FUTURE XI took the Horwich Shield at their first attempt by beating Astra 228-176 in the final writes Barbara Goulding

Carmina Wood hit 29 runs in Future's first-innings total of 135, with Chantelle Stones adding 27 and Amy Maslevic 21.

Astra were forced to follow on after scoring 78 in reply, but dug in and hit a further 98 to force Future to bat again.

Helen Ahmed, with 27, Jane Bromlow (20) and Sadie Stagg (18) were Astra's top scorers.

Future easily knocked off the 42 runs they needed to win. This young confident team, trained by Ethel Barlow, also top section N and look a good bet for more glory.

Darcy A blew Section A wide open with a 92-79 victory over title rivals Rupert Ladies A.

The victory avenged Rupert's win over Darcy in May. It left Rupert and Little Lever XI joint top of the table, with Darcy A two points behind.

Farnworth and District Vets moved into second place in Section B by taking two points from leaders Walkden CC A.

Anne McMahon hit 28, Sheila Barker 22 and Nancy Pawsey 21 for Farnworth.

Adlington CC's 154-134 win against Highfield XI keeps them in contention in Section C. They are now joint second with BRUFC, who beat the leaders Little Lever CC A 217-90.

Julie Grundy (26), Julie Thompson (30) and Lisa Birch (44) were the top scorers for BRUFC, who also progressed to the semi-finals of the Healey Karwatt competition on Sunday. Bradbury Ladies, six points clear in Section D, beat Chorley Ladies 126-94, thanks to 25 runs from Lynda Hattersley, 21 from Heidi Hilton, 14 from Mandy Jones and 16 from Sam McCoy.

They were given a further boost when nearest rivals Gaskell lost 101-103 to CS XI.

Victoria British Queen picked up their first points of the season when they beat St Mark's Bakery 168-114. Katie Gannon was top scorer with 32 runs.

Jackson Van Hire joined Mytham Ladies at the top of Section J after beating them 143-123. Jackson's Leigh Prescott was the game's top scorer with 36 runs.

The Pike Shield final between Wellington XI and Kearsley CC will take place on Friday at Eagley CC (6.45pm).