SCUNTHORPE TOWN 2nds V OUTCASTS - LINCS LEAGUE DIV ONE

BY GLEN SANDS

Outcasts had a bad day at the office on Saturday, August 10 when they were well beaten at Heslam Park by Scunthorpe Town 2nds on an overcast afternoon.Home skipper Neil Patrick won the toss and invited Outcasts to bat first which proved to be a good decision as they quickly lost openers Darren Clark and  Oliver Coulman with only five on the board , both being trapped LBW , Clark by Declan Toyne and Coulman by Jake Smith. Charlie Mason and John Stokoe then repaired the early damage with a stand of 62 , Mason in particular batting very well with an array of boudaries that saw him make 35 before he was superbly caught at slip by Alan Pashley off spin bowling son Josh for 35. Andy lawson hit one four then fell to a catch at deep mid on by Kane Brown off Pashley who was to go on to have a terrific day with the ball. Stokoe , who once again aggravated a leg injury , became Pashley's third victim when he edged the ball to wicket keeper Dan Quibell for 30 and from then on the run rate dried up as the visitors looked to consolidate. Richard Wroot was out with the total on 78 , caught by Declan Toyne off Pop Robson then Russell Fletcher and first team debutant Lee Gash batted stweadily , taking the score past three figures. Fletcher had made eleven when he was caught by Jake Smith , again off Pashley then Tom Sharpe was ru n out attempting a suicidal single leaving his side on 118 for 8. Matthew Mellers and Gash pushed the score onto 131 before Mellers became Pashley's fifth wicket , caught by Kane Brown for five then Graeme Fletcher suffered the rare dismissal of being run out without even facing a ball to bring the innings to a close at 134 , Lee Gash ending on 25 not out as Josh Pashley took the plaudits for his figures of 5 for 35 from thirteen overs.
Having failed to trouble the scorers with the bat Graeme Fletcher made amends with the ball when he had Simon Kiddle caught by a diving Matthew Mellers for eight then following that by bowling Jake Smith for ten with the total on 36. However that was as good as it got for the Isle side because youngsters Dylan Hopkins and Kane Brown went on to bat outstandingly to guide Scunthorpe home , putting on 99 for the third wicket. Hopkins made 55 with five boundaries while Brown was even more fluent , striking ten boundaries in his 52 not out , the pair seeing their team home in the 37th over.
The two sides meet again on August 17 when Outcasts will hope to improve on their showing and will try to get back on track , whilst Scunthorpe will be in good heart having won so convincingly against a team just above them in the league table.