Skittled... The expression on Vincent Daly's face tells the whole story as he is clean bowled by Read's Frank Newby.

Sound, sensible batting by Read gave them victory in the Ribblesdale League local derby on Saturday, 31st May 1975 and enabled them to move above neighbours Padiham into second place in the table. After a lack-lustre start to the season Read have emerged as the one team capable of stopping Barnoldswick from winning the championship again. They recorded their third successive league win on Saturday, when their all-round strength was too much for Padiham.

Individual honours went to batsmen Mike Ranson and David Rigby, who shared a match-turning partnership of 56, as they each progressed to their highest first-team scores of the season. Some steady bowling from Frank Newby and John Waddington plus some powerful hitting from Richard Kawslec put the seal on a convincing win. Padiham played their part in an entertaining derby match played in front of a disappointing crowd on a sunny but chilly afternoon.

During the early part of the match Padiham were strongly in contention. They got off to a fine start with the Gee brothers putting on 73 for the first wicket, with Steve again in dominant form. Even after both openers had gone Padiham continued to progress smoothly, through Vincent Daly and Harry Doe. They passed the century mark with only two wickets lost and seemed set for a big score until a late collapse spoilt much of their early good work. When Skipper John Devon called the declaration at 5 p.m. Padiham's total of 156 seemed about 30 runs less than they needed. And so it proved. For when Read went in to bat the Padiham bowlers could get no more out of an easy-paced wicket than the home attack had managed. And with more than two hours, plus the extra overs, in which to get the runs Read did not need to take unnecessary risks.