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On a humid but gloomy Saturday morning, Liam Dorsey’s men travelled to Chorlton for their “top of the table” clash with South-West Manchester, which would go a long way to deciding who would finish top of the pile come the end of the season.On arrival at the ground, the lads walked out to the middle to have a look at which wicket we’d be playing on, but struggled to see where the outfield finished and the square began. Our hosts then informed us that the groundsman had forgotten to cut the wicket, so we’d have to use the strip under the covers from last week’s T20 - which also hadn’t been cut! An attempt to roll it and make do got underway, only for the roller to run out of diesel halfway to the square. Benny Hill music required as one of the lads ran off to the local Esso with a Gerry can.Luckily, the drizzle in the air gave them an extra half an hour to complete the preparations before we eventually got underway around 1.15pm, with the hosts choosing to bat.The intentions from the openers were clear, with Liam having men out on the boundary very early on in the game telling us exactly how they planned to accrue their runs; it was over the ropes or bust. The experience and guile of Rob Meredith won the early battle though, removing the top 3 inside the first 11 overs. A partnership of 82 from the 3 and 4 turned the game back towards the hosts, with both looking settled and putting away the bad balls, with Jordy and Lewis not having their greatest of days with the ball in hand.It was the introduction of spin from both ends from Liam and Owen that turned the game back in Clifton’s favour, taking 7 wickets between them (Liam 4-48, Owen 3-37) in their 10 overs, rolling the hosts out for 179 with a ball to spare. The highlight being a caught and bowled from Liam with a spectacular one-handed grab.The fielding was outstanding throughout, with Sam Winstanley leaping back over the rope and pushing one back into play to save a maximum the standout moment, but it was an all-round tidy performance giving very little away. A rare off day for Judgey behind the stumps can be excused. I think he gets nervous when his fan club comes to watch.The chase then got off to a positive start, but it was Ethan Kite ticking the scoreboard over rather than Steve McManus this time, as Steve struggled to 9 off 28 before being caught. The opener has been seeing it like a beachball recently and has got off to some electric starts, but the mantra of this side is that when one of them is struggling, someone else steps up. A partnership of 41 from Ethan and Dan Jones put Clifton into a strong position, before Ethan holed out to mid on the very next ball after clearing that same fielder with a lofted on drive.Nobody really got going to win the game on their own, but contributions from plenty (Ethan 36, Dan 26, Jordy 25, Judgey 32 and Owen 33) took the game deep and put Clifton in control of the tie.Things got a little closer than ideal late on when Sam Winstanley and Lewis Keogh were both given out LBW first ball with dubious decisions, but Liam Dorsey came to the crease to settle the game with a glorious straight drive into the sight screen followed by a flick through midwicket to win the game with an over to spare. There are no other clubs in this league where someone can come in at number 9 and play shots like that.The win puts Liam’s men 13 points clear at the top of the league, and with the batting and bowling depth on offer – as well as the fielding being exceptional compared to others at this level – it’s going to take something special from the others to stop the 2nd XI topping the table at the end of the season and gaining a fully deserved promotion.

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