GLAZEBURY suffered their second defeat of the season when they were beaten by Appleton at Lyons Lane in Cheshire Cricket Alliance Division One.

Batting first, Appleton took control of the game by posting 223 for 4 in their 45 overs thanks mainly to an unbeaten century from Ali Sharif and Khantiraj Vengsakar's 53.

For Glazebury, there were two wickets for Scott Sparks and one each for Dave Acton and Jon Gibbons, but it was a difficult day for the bowlers overall.

In reply, Glazebury kept the scoreboard moving but the regular loss of wickets prevented them from building a big partnership.

Sparks, 32, and Jack Warhurst, 24, were the main contributors on a scorecard that saw 10 players reach double figures but only two pass 20 as Glazebury fell for 191 to lose by 32 runs with seven overs still to spare.

The result moved Appleton level on points with Glazebury as the Hurst Lane side drop out of the top two for the first time all season.

They host Tranmere Victoria on Saturday, while Appleton welcome Trafford Metrovics.

Also in Division One, Stretton beat visitors Holmes Chapel by 117 runs after posting 257 for 5.

They had M Khan, 92, Jagdish Ratnagiri, 73, and Hameed Raza, 39, to thank for posting a total Chapel never got near.

It was a disappointing weekend for Rylands in Division Two as the first team lost to mid-table Audlem by four wickets.

Batting first, the hosts collapsed from 59 for 2 to 95 all out. Richard Buck’s 32 the top score.

Defending small totals has been a feature of Rylands’ season so far and when early wickets fell it looked like it could happen again, but the Audlem middle order saw off the danger and reached the required total for the loss of six wickets.

In Division Three, Appleton seconds beat home side Mossley by 20 runs after being bowled out for 156.

R Zaidi's 32 and a knock of 48 Ed Sygrove proving enough, before Michael Cumberland and Chris Tomlinson took three wickets each in reply.

Glazebury seconds had too much on the day for their Rylands counterparts as they secured a convincing eight-wicket victory in the Division Four West 'derby' at Hurst Lane.

After being put into bat, Rylands were dismissed for just 77 with Jordan Carroll top scoring on 22.

Home skipper Cris Ayre, 3 for 24, Hakeem Dahou, 3 for 8, and Alex MacArthur, 2 for 10, all performed well with the ball for the home side.

In their reply, Mike Nutkins’ 32 gave the home side early momentum before Phil McCue, 22 not out, and Paul Warhurst's unbeaten 10 finished the job.

Appleton fourths drew with Capenhurst, while in the East Division Stretton seconds drew at Audlem.

At Audlem in the 40 over cup competition, Rylands again won the toss and this time asked their opponents to bat first.

Tight bowling backed up by good work in the field meant Audlem could only manage a below par 178 from their 40 overs. Captain Matt Brady, 3 for 25, and Adam Peters, 2 for 18, with the pick of the bowling figures.

In reply Rylands hit the 179 needed to win with 12 overs to spare, Alan Brady, 72 not out, and Graeme Rowlands, 41 not out, seeing the away side through to a semi final tie away at Appleton.