Luddington won through to the North Lindsey League Division Three KO Cup Final but were made to work extremely hard to overcome a valiant Broughton side who came desperately close to upsetting the current table toppers.
Broughton batted first on a wicket that was still recovering from weeks of wet weather and they made a resonable start before Tom Reed was trapped LBW by Arron Curry for six. Number three batsman Williams failed to open his account and was bowled by the Ludd spin bowler and it was quickly 17 for three when Paul Reed was splendidly caught and bowled by Curry who was proving to be a real thorn in the Broughton side. Matthew Mellers then picked up his first wicket when he bowled Thompson and at 20 for 4 it was not loking good for the visitors but skipper Tom Brock and Matt Eagles dug in only for Curry to then grab a fourth wicket when having Brock trapped LBW for eleven. Ex Kirton veteran Geordie Rudd then joined Eagles and they took the score up to 37 then Eagles was out bowled by another Luddington spinner Darren Clark for a hard earned four runs.
Clark gained a second victim when he had Kyle Kitchen stumped by Steve Proctor off a wide, which caused some confusion in the middle for a while as it is such a rare dismissal.
Wicket keeper Sam Benson strode to the middle and began to take the attack to the Ludd bowlers , moving the total to 58 before Rudd was caught off a thin edge by Proctor off Jamie Arrowsmith for twelve valuable runs but Benson continued to add to his tally and along with number ten batsman Baggitt he took the score to 72. Proctor stumped Baggitt for five to earn Clark a third wicket and the innings was brought to a close when Benson was caught by Martin Fletcher off Arrowsmith for a splendid 19 with Broughton's final total standing at 76 all out.
Luddington's reply got off to a rocky start when young opener Joe Woolhouse was caught by Tom Brock off Paul Reed with the total on just three and when Jamie Arrowsmith was caught by Baggitt , again off Reed they were reeling on 5 for 2. Skipper Gareth Parkin joined Darren Clark at the crease and for a while they steadied the ship , taking the score to 24 before Reed took a stunnung catch to dismiss Parkin for six , earning Brock his first wicket of the innings. Andy Lawson was next to take to the middle and Broughton were cock a hoop when he was bowled by Brock having contributed just two runs leaving Luddington struggling on 26 for 5 It needed a cool head if the Isle side were to dig themselves out of a hole whilst Broughton were right at the top of their game and smelling blood but Clark and the dependable Danny Taylor held their nerves to move the total up to 50 , then the pendulum swung again when Tom Reed bowled Taylor for eight bringing the visitors back into contention once more. All this time opener Darren Clark had held things together for Ludd but the cat was soon to be amongst the pigeons when he was adjudged LW off the bowling of Tom Reed for 28 , leaving his side still 21 runs from victory with just four wickets remaining. Veteran wicket keeper Steve Proctor and Martin Fletcher took the score to 64 when Proctor edged a catch to Sam Benson off Andy Hillyard having made ten and as the tension mounted Ludd's running between the wickets was tested beyond legality as they were called on three seperate occasions for short runs ! Andrew Clark was then trapped LBW by Tom Reed who was bowling out of his skin , the score at that stage being 70 for 8 and it was down to the lighteningly fast Arron Curry and Fletcher to find the seven runs required for victory. Curry clipped the ball away off his pads for a cople and Fletcher took his own score to four with a scurried single then disaster struck for the valiant Broughton side as the ball flew through past everyone and over the boundary for four byes , earning Ludd a berth in the Final and leave the heroic Broughton boys crestfallen.
Both sides were drained of emotion at the end but shared in a hearty round of handshakes after what had been a terrific encounter. Darren Clark took the honours for Luddington with 28 and 3 for 15 although Arron Curry's 4 for 11 was a contributory factor as well, whilst for Broughton Sam Benson's 19 and Geordie Rudd's 12 along with the excellent bowling of Tom Brock ( 2 for 23 ) , Paul Reed ( 2 for 19 ) and Tom Reed ( 3 for 14 ) were all worthy of mention.
The Final will take place at Normanby Park on Sunday August 19th but Ludd's opponents are not yet assured as Upton cum Kexby are yet take on Blyth CC in the other Semi Final.
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