BARNOLDSWICK need a dramatic upturn in their fortunes if they are to deny Earby a place in the Ramsbottom Cup final when they sides reconvene at The Applegarth on Sunday after rain and bad light prevented a completion of their semi-final last Sunday.

At 73-3 after 24 overs, chasing Earby's total of 221-6, the visitors have a lot on their plate, especially since their most potent weapon, professional Raja Arshad, has been removed. His hard-hitting 41 kept the Victory Park men nicely ahead of the required run rate in an opening stand of 61 with Ian Scothern, but when he was picked up smartly by Trevor Kegg off a Glyn Sedman delivery, the balance swung firmly in Earby's favour.

If Kegg's catch was crucial, Sedman had even greater cause to thank his fielder for his next victim. Chris Walton's catch to dismiss Ian Scothern, which came five runs later, was a real show stopper, the sort of catch that makes the fielding side instinctively want to feel sympathy for the batsman.

Scothern was generally struggling to make fluent headway, a fair amount of prodding and poking being punctuated by a couple of perfectly executed boundaries, but there was no doubting the velocity of a fine, if slightly uppish, drive through mid-wicket. Walton, however, showed great athleticism to get within reaching distance of the ball and to Scothern's obvious dismay, a spectacular one-handed diving catch ended his innings at 19.

With Paul Beech being bowled by Andrew Rushton trying to work the ball on the leg side, Barnoldswick were at 73-3, with skipper Michael Scothern and Matt Plant at the crease, when the umpires decided to call it a day.

With rain delaying the start for an hour and another 50-minute stoppage making a finish virtually impossible if both sides completed their 48-over allocation, the interruption in the Barnoldswick innings was almost inevitable and they will do well to get themselves back into contention when they resume on Sunday.

The fact that they are ahead of the pace, however, underlines how the Earby total was built on carefully constructed foundations.

Steve Pickles was especially painstaking and careful, but as with the Scothern/Arshad partnership later, in tandem with the more aggressive Craig Walton, he helped to give the innings both a solid foundation and a strong back-bone.

Walton obviously likes to get on with the game and looked a touch impatient at getting the lesser share of the strike, which was no surprise given the calibre of one magnificent straight drive off David Scothern which seared to the boundary.

Walton's penchant for opening his shoulders, however, proved his downfall with the score at 55 when he was well caught at long-on by Adil Khan after a high-quality 37.

The arrival of professional Alex Scholefield saw the total move to 118 at a steady, if unspectacular, pace, 100 coming up in the 32nd over and 'stand-in' bowlers Plant and 16-year-old Matthew Nutter both escaping stern treatment.

The need for Earby to keep the total ticking over then brought Barnoldswick their next reward when Scholefield was run out seeking to complete a sneaky single.

The decision, which looked at least questionable from the comfort of the terracing, did not go down too well with the young professional. The time-honoured thwack of wood on wood and an Anglo-Saxon expletive in the changing room underlined that the development of a gifted young player into a fully-rounded professional still needs some fine tuning.

Chris Walton departed two runs later, a victim of the need to pick up the pace, but when Pickles escaped a catch behind by Ian Scothern because Barnoldswick had too many players outside the fielding circle, the visitors must have felt it was not to be their day.

Paul Tilbury's arrival re-enforced the thought as he lifted the tempo in fine style. Less circumspect than opener Walton, but equally adept with the long-handle, he had one fine straight six into the allotments in a brisk 31 that launched a late run spree, 95 runs coming from the last ten overs.

When he departed, very well caught by David Scothern running down the hill to hold another straight drive, Stephen Hipgrave took up the cudgel with a belligerent 18, Pickles finally falling at 210-5 when he was trapped lbw by Paul Beech.

Hipgrave was bowled by Michael Scothern to complete Barnoldswick's wicket-taking and Earby closed on 221-6.

On the face of things, Earby can only lose the game rather than Barnoldswick winning it, a point of view skipper Ian Clarkson will be keen to emphasise now that his team are so close to the showpiece.