HAVING taken some weeks to find their feet after gaining promotion to the second tier of Lincolnshire County League cricket, Louth 2nds moved up to fourth place with a seven-wicket success at Holton-le-Clay.

Choosing to take first use of their Tetney Lane strip, the villagers had to be content with 163 for eight, Ian Bellamy scoring 66 and skipper Ian Hallam 46, as Lee Freeman captured four for 47.

Louth paced their reply well and had four overs to spare when the winning run arrived, Zeeshan Ahmed being undefeated on 60 and Dave Clarke managing 38.

Meanwhile, promotion-chasing Alford have staked a claim for inclusion in the Lincolnshire League's "special records" section, topping 300 on successive Saturdays.

Having put Outcast to the sword the previous week, they visited bottom-place Hykeham and rattled up 300 for five in 45 overs.

Matt Keeling hit 85, opener Andrew White 85, Neil Calvert 64 not out and Mark Irving 36 not out, with Andy Fletcher taking two for 48 in ten overs.

Hykeham were then dismissed for 88, of which Chris Hammond made 36, as Glyn James bagged seven for 30 in only 8.2 overs, including a hat-trick.

The margin between success and failure in cricket is often a narrow one, as unbeaten leaders Cherry Willingham will appreciate after squeezing to the closest of victories at home to Outcasts – with their last pair at the wicket.

Despite the low scoring this was a cracking match, Cherry being pushed all the way by the determined visitors who were bowled out for a seemingly dismal score of 106.

That included 23 from Andy Torr and 21 by Russell Fletcher, as Keith Whiteley took three for 19.

Defending such a low total, it would have been easy for Outcasts to give up the ghost but they bowled exceptionally well apart from one major fault – 14 no-balls. Liam McAnaney took four for 31 and 16-year-old Alex Fletcher four for 22 as Cherry were made to battle for every run.

But Scott Coupland's 29, Will Carter's 22 and those woeful no-balls saw Cherry squeeze home by just one wicket.

In Sunday's only game, third-placed Broughton won at Cleethorpes 3rds (seventh).

Broughton's 193 for seven included 61 by Paul Reed and 46 from Neil Simpson, as opener Jeff Todd took two for 48.

The Meggies had to be content with an all-out 157, in which Dan Tolson hit 66 in the middle-order after his top three colleagues had all failed to make double figures.

It was a good all-round match for Reed, who claimed three for 24 in the visiting attack and held a couple of catches, to add to his earlier good work with the bat.

In the premier division, second-placed Caistor Town looked to have posted a handy score of 239 for six when they hosted Alkborough.

Sehan Wijerathne led the way with 91, Harry Boulton scored 65 and Mark Gowshall 31, as Ian Roden took five for 40.

However, Alkborough are renowned as a very powerful batting side and James Barker's hard-hit 100, plus 37 from Steve Clay and 33 by Nigel Brown, helped guide them to a four-wicket success.

Opener Paul Dimbleby sent down 18 overs in the heat to claim three for 83.

Elsewhere, Cleethorpes 2nds lost by 17 runs at home to Horncastle at Chichester Road.

A good opening stand of 95 set the visitors on their way to 218 for nine in the permitted 50 overs, opener Nick Paige making 59, Dan Freeman 56 and Pubs Chandrasekara 33.

The Meggies were dismissed for 201 with three balls remaining in the final over, Joe Farmery hitting 56 and Chris Wragg 36.

Bowlers to do well were Inderjit Hayre, Rob Griffin and Rich Griffin – each with three wickets for Cleethorpes – while Pete Jackson managed four for 52 for the visitors, who now move up to fourth spot.

There seems to be no holding leaders Messingham at present, with Bracebridge Heath 2nds the latest team to fall short in their efforts.

The Lincoln lads visited Northfield Road, elected to bat first but were dismissed for 137, in the 46th over – Carl Stubbs' 65 being the only innings of note.

Messingham took just over 25 overs to secure another 20-point haul, opener Ian Dawson being unbeaten on 58.

Home skipper Andy Langford had the game's best figures of five for 35, with James Wright taking two for 26 for the visitors.

South Kelsey's 63-run home win over Scunthorpe Town leaves them third and Town third from bottom in this very close division where only 18 points divide eight teams (20 being gained for an outright victory).

