HAXEY BOYS CELEBRATE ECB PREMIER TITLE

READERS LINCOLNSHIRE ECB PREMIER LEAGUE

Haxey clinched the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League championship in the penultimate weekend of the season with a slender two wicket win over Woodhall Spa after Skegness lost their chance of honours, going down by eight wickets to Sleaford.

Bracebridge Heath moved into second but are 20 behind Haxey.  The two meet in the final game of the season but if points are level at the close, Haxey take the title with the highest number of wins.

Nottinghamshire’s Andy Carter made a rare appearance for his club, taking four wickets in Bracebridge’s game against Louth who nevertheless denied their opponents maximum points, finishing 200 for nine, Matt Hamilton hitting 10 fours in his innings of 50.

Brett Houston then hit 65 but the home side slipped to 138 for six before Carter came to the rescue with an innings of 39.

At Woodhall, Ricky Lovelace made 71 of his side’s total of 163 and Ben O’Brien took six Haxey wickets but Graeme Attenborough’s 67 helped his side to victory.

Only three Skegness batsmen made double figures at London Road as the final wicket fell on 134, Paul Butler top scoring with 45 and Tom Shorthouse taking four for nine off eight overs.

Sleaford then reached their target for the loss of only two wickets, Garry Park with an unbeaten 61.

The bottom two places were also decided with Market Deeping and Boston now unable to catch the sides above them.  Deeping went down to Hartsholme by four wickets while Boston lost a high scoring game at Bourne by 22 runs.

Henry Rush hit 93 for Hartsholme while Bourne’s Conrad Louth made the day’s only century with an unbeaten 145 off 155 balls, including 16 fours and two sixes and Jonny Cheer hit 82 for Boston, scoring seven fours and four sixes.

In the mid-table game at Lindum, three batsmen hit 53 – Alex Hornsby for the home side and Neal Snell and Harry Warwick for Grimsby, who went lost by 16 runs thanks for five wickets from Guyan de Silva.

Chasing 184 to win, Grimsby reached 165 for five but lost their last five wickets for the addition of only two runs.

Results

Louth 200-9 (Hamilton 50), Bracebridge Heath 201-8 (Houston 65);

Woodhall Spa 163 (Lovelace 71), Haxey 165-8 (Attenborough 67, O’Brien 6-43);

Skegness 134, Sleaford 137-2 (Parks 61no);

Market Deeping 181-7 (Gillett 60), Hartsholme 185-6 (Rush 93);

Lindum 183-5 (Hornsby 53), Grimsby 167 (Snell 53, Warwick 53, de Silva 5-33);

Bourne 284-5 (Louth 145no), Boston 262 (J Cheer 82).

	P	W	L	Draw	NR	Bat	Bowl	Win	Total
Haxey	21	12	4	1	4	53	75	120	271
Bracebridge Heath	21	8	1	3	9	51	52	80	251
Skegness	21	10	7	0	4	55	67	100	242
Sleaford	21	8	6	3	4	54	59	80	232
Woodhall Spa	21	6	5	2	8	50	55	60	215
Lindum	21	8	5	2	6	32	62	80	212
Bourne	21	4	5	4	8	45	55	40	200
Grimsby	21	4	8	3	6	47	56	40	190
Hartsholme	21	6	10	0	5	41	53	60	179
Louth	21	5	7	1	8	32	46	50	171
Market Deeping	21	3	8	2	8	32	43	30	149
Boston	21	3	11	1	6	23	47	30	133