The sea air did Settle 1st XI a power of good as they comprehensively beat St Annes in a welcome turnaround of fortunes.

The hosts got off to a fine start with an opening partnership of 85, but lost the next seven wickets for just 20 runs. The collapse was engineered by the spin twins of Amar Ullah (4-21) and pro Ashen Silva (3-44), backed up by 2-18 from skipper Will Davidson. They struggled to 133 all out but held on till the 49th over.

Settle’s batting line-up was spared scrutiny after a powerful opening stand of 87 from Lewis Smith (57 from 76 balls), who recorded his maiden half-ton for the club, and an unbeaten 55 from 75 from Archie Phillipson. It was left to Silva (16no) to usher his side home to a nine-wicket victory with a massive 20 overs to spare.

In the Northern Premier there is now clear blue water between tenth-placed Settle who are 22 points ahead of the 2025 potential relegation zone. They face a tougher task against fifth-placed Chorley, but will look for strong home support on Saturday after three consecutive games on the road.

Settle’s second string continue to top Westmorland Two after their eleventh win of the season. There was a maiden half-century at Marshfield for Will Smith (53) and 52 from Andrew Fry who is currently on a roll, averaging 42 this summer. Harris Dinsdale rounded off the innings with a cracking 26 at a run a ball, leaving the hosts on 207 all out.

Shireshead struggled to 125 all out as Settle deployed seven bowlers, with two wickets apiece for Dinsdale and Nick Cokell, and 3-20 from left-arm spinner Gus Ogden.

On Sunday, the seconds headed up to Ingleton to contest their T20 finals day. They posted a challenging 163-6 in the semi-final against Coniston first team. Openers Elliot Marklew (23) and James Snowden (20) set the tone, with 33 from Cokell and an unbeaten 42 from Fry in the middle order.

Coniston were up for the challenge but their innings was damaged beyond repair by Ogden (4-20), who struck with three wickets in an over, including two catches in the deep from Marklew. A battling half-century from Jaime Scattergood could not prevent Settle claiming a 17-run victory.

It was a different story in the final against Westgate as Settle could only muster 95 runs, despite 35 from 24 balls from Joe Pickles. He also took a wicket in the reply, supported by 2-26 from Dinsdale, but Rory Briggs’ unbeaten 71 put paid to Settle’s hopes as they lost by seven wickets. However, they look for continued league success at Trimpell on Saturday.