IT was hardly surprising that the only Bolton League matches to start on Saturday involved the top four teams.

While the rest took one look at sodden pitches and saw no hope in the skies for a rain-break, leaders Westhoughton and chasing sides Walkden, Heaton and Greenmount tried everything they possibly could to finish their games.

Feverish mopping up and the continual on and off ritual of the covers were only interrupted by phone calls to the grounds of rivals to monitor their progress.

In the end, Westhoughton and Heaton both picked up bonus points for their efforts, but it backfired on Greenmount, who were beaten by eight wickets at Egerton, while Walkden very nearly suffered a shock home defeat at the hands of Eagley.

At Longworth Road, Greenmount were restricted to 158-9 as Matthew Cuff (4-43) and Mark Price (4-45) kept the batsmen fairly quiet, with the exception of the Bury side's professional, Nishit Shetty, who topped scored with 40.

In reply, Egerton were always up with the asking rate and their captain Gary Garner (52) and Rick Northrop (49) steered them to 162-2.

Walkden and Eagley both settled for a match of 27 overs, with the toss having a major bearing on the outcome.

Eagley called correctly, put Walkden in, and saw the champions struggle from the start on the damp wicket.

Steve Foster did most of the damage with a bowling return of 5-44 and it was only the later batsmen who were able to make any real progress. Number seven Bernard Reidy (28) and number eight Rob Slater (26) hit 38 in a crucial partnership but in the end Walkden were dismissed for a lowly 92.

In reply, Eagley looked well on the way to a victory they probably did not expect before the start of play, but after coasting to 79-2 off 15 overs, the rains came down again and finally washed away any hopes of a finish.

Westhoughton certainly did not want to waste the chance of picking up what they probably thought would have been winning points against Tonge, and in a match that did not start until 3.55pm and was continually interrupted after that, they were possibly on the way to that with the day's top score, 189-8.

The on-form Ian Pilkington contributed 49 to the total with West indian pro Antonio Mayers adding 48, but Westhoughton's efforts to land another bonus point by reaching 190 were frustrated by two run outs in the final over.

Tonge, and in particular, pro Adil Nisar made a determined start and he quickly raced to 31 -- 15 runs coming from one over from Mayers. When he was finally out, however, Westhoughton's delight was short-lived as the rains came down again and ended play with Tonge on 61-3.

Jack Southworth, Heaton's import from Association side Blackrod, hit his maiden Bolton League half-century in the drawn game at Astley Bridge.

Southworth's 50 and Jonathan Fearick's 36 enabled Heaton to reach 172-5 but Bridge's reply was curtailed by the rain after 20 overs at 110-4 with Anthony Clegg contributing 61 and pro Delugoda 40 not out.

The draw earned Heaton 11 points for their efforts while of the other top teams, Westhoughton picked up nine, Walkden six and Greenmount one.