Steve Wright's 88 was the highlight of the villagers' 279 for seven, Kumud Wijayaratna adding 58, Atiq Ullah 44 and Dale Coy 32.

With Neil Patrick scoring 80 and Sunny Sen 74, Scunthorpe responded with 216 for six.

Town were missing a number of regulars, including Liam Redmond, Ram Chand and Simon Kiddle.

However, Josh Pashley stepped up a level to the premier division and bowled a good spell, while Pop Robson had another lengthy stint in the stifling heat.

Messingham 2nds' lead in division two was cut to 16 points after defeat to Grimsby Town 2nds.

And at the other end, Haxey 2nds' home win over Cleethorpes 4ths saw the Isle of Axholme villagers move out of the relegation zone at the expense of the Meggies.

Experienced Steve Ryan led the way with 77, James Robertson made 40 and Scott Barlow 28 in Haxey's 208 for eight.

However, Cleethorpes failed to threaten the target, being dismissed for 78, Aaron Moody taking five for 26 and Paul Bradley three for 11.

Sadly, bottom side Outcasts 2nds made it no win in 10 outings when losing heavily by nine wickets at home to Hartsholme 2nds.

The Isle side were dismissed for only 114 (inside 37 overs) and failed to take a single point from the game as the Lincoln visitors reached their target in the 29th over.

In a mid-table battle, Alkborough 2nds lost by four wickets when hosting Caistor 2nds.

Neil Gray hit 30 but Alkborough set themselves a tough task by scoring only 131, visiting skipper Dan Healy doing the bulk of the damage with six for 24.

Caistor's reply owed much to the efforts of Paul Jackson (50 not out) and Andy Pearson (41 not out), with Simon Leak taking three for 27 in the home attack.

Game of the day in division threecame in Grimsby, where second-placed Stamford Homes successfully chased a daunting target to beat fourth-in-the-table Barton Town 2nds.

An opening stand of 72 (Jeremy Evans 52) set Barton on their way to a commendable 234 for eight, Graves making 65, as Mick Hanson took seven for 71 in 15 overs.

However, Stamford rose to the challenge with Vishnu Marijunath undefeated on 95 and Niall Dunn scoring 78.

Hibaldstow, who are third, won well away to mid-table Immingham Blossom Way.

Highlights of Hibaldstow's 205 for six were 52 from skipper Mark Nicholson, 49 from Jon Taylor and 34 by Mel Oades, as Scott Hilton claimed three for 50.

Immingham were dismissed for 125 (Anthony George 33, Paul Farmery 29) as Simon Pullan took three for 39.

Scunthorpe Town 2nds put a little daylight between them and the relegation places with an emphatic home win over bottom side Holton-le-Clay 2nds.

Town's 212 for eight featured 61 from Matt Pashley, 43 by Ben Ibrahim, 36 from Daz Quibell and 21 not out by Jon Hernon.

Holton were dismissed for 132 in reply, Jon Jacklin taking two for 12.

Keelby proudly head the division, proving too strong with bat and ball for Broughton 2nds, who were dismissed for 138 (Smith five for 34, Spencer four for 41).

Robson then cracked an undefeated 74 as Keelby won by eight wickets.

In division four, second-in-the-table Caistor 3rds inflicted another 10-wicket "whitewash" on Scunthorpe Town 3rds, who are second-from-bottom.

However, Town came very close to a division four record stand of 70 for the ninth wicket between Chris Parry and James Fussey – falling just five runs short.

James top scored with 37 in Scunthorpe's 140, only for Ryan McKitton to crack an undefeated 94 as Caistor's openers chased down the target on their own.

Chasing promotion, Old Lincolnians could have done without a four-wicket reverse at Alford 2nds.

Old Lincs were bowled out for 163 (in 38 overs), Matt Jelly making 54 and Dave Hill 42, as Paul Nickson claimed three for 14 and Kev White two for 20.

Alford got a good start courtesy of Tom Stephenson (45) and White 26, with Gary Allis adding 29, Alan Irving 21 and Johnny Wood 22 not out.

Tim Phipps (two for 46) had best figures for the visitors.

Brigg Town remain at the foot of the table but the margin of their latest defeat at Morton was only two wickets – and the Gainsborough side had only an over to spare.

Brigg posted a decent 183 for six but Morton got the runs required, despite Dylan Hildreth bagging five for 53.