COLWYN Bay boosted their Liverpool and District Cricket League Premier Division survival hopes with an eight-wicket home triumph over Formby.

A fantastic spell of bowling from Paul Jenkins and Ryan Holtby played a significant part in their success, and Bay are now 25 points above the bottom two ahead of their clash against Bootle at Penrhyn Avenue on Saturday.

Holtby wasted no time in putting the new ball to good use by taking out the opening pair of Ed Lowe (3) and Tim Smithies (4), and he continued his relentless form by adding skipper James Seward (2), Ollie Sutton (13) to his list of victims on his way to figures of 4-32 from ten overs.

He was aided at the end by veteran spinner Jenkins, who claimed the scalps of Joseph Lowe (13), Sabbir Patel (4), Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe (1) and Alex Powell (0) to end the day on 4-14, with Jamie Moorhouse securing a pair of wickets including top scorer Sam Oldham (28) for the loss of 20 runs as the visitors set a target of 94 all out.

Despite losing Zack Gidlow early on when he played an Ollie Stewart delivery into the hands of Seward for one, Bay managed to reach their required total with minimal fuss after a stern display from the rest of the home batsmen.

Will Higginson opened the batting and made 25 before he was clean bowled by Patel, with Pat Leach also making a telling contribution with an unbeaten 32 off 37 deliveries.

The talented George Johansen was also there at the end and contributed 29 not out as the hosts notched a crucial victory after just 16 overs at the crease.

Impressive scores of 57 and 73 from Chris Berry and Daniel Davies sealed a draw for Bay’s second unit at Northop Hall.