Spinner Jamie Holmes claimed a five-wicket haul to fire Pelsall to the top of the table with a crucial win against rivals Beacon.

Off-spinner Holmes took 5-60 to put Pelsall on course for a tense two-wicket success that knocked their opponents off top spot.

Holmes led the way, as Pelsall restricted Beacon to 191-7 in their 50 overs.

An unbeaten 78 from veteran Paul McPherson then took Pelsall to victory, after a slump by the top order had looked like handing Beacon the win.

Jason Swann had earlier hit 70 for Beacon in the middle-order to help them get close to 200, with captain Craig Jones scoring 30.

Pelsall skipper Richard Cooper was delighted with the win, but he admitted his side made hard work of reaching their victory target.

He said: “For most of our innings Beacon were really in the pound seats.

“At one point they had us at about 70-6 and we really looked dead and buried, but I was delighted with how we batted down the order.

“I would have preferred to win by eight or nine wickets, of course, but we always felt we had depth in our batting.

“In a way, it was nice to be able to prove it and that will stand us in good stead for the season.”

Old Wulfs Tettenhall captain Tom Nutting is ready for a relegation scrap after admitting they are in a basement dogfight.

Saturday’s losing draw at Aldridge left them joint bottom with Springvale and Whittington.

Chasing the hosts’ 301-5 Old Wulfs made 166-6 and Nutting knows they face a nervous season.

He said: “We’ve got to fight for all the points we can get. I’ve said before we’ve got a good enough team, but the way things are going it looks like we could be scrapping it out with Springvale and Whittington.”

Springvale captain Steve Blews blamed 16 overs of “madness” for costing his side a potentially crucial victory.

Blews’ men had restricted Penkridge to 111-4 after 34 overs on Saturday, but a combination of loose bowling and devastating batting saw the visitors smash 158 off the final 16 overs.

Ronnie Hassan top scored for Penkridge with 93 as they struck an imposing 269-8.

Blews said: “We bowled well and we put them under pressure, but unfortunately 15 overs of madness caused the rest of the day to be a bit uncomfortable.”

In reply Tom Chew scored 56 and Dave Bennett 27, as Springvale reached 190-8.

Second-placed Brewood continued to cement their position as promotion challengers with a four-wicket win over Hammerwich.

Hammerwich were dismissed for 155.

In reply, a quick-fire 33 from Rob Brewer and an unbeaten 29 from Michael Southall’s guided Brewood home.

Bloxwich are geared up for the toughest test yet of their promotion credentials this weekend when they face Wednesbury.

Matt Langston’s fourth-placed side are refusing to look any further than the top four despite a crushing win over Whittington.

Langston’s men enjoyed an eight-wicket victory to move within 15 points of leaders Pelsall after dismissing their opponents for 119.

Opener Danny King with 28, joined by Andy McAree and Ben Bradley with 35 and 27 not out respectively, saw the target was reached in 30 overs.

Langston said: “We’re doing really well and we’re competing in every aspect of the game so confidence is high.

“But we’ve probably got our toughest test of the season on Saturday – Wednesbury’s never an easy place to go and we won’t be taking granted.”