricky batting line up in which Imran Mirza (60), Haroon Farhat (45) and Matt Fray (33) aided in posting 179-8.

Sam Martin (4-35) and Adam Street (3-66) did the most damage with the ball.

Egerton's response was led by skipper Will Halton who knocked 60 before Paul Stafford entered the crease and scored 53 not out to steer his side to victory with four wickets remaining. Farhat was the only bowler of note taking 3-50.

The Blackburn Road side sit five points clear of Westhoughton at the top of the table, and with only teams outside of the title-race still to play, Halton insists it will still be a tricky final run in:

“I am feeling brilliant. We as a team are very positive and we just have to keep winning,” he said.

“On paper they may look like easy games remaining but we had a tough game against Heaton and we know the remaining fixtures will be just as tough.

“Horwich, Kearsley, Astley Bridge and Little Lever have all got very good players and there is no reason why they can't do the same.”

Westhoughton are up to second after securing an away victory to title-rivals Farnworth Social Circle.

Tim Barrow hit 31 for the Piggott Park side who opened the batting, before professional Rameez Alam knocked 52. Andrew Lane struck 37 in the middle order to boost his side's total to 155-8.

Qaiser Abbas was a devil with the ball posting figures of 6-66.

Opener Danny Naylor scored 68 in reply and Abbas added 21 when he turned his hand to the bat as the Howfeners achieved the target with three wickets to spare – despite Chris Barrow's (4-26) impressive bowling.

Greenmount rose to third after they recorded a much-needed win away to Farnworth.

Mark Stewart (4-55) and Phil Heaton (3-50) shone with the ball as the hosts were restricted to 142-9. Kamran Sajid knocked a half-century and Victor Walcott scored a crucial 28 as the final batter.

The Brandlesholme Road side's response was led by opener Phil Ingram who scored 36 before Travis Townsend chipped in with 27. The consistent batting line up upped the tally until the victory was secured with four wickets remaining.

Terry Rollock was the only notable bowler with figures of 2-14.

Astley Bridge have all but secured seventh place after defeating Little Lever.

Professional Zain Abbas led the batting attack for the Victory Road side htting 71 before skipper Jon Kerrigan added 28.

But the rest of the batters succumbed to the bowling prowess of Dave Cryer (3-25) and Syd De Silva (3-22) asLittle Lever were bowled out for 125.

De Silva then turned his hand to the bat and struck 30 before Sakib Afzal added 22. Mohammed Adnan (2-43) and Sajid Mahmood (2-26) tried their best to resrict the score with the ball but Astley Bridge ran out three-wicket victors.