THIRD place Rainford lost ground in the Liverpool Competition Premier League race after they were held to a draw by Southport and Birkdale.
Put into bat, the hosts declared on 203-6 off 55 overs before Rainford closed on 142-3 with Paul Farrar's unbeaten 63 the highlight.
Rainhill secured an easy nine wicket win over Leigh after Luke Procter (4-32), Jamie Harrison (3-16) and Khalid Usman (3-23) combined to bowl out the visitors for 73.
Newton le Willows lost a thriller at Wallasey after the Wirral outfit declared on 164-6 off 40 overs. Ahmad Safi Abdullah (3-57) was the pick of the bowlers for Newton before their reply fell 12 runs short.
In Division One, bottom side St Helens Town put in a brilliant bowling performance to dismiss leaders Bootle for just 66 with Danny Feeney (4-27) and Matthew Bielby (4-19) doing the damage. The batters failed to grab their chance though as Town were dismissed for 59.
Sutton travelled to Wavertree in Division Two where Ben Scott (3-50) and Alex Oldfield (3-53) helped bowl out the hosts for 198. Sutton opener Joe Smith hit 49 but the away side were dismissed six runs short of the target.
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