CREWE went down to a three-wicket defeat in a tight finish at Longton 2nds in NSSC Division Three.

Lew Bacon top scored with 42, but after electing to bat the visitors were skittled for 150, losing their last six wickets for 48 runs.

Second-placed Longton didn't have it all their own way when they batted and Josh Allman (3-51) and Ollie Jarvis (2-35) kept it interesting until the last over when the hosts got over the line with four balls to spare (151-7) with Lee Ridgway unbeaten on 31.

Crewe are now down to seventh in the table.

Crewe 2nd XI enjoyed better fortune as they claimed a 35-run win over JG Meakin 4th XI at the Vagrants. Andrew Boffey hit 51 as Crewe managed 178 all out.

But it was a total that was sufficient to keep them in contention in third spot in NSSC Division Eight as the visitors were restricted to 143-8 in their 40 overs helped by Ryan Halliwell's economic bowling which saw him finish with figures of 3-11.

On Sunday, Crewe 3rd XI went down to a two-wicket loss against Hem Heath's Sunday XI in the Wildblood Cup. Crewe were all out for 101 with Paul Allman (55) top scoring. Allman was impressive with his bowling too (3-14) but Heath got home with eight overs to spare (103-8).