The 1st XI having qualified for the Lancashire KO for the 2nd successive season also broke new ground in 2017 by entering the National KO and were rewarded with a home draw against Northern League neighbours Chorley.
Unfortunately Chew Moor wasn't quite ready for what was effectively a pre-season game so it was switched to Windsor Park. Hopes of what would have been a major giantkilling act in many eyes were high as brilliant spells from Dave and Sheeny ripped apart the Chorley batting. Tom grabbed 4/12 and Dave 3/18 only for the 9th wicket pair of Barclay and Oates to smash the home side up to 138 all out - a target that still looked manageable. Chorley had other ideas though and we lost wickets at regular intervals with only Nick's 38 threatening to swing the game back our way as we slumped to just 89 in reply . (The scorecard can be found here)
Clifton were first up for us in the Lancs KO and with them flying high at the top of the GMCL at the time an 11 run was a major scalp for the lads. Batting first we rebuilt the innings steadily from a position of 26-3 led by a solid 35 from Leachy with Mark, Nick, Robbie & Dave all chipping in to reach 166-8 in our 45 overs. Robbie then grabbed a couple of early wickets to give us a glimmer of hope before Matt turned "Golden Arm" with a remarkable spell of 5/37 and help bundle them out for 155 in reply. Scorecard
Our reward was a trip to Northern League champions Leyland - a game where we didn't really do ourselves justice. The home side batted first and despite losing an early wicket were able to rebuild through a century stand between pro and captain to set up what looked like a 200 plus. However once we managed to break the stand Dave led a fightback that saw the remaining wickets tumble rapidly as they finished on 173-9. Frustrating really as we dropped the pro very early and he went on to make a crucial 77. The reply never really got going despite several of the lads getting into double figures and we struggled along to 139-8 and this year's adventure was over. Scorecard