OULTON Park enhanced their Premier Division title prospects at the expense of local rivals Chester Boughton Hall, who were plunged deeper into relegation danger.

Leaders Park coasted to victory at Little Budworth, winning by seven runs with 41 overs to spare.

Hall were asked to bat first and were soon in trouble at 31-5 as John Davies (4-28) and Danny Jones (3-50) prospered.

Fred Owen (17) and Dave Atkin (26) steadied the ship for a while but a further mini-collapse brought the last pair of Kegg and Fisher to the crease.

The duo shared a steady 45-run partnership which was cruelly ended one run short of two more bonus points by a dubious decision. Fisher was given out caught behind for an excellent 30 with his team posting just 124.

In reply, Park's Aussie Andy Robinson delivered a big-hitting 80no to ensure there was never any danger of a Chester fightback.

Fisher briefly threatened for Chester, while Riley looked the part during his first first-team bowl, grabbing his first wicket in the process.

Park were rarely troubled, though, as they reached 125-3.

Christleton enjoyed a fine victory over Widnes at Little Heath.

Widnes won the toss and bowled first so Simon Ratcliffe opened the batting with Alex Barr.

Barr was happy to play his shots early on before being caught for 29. Jim Gillson put on 50 for the second wicket before Ratcliffe departed for 37, and Gillson was bowled for 21. Marroof Khan and West Indian Darron Cruikshank made the last two noticeable contributions with the bat before Khan (42) was run out coming back for a tight third run.

Two overs later Cruikshank was caught square cutting by Mukhurjee at point for 20 with the score on 161-5. This triggered a collapse with the last five wickets falling for 29 runs with only wicket-keeper Russ Crowley making double figures with 13 as Christleton finished on 180 all out.

Cruikshank soon had the new ball in his hand and sent Widnes opener Titchard back to the pavilion for 0 and trapped Park lbw for 11. The introduction of Barr (3-43) proved effective as he removed McCoy for 21 before two more wickets for the paceman saw the score at 59-5.

Skipper Matt Parkinson opted to bring himself and Cruikshank back on to finish things off.

Parkinson (2-32) and Cruikshank (4-25) returned to clear up the tale and seal a fine victory for the Little Heath outfit.

Nantwich collected 20 points from a three-wicket win in a low-scoring game against Neston at Whitehouse Lane. They dismissed their Wirral visitors for 116 (Barrington Browne 5-43, Nigel Davies 3-44). Nantwich had to battle to reach 117-7 in reply, former Longton star Davies this time figuring with the bat - his innings of 31 being a match-winning contribution.

Dave Collyer took 3-26 and Stan Clifford 3-41 against the team Neston will meet in the semi-finals of the Twenty/20 tournament at Warrington on Sunday.

In Division One, Upton batsmen were back in form at Warrington where they registered an overdue eight-wicket win, after restricting the Walton Lea men to 175-8 in 55 overs (James Hughes 40). Nick Rivett hit 54 as Upton coasted home.

In Division Two, Tattenhall fought hard but lost away to Grappenhall.

Tattenhall openers Hope and Ahmed got off to a superb start and at 98 without loss after 25 overs the visitors were well placed to post a challenging target.

However, the usual Tattenhall middle order collapse ensued after Ahmed (31) and Hope (67) both perished. The middle order failed to take the innings forward and Tattenhall were eventually bowled out for 182 in the 49th over.

Grappenhall got off to a steady start but when Forster caught former Lancashire player R Green for 26 off the bowling of Cox, the game could have changed. It would have if Tattenhall had held on to two further straightforward catches early on.

The recipients of the good fortune, D Nicholson (64) and W Sharp (52), then batted sensibly on an excellent track. The home side eventually got home with seven overs and seven wickets to spare.