OUTCASTS 2NDS THROUGH TO BOB WELTON CUP FINAL

BY GLEN SANDS
Outcasts 2nds won through to the Bob Welton Cup Final which will be played at Alkborough on Sunday August 12th by beating Nettleham 2nds at Hirst Priory in a match sponsored by Tobi Potato Merchants of Crowle.
Second Division Nettleham batted first on a ground still recovering from the dreadful weather of late and soon found themselves in trouble as Alex Fletcher , one of five from the famous cricketing family , picked up three early wickets. Alex Willerton was first to go , bowled by the youngest of the clan and he repeated the dose when bowling Steve Peace for two and followed that by having Nettleham wicket keeper Dan McCardell caught by Josh Bramhill without troubling the scorers. The Lincoln side needed to batten down the hatches if they were to set a decent total and that they did as opener Ben Pearce and Marc Thornton dug in to fend off the Outcasts onslaught. They had takn thescore to 43 when Thornton was caught by Jonathan Bramhill off son Josh for 16 then Pearce was caught by Mark Fletcher to earn Josh his second wicket having made a vital 31 runswith the overall total standing at 60. Bramhill senior held another catch to send Chris Smith back to the pavilion for nine off the bowling of Ian Fletcher , the head of the family , in his first over and incredibly he picked up a second victim just two deliveries later when Rick Newell was caught by Graeme Fletcher for nought. To their credit Nettleham then fought back strongly with an unbeaten partnership of 70 between David Lea and Martin Strawson , Lea making 36 and Strawson 32 to leave their final score on 136 for 7 , a tally they appeared unlikely to reach after 35 overs. Alex Fletcher was the pick of the Outcasts bowlers with figures of 3 for 19 although Josh Bramhill took 2 for 30 and Ian Fletcher 2 for 21 to back him up whilst Graeme Fletcher and Mark Coulman kept things good and tight in their nine oves despite not picking up any wickets.
The Outcasts reply got off to a poor start when Oliver Coulman was bowled by Martin Strawson having failed to get off the mark which saw dad Mark join Anthony Fitzgerald at the crease and they took the score to 24 before Coulman senior was second out , caught by Cruickshank off Alex Willerton for 13. Fitzgerald had made 14 when he was third to go , caught by Marc Thornton off Strawson with the total on 33 then Russell Fletcher and Josh Bramhill took the score to 56 before the latter was out for nine , caught by Willerton from the bowling of Ben Pearce. That brought Jonathan Bramhill to the middle and along with Russell they addd 24 runs before Fletcher edged a catch to wicket keeper DEan McCardell off Rick Newell for 19. Nettleham were making a fight of it and really hit back when removing Bramhill senior for 30 , wicket keeper McCardell snapping up a second catch to earn Willerton a second wicket of the innings. Charlie Mason was his third victim , trapped LBW for seven and at 97 for 7 the game appeared to be shifting in Nettleham's favour , particularly when home skipperf Ian Fletcher ws caught behind for just one with his team still requiring 31 to win. However they were held up by a terrific unbeaten partnership between Mark Fletcher and younger brother Graeme who saw the Priorymen home scoring 28 not out and eleven respectively which means Outcasts get to defend the Bob Welton Cup which they won last year against Broughton.
Their opponents this time around will be Scunthorpe Town 2nds who beat Barton Town 2nds in the other Semi Final but for now they can bask in the glory of a fighting display against a tough Nettleham side who made them battle all the way in what was a real topsy turvy affair which was well officiated by Brian Cross and Steve Dixon from the Scunthorpe Umpires Association.