OXENHOPE beat Southowaram in a rain-affected match in the Spenser Wilson Halifax League Premie4r Division.

Southowaram, winning the toss, elected to bat first even though the weather conditions were unpredictable.

The visitors were soon in trouble to the Oxenhope attack missing leading strike bowler Joel Fothergill as Liam Dyson came to the fore with a terrific spell of accurate pace bowling taking 7-29.

Richard Ellis toiled up the hill to keep the pressure on, finishing with figures of 3-55 as Southowaram were dismissed for 86 in just 27 overs.

The heavens opened during the tea interval reducing the Southowaram score to just 59 which the home side polished off in nine overs, with the Fleetwood brothers Luke (20 not out) and Josh (36) concluding the victory.

Meanwhile, Oxenhope seconds succumbed to a second defeat in recent weeks to Shelf Northowaram HT.

Put into bat first, the visitors had several good starts with Craig Bartlett (21) and Andrew Whitehead (16) showing promise before succumbing to the fast accurate bowling of Ramsden, who went on to take 8-46, with only skipper Jonathan Holden providing any real resistance with a fine knock of 38.

This was out of a total of 121 reduced by a rain intervention to just 101 which Clem (50no) and Prentice (29) had no problem in overtaking in just 20 overs.