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AUGUST 2026 20 Independent LOCAL SPORT ALTRINCHAMGrammar School for Boys are rel- ishing a dream day out at Lord’s after booking their place in the final of the Barclays Knight- Stokes Cup. The school’s Under-15 side triumphed at Headingley in the north versus central semi-finals to set up a trip to the Home of Cricket on September 10. The Barclays Knight- Stokes Cup is a national hard ball competition for state schools across the UK, with over 1,100 boys’ and girls’ teams from more than 800 schools enter- ing the inaugural edition this summer. And Altrincham’s impres- sive outfit have now navi- gated their way to within one win from glory after a pol- ished 42-run triumph against Gloucester’s Sir Thomas Rich’s School in Yorkshire. Darren Birtwell, Head of Curriculum PE at Altrin- cham, hailed the competition for enhancing the profile of state school cricket and can’t wait to descend on the capital with his players towards the back end of the summer. “It’s been an unbelievable occasion – it’s so fantastic to be in a venue like Heading- ley,” he said. “Having a state school competition is enormously important – a lot of the big competitions around the country can be dominated by private schools so hav- ing something like this is brilliant. “State schools do struggle to keep cricket going – so this has been so fantastic for everyone. “The buzz of it has been massive – every game we’ve played has been played in brilliant spirits and it’s been so good. “You can’t even put Lord’s into words – for the boys to be able to play at the Home of Cricket is abso- lutely phenomenal. “As a 14 or 15-year-old cricketer to tick off that bucket list at such a young age is amazing – they’re going to absolutely love it.” ALTRINCHAM FC have signed goalkeeper Andy Firth as a player/keeper coach for the new season. The 29-year-old joins the Robins after a spell in Saudi Arabia as goalie coach with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq. Firth now reconnects with manager Neil Gibson, who he played under between 2022 and 2024 with Con- nah’s Quay Nomads. A product of Liverpool’s academy, the new number 13 played on loan at Wit- ton Albion and Chester while with the Reds, before stints at Barrow and Rang- ers preceded his move to the Middle East, where he linked up for a second time with Liverpool legend Ste- ven Gerrard. New recruit, Andy Firth said: “I’m delighted to have joined Alty in a player/coach role for the new season and I’m really looking forward to working with the gaffer and Jonah again. “I’m excited to get started working with the talented group of goalkeepers at the club and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together this season.” Manager Neil Gibson said about his new sign- ing: “Andy’s extremely well respected in the game and vastly experienced both with spells at big clubs like Liver- pool and Glasgow Rangers and in the National League with Barrow. “He was our starting goalie for two years at Con- nah’s Quay, he’s been a first choice, second choice and third choice at different LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP LONG-TIME leaders of the Cheshire County Cricket League Premier Division, Didsbury, suffered rare defeat in a top of the table clash with Nantwich. Nantwich moved into sec- ond place after a resounding five-wicket home win in a high scoring clash. Having been put in first, Didsbury piled on the runs and made 344/8. Joe Cooke (84) and Robert Sehmi (81) had a partnership of 171 and James Green weighed in with 48. But Nantwich pair Ali Chughtai and Rob Jones took a real liking to the Didsbury attack and put on a match-winning partnership of 228. Chughtai smashed 18 fours and seven maximums in his 149 with Jones hitting 22 fours in his 130. Hyde, who had a comfort- able seven-wicket win over Lindow, are the new divi- sion leaders. Alderley Edge won a tight run chase, beating Timper- ley by three wickets. Batting first Timperley made 297/9 from their 50 overs with Zach Thompson (127) and Ed Gal- ley (71) sharing a partner- ship of 118. Keeper Henry Murray helped Alderley Edge across the line with 119 in his team’s reply of 300/7. Bramhall were beaten by 94 runs at Brooklands. The home side posted 305 all out (Ben Cunliffe 89 and Kevin Carroll 128 off 67 balls). Bramhall were dismissed for 211. Openers Dan Brown (53) and Ashley Burton (51) were the main contributors as Cheadle posted 266 all out. Opponents Chester Boughton were restricted to 225/9, thanks mainly to Josh Dooler (4-42) and Dan Brown (3-43). In Division One, Bollington maintained second spot with a 32-run win at Sale. Bolling- ton opening pair Andrej Yak- sender and skipper Richard Hough put on 204 for the first wicket. Yaksender made 137 off 125 balls and Hough made 61 in Bollington’s 286/9. Sale’s Tyrone Lawrence had