GRAPPENHALL first team travelled to Oxton looking to maintain their good start to the ECB Premier League season.

But they were in trouble early on at 44 for 3 with both openers and skipper Richard Green back in the shed and soon to be 71 for 4.

Australian Josh McLelland and Andy Tetlow came to the crease and built a steady partnership with McLelland starting to score freely.

They took the score to 135 before Tetlow was dismissed, with the tail then wagging to support McLelland as Grappenhall looked to post a decent total.

Grappenhall finished 186 all out inside the final over of their innings with McLelland finishing with a very important 69.

Fresh from his sound knock, Josh took the new ball and soon made inroads into the Oxton batting line, with Sam Guest being equally as effective at the other end.

Wickets fell regularly as the Oxton batsmen failed to put up any kind of resistance.

When Guest and Mclelland were taken out of the bowling attach Oxton were teetering on the edge of a hammering at 54 for 7 with Mclelland picking up four wickets for a real man-of-the-match performance, and Guest collecting three wickets.

Oxton were finally dismissed for a paltry 59 with plenty of time to spare to make it two wins from two for the first team, who host Neston next weekend.

The second team lost their second match on the bounce at home to Macclesfield. Batting first on a difficult track, Will Sharp was the only batsmen with a score of note, 34, as Grappenhall were dismissed for 97 inside 28 overs.

Grappenhall picked up some early wickets in the reply but were always struggling to contain the Macclesfield batsmen as they chased down their total for the loss of five wickets with plenty of time to spare, Neil Muttock the pick of the bowling with 4 for 26.

The third team hosted Widnes in their second game of the T20 cup but were well beaten by a youthful side.

Grappenhall posted 128 in their 20 overs with Paul Radage top scoring with 85, but found wickets hard to come by in the second innings as the Widnes batsmen played with real positivity.

The game was over with two overs to spare as a couple of easy chances went begging in the field.

A difficult day all round for the lads with the cup now an unlikely target. The league season starts next weekend so plenty to work on.