QUALITY BATTING FROM BELTON

By Glen Sands

Luddington's resources were stretched to the limit in the Snaith Evening League last Thursday with no less than ten players unavailable to play at Drax Village through holiday or work committments but they managed to field eleven and ultimately won at a canter against a team that have in the past proved something of a bogey side.
Drax batted first but found runs hard to come by at first with both Jon Wroot and Matthew Mellers bowling quite tightly and Luddington struck an early blow when opener Morris was bowled by the impressive Wroot without having troubled the scorers. Kevin Thomas went in at number three and began to move things along, hitting several boundaries although he lost his partner Dan Montgomery for eight with the score on 31 when Jamie Belton took a superb one-handed tumbling catch at mid wicket. Luke Edwards joined Thomas and he too began to find the boundary only to be cut short on 13, bowled by the Isle team youngster Alex Fletcher who was to have a spell to remember as the game progressed. Simon Vaux was next to go, stumped by Mark Coulman off master Fletcher for nine with the total on 67 and the big-hitting Steve Smith became Fletcher's third wicket when Matt Mellers took a quite incredible catch at deep mid-on when the score had reached 78. Tom Sharpe then got amongst the wickets, bowling Ed Montgomery for 0 but it was proving to be Alex Fletcher's day and he produced an absolute humdinger of a delivery to bowl Thomas for 36 and leave Drax struggling on 81 for 7. Sharpe went on to pick up two further wickets to end with 3 for 17 but it was Fletcher who took the pludits with figures of 4 for 18 from his allotted overs as Drax ended on 97 for 9.
Luddington were confident of reaching their target but nevertheless knew that they would need to stay focused on their task and that was just what they got from opener Jamie Belton who produced a quality batting performance to guide them home. Along with Darren Clark he took the Luddington reply to 46 with a combination of excellent defence and aggressive hitting before Clark was bowled by home skipper Matt Atkinson for 15 which saw Simon Lewis join Belton in the middle. The two batsmen then proceede to steer Luddington home, picking up singles with ease and generally guiding their team to victory. Lewis was bowled for 18 by Dave Brinded with the score on 88 but Belton went on to make his own personal half-century and ultimately hit the winning boundary to end the game on 54 not out, earning Ludd an eight-wicket victory that keeps them in the hunt to retain their title.
Luddington met up with an old friend at Drax in the shape of former Keadby and Gunness player Ralph Maud, who now lives in the Drax area and umpires their night matches. Ralph enjoyed a long chat with Luddington and Outcasts man Ian Fletcher, catching up with things and reminising about old times when both used to play in the old Isle of Axholme Evening League all those years ago. Luddington have a bye on Thursday July 1st after which they will have four games left to continue their chase of leaders Fishlake, begining at Burn on July 8th.

Division One
Leaders Fishlake maintained their two point lead with a comfortable 56 runs victory over bottom club Goole Town, posting a total of 151 for 7 thanks to 41 from Josh Mason and 40 from Richard Copley then bowling Town out for 95. Askern suffered a second successive narrow defeat , this time at the hands of improving Sykehouse who set a target of 142 for 7 for Welfare to chase, Chris Marshall scoring a splendid 85 and the Askern side fell just four runs short with Steve Barnes hitting 29 and Matthew Wilson 28 which puts a dent in their title challenge.

Askern v Sykehouse
Sykehouse : 142 for 7 ( C Marshall 85 )
Askern : 137 for 7 ( S Barnes 29 ; M Wilson 28 )
Result : Sykehouse win by 4 runs

Drax Village v Luddington
Drax : 97 for 9 ( K Thomas 36 ) A Fletcher 4 for 18
Luddington : 98 for 2 ( J Belton 54 no )
Result : Luddington win by 8 wickets

Fishlake v Goole Town
Fishlake : 151 for 7 ( J Mason 41 ; R Copley 40 )
Goole : 95 all out
Result : Fishlake win by 56 runs

Division Two
Hensall remain clear leaders of the Second Division following their 13 runs victory over Howden Town whilst second placed Sturgethorpe had to concede their scheduled game against Goole Firemen due to lack of numbers, leaving them five points adrift of Hensall in the league. Bottom placed Carlton Towers gained their second league victory when beating Hurst Cortney by 3 wickets, and it was down to that man Mark Holmes again who hit 102 not out as they successfully chased down the Hurst target of 117 for 6.

Carlton Towers v Hurst Courtney
Hurst : 117 for 6
Carlton : 123 for 7 ( M Holmes 102 no)
Result : Carlton Towers win by 3 wickets

Goole Firemen v Sturgethorpe Postponed Sturgethorpe unable to raise a team

Result : Goole Firemen win by default

Hensall v Howden Town
Hensall : 146
Howden : 133
Result : Hensall win by 13 runs


Division Three
Airmyn are three points clear at the top of Division Three following their narrow four runs win over Drax Village 2nds, G Clark scoring 46 as they posted a score of 122 for 7 and they were made to sweat by basement boys Drax who replied with 118 for 6 thanks chiefly to S Jackson who hit 36 for the Villagers. Second placed Pollington were joined on 13 points by Eggborough whom beat them by 4 wickets. Richard Cuttle scored 46 and Rob Slater 30 not out as Pollington made 129 for 6, Ben Pearson taking 3 for 14 for Eggborough and he went on to star with the bat too , hitting 50 not out as the home side reached 132 for 6 M Burden offering assistance with 45 not out as well.

Airmyn v Drax Village 2nds
Airmyn : 122 for 7 ( G Clark 46 )
Drax : 118 for 6 ( S Jackson 36 )
Result : Airmyn win by 4 runs

Pollington v Eggborough
Pollington : 129 for 6 ( R Cuttle 46 : R Slater 30 no ) B Pearson 3 for 14
Eggborough : 132 for 6 ( Pearson 50 no ; M Burden 45 no )

Fixtures
Thursday July 1st

Div One
Burn v Drax Village
Goole Town v Askern
Sykehouse v Fishlake

Div Two
Hurst Courtney v Hensall
Howden Town v Goole Firemen
Sturgethorpe v Carlton Towers

Div Three
Drax Village 2nds v Pollington
Thorne Colliery v Airmyn

DIVISION ONE
P W L NR T PTS
FISHLAKE 7 6 1 0 0 18
LUDDINGTON 8 5 2 1 0 16
ASKERN WELFARE 8 4 3 1 0 13
DRAX VILLAGE 8 3 4 1 0 10
SYKEHOUSE 8 3 4 1 0 10
BURN 6 2 4 0 0 6
GOOLE TOWN 7 1 6 0 0 3


DIVISION TWO
HENSALL 9 6 1 2 0 20
STURGETHORPE 9 4 2 3 0 15
HURST COURTNEY 9 3 3 3 0 12
GOOLE FIREMEN 9 3 4 2 0 11
HOWDEN TOWN 9 3 5 1 0 10
CARLTON TOWERS 9 2 6 1 0 7


DIVISION THREE
AIRMYN 7 5 1 1 0 16
POLLINGTON 7 4 2 1 0 13
EGGBOROUGH 8 4 3 1 0 13
THORNE COLLIERY 7 2 4 1 0 7
DRAX VILLAGE 2NDS 7 1 6 0 0 3