Castletown have a great chance this week-end to return to the top of the Standard Bank Cain League.

They are currently two points behind Cronkbourne, but play bottom of the table Valkyres on Saturday and meet Crosby on Sunday. The Marown team are out of the running for the title, but could be dangerous.

The Town went down to a heavy defeat at Peel last week. However the side was weakened by absences and, if back to full strength, would be favourites to win both their matches.

Cronkbourne have only one fixture, but that looks fraught with danger. They travel out west to play a Peel side who are only one point behind the leaders.

The western club is having a great run. Their batting is in fine shape with Phil Littlejohns in particular showing top form. In his last four innings he has scored 217 runs and only been dismissed twice.

There is also plenty of bowling talent in the side and home fans say the Tromode team could be in for a rough ride.

On the other hand Alex Stokoe is having a tremendous season with both bat and ball. He has scored nearly 500 runs at an average of 40 and taken 24 wickets.

Carl Wagstaffe is making plenty of runs and Matty Ansell is having a good year. This should be an entertaining match.

Both sides will be waiting anxiously for the result from Tromode where Valkyres are up against Ramsey, who are also just one point behind Cronkbourne. It is difficult to see the northerners losing this one, but stranger results have happened.

The Cain league is heading towards a very tight climax with, at the moment, four clubs in close contention for the title. On Sunday evening only three should be left in the hunt, but which three?

Standard Bank Forrester Division Two
Valkyres B 97 for 5 (Rob Weight 52no, Keith Brew 15 : Seb Aycock 2 -16, Daniel Laughlin 2 -23); Castletown B 101 for 0 (John Short 44no, Dave Griffiths 29no). Castletown won by ten wickets.

Isle of Man Bank Under 13 League
Cronkbourne B (80) beat North (71).

Isle of Man Bank Under 11 League
West (287) v East : Match abandoned (rain) – one point to each side.