impressive figures of 7-59 but his side fell short as they were bowled out for 254. Alex Thompson made an unbeaten 103 but it was not enough to prevent Maccles- field falling to a six-wicket defeat at Marple. Maccles- field posted 222/8 but Jack Feilen’s 102 helped Marple to victory. Stockport Georgians pushed leaders Widnes all the way before falling to a 41-run defeat. Widnes posted 290/6 while Georgians replied with 249/6 (Francis Yates 81 and Ben Staniforth 78). Bowdon had a comforta- ble 121-run win over bottom club Urmston. Bowdon’s top scorers were Jack Tipton (73), Ashwin Sharma (70 no) and Joe Chapple (52). In Division Two, Romi- ley had a 21-run home win over Cheadle Hulme. Ans Muhammad (57) and Brodie Richardson (61) top scored in Romiley’s 263/8. Despite 69 from Jordan Potts, Chea- dle Hulme fell short on 242 all out. Second bottom Middle- wich (150 ao) were beaten by Bredbury St Marks (151-5) while Stockport were beaten by three wickets at home to Runcorn. Hale Barns kept third spot in the table with a five-wicket win over Irby. Stockport Trinity held onto second place in Division One with a 39-run win over Old Parkonians in a low-scoring clash. Trinity must have feared the worse when they were shot out for just 92 but Lincoln Kellett (5-5) and Matt Royle (4-27) bowled them to victory. Bottom club Northwich lost their 12th game of the season, losing by 81-runs at Over Peover. Bowdon Vale lost by one wicket at West- minster Park. Division Two leaders Holmes Chapel (174/9) beat Hawk Green (116 ao) while Division Three side Winsford (130 ao) stay second bottom after being comfortably beaten by Frodsham (210/7). In the North Staffs and South Cheshire League Divi- sion One, Congleton (216/9) lost at home to Porthill Park (217/6) while Division Two bottom club Sandbach suf- fered their 10th loss of the season away at Eccleshall. of coaches and players. We’ve been in contact over the off-season and I feel like we’re more aligned than we have ever been. “Then it comes down to the doing and our actions. It’s having a purpose and finding love of the process and being here for the last four weeks and seeing everything start to take shape has been the most cathartic bit of it all.” Alex says his biggest indica- tor of a group fully focused on success was the “incredible” condition his players returned in after their summer break. “From day one they were here to get fitter, not to get fit,”Alex said.“That was some- thing we were clear on at the end of last season with them – that there was a level of fit- ness that theyhad toattain for us to play in the style that we want to play going forward. “To a man, they’ve come in phenomenally fit, and that makes our job easier because we can focus on the rugby and less on the conditioning.” The new Gallagher PREM season kicks off on Saturday 26th September when Bristol Bears head to the CorpAcq Stadium. PREMIER LEADERS FIND IT TOUGH AT THE TOP Sharks relishing new campaign THE off-season is always an important period in the time- line of a rugby season. For Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson it was about taking time out to spend time with his family, “decompress” and deal with thepainof a season that failed to hit the heights of his previ- ous four at the helm. But now all eyes are look- ing forward and, bolstered by a host of new faces includ- ing England internationals Courtney Lawes and Joe Marchant, Alex says he’s feel- ing“as invigorated as I’ve ever felt in any environment.” Andwithanewgamemodel based on adding attacking flair to physical dominance being fine-tuned with every session at Carrington, there’s every reason for Sharks fans to share his optimism that this one could be a season to remember. “Given the time that we’ve hadoff,I’vebeenabletoration- alise and deal with the pain of last season, and then box that away through planning and getting to know new players andcoaches,”Alex said. “The break was essential because this role is so intense. It’s relentless in terms of being weighed and measured and having to perform week in, week out. You need a break to be able to take a holistic view on what you need to improve on both individually and as a group. “That takes weeks. You have to decompress, reflect and then look forward. I’ve done that with a core group To advertise in the Independent, contact our team on 01204 478812 Boys head to home of cricket Keeper Andy Firth has joined Alty (Image: Jonathan Moore) FIRTH JOINS ROBINS levels, so he’s more than capable of being a good back-up to Owen Evans, which allows us to look at loan options for Louie Fallon and Max Beddow, to push on their development as well. “In terms of coaching he’s worked in Liverpool’s academy, been a training goalie for Liverpool’s first team and he’s been in Saudi Arabia coaching in recent years, too.” Experienced keeper reunited with his old boss