BY GLEN SANDS
With the temperatures touching 30 degrees on July 14th, Luddington headed to Barton to take on their Academy Vikings side and produced a battling performance that earned them a twelve run victory in what was a keenly contested match.Luddington won the toss chosing to bat first and got off to a very good start as a combination of excellent batting from Joe Woolhouse and an array of wides and no balls saw them reach 45 in just seven overs. To their credit the Vikings attack responded with some much better bowling from that moment on but the score had reached 58 before they picked up their first wicket when Darren Clark was trapped LBW by Liam Parker having scored nine with his newly acquired bat. Woolhouse had been the more dominant of the pair but he was soon back in the pavilion , caught by Goerge Phillips off Tom Palin for an impressive 36 then Mick Wills was adjudged LBW by the same bowler and suddenly the scoreboard had a different look to it at 63 for 3. Gareth Parkin and Andy Lawson took the score to 74 then the out of form Lawson was bowled by George Short for four and Parkin was soon out for nine , caught by Harry Short off the bowling of brother George which continued the swing in momentum within the innings. Jamie Arrowsmith was next to go , caught by George Short off the impressive Tom Palin with the score standing at 92 then Graham Clark and Rick Green put together a much needed sixteen runs before Short trapped Clark LBW for 10. Liam Parker returned at the end of the innings to pick up two quick wickets then Palin grabbed his fifth when having Matthew Mellers caught by Danny Harris , leaving Luddington all out for 125 and Rick Green not out on 16. Tom Palin ended with 5 for 42 and Liam Parker 3 for 30 which represented a bold fightback after a nervy start.
Vikings reply got off to a very poor start as Matthew Mellers , back from an injury lay off , picked up the wickets of both openers , Mark Austin and George Short with just seven on the board. James Austin threatened to blast Barton to victory with a quickfire thirteen only to be bowled by slow bowler Arron Curry which made it 26 for 3 and Curry followed that by trapping Alan Sanderson infront of his stumps for 14 leaving the home side on 38 for 4. Old head George Phillips and young gun Liam Parker then put together a much needed partnership in the searingly hot weather and for a while the game crawled along as slow bowlers Curry and Darren Clark kept things tight and the two batsmen batted circumspectly. It looked like they had done a very good job as they took the total to 77 before Parker , having hit five boudaries in his score of 24 , failed to pick Clark's quicker delivery and was bowled neck and crop. As is often the case when a decent partnership is broken the remaining player soon followed his mate from the field , Phillips gifting an easy catch to Joe Woolhouse off Curry for 17 and suddenly Luddington found themselves back in the hunt , particulary when Clark bowled Harry Short without scoring then had Tom Palin given LBW with the total on 95. Home skipper Andy Genney hit three boudaries to push the Vikings past three figures but he perished at the hands of Curry who bowled him for 18 to put Ludd in line for a hard earned victory and it duely arrived when Curry leapt high to take a caught and bowled from Jack Waller which left the Vikings twelve runs short of their target. Curry finished with 4 for 36 and fellow spin twin Darren Clark 3 for 36 , but credit should also go to Matthew Mellers who took 3 for 22 at the top of the innings when the sun was beating down.
This win moves Luddington into second spot behind Outcasts who's win at Messingham saw them climb to the top but it was'nt all good news for Ludd as at least three players left the field with injuries , namely skipper Gareth Parkin , the big hitting Andy Lawson and the important middle order all rounder Rick Green who will all hope to be fit in time for their next scheduled game against Alkborough. Barton entertain Outcasts on the same day looking to bounce back from this narrow defeat in what is a very tightly contested league indeed.
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