GOLDEN GRAHAM

By Glen Sands
Outcasts gained a rare victory over Broughton last Saturday in a top of the table clash in Lincs League Div One that saw them beat their bogey side for the first time in several attempts.
Broughton were invited to bat first by home skipper Russell Fletcher and despite missing regular opener Matt Hammond they made a steady start as Neil Simpson and Nick Crawford batted with cauton. Jonathan Wroot and youngster Alex Fletcher kept things tight before the latter suffered a leg injury and had to come off to be replaced by Liam McAnaney but the scoring rate continued sedately as Broughton were made to battle for every run. Skipper Fletcher then turned to the recently in form bowler Graham Clark and once again he produced the goods , picking up the first wicket when trapping Crawford LBW for 29 with the total on 67 and he soon added a second when bowling Simpson for 31 , making it 76 for 2. Nick Dobbs and Jake Parker took the score up to 119 and were beginning to push the run rate on when Scott Buttrick took an exceptional catch to send Dobbs back to the pavilion for 29 , earning Clark a third wicket and with a further 30 having been added Jason Whiteley picked up his first when bowling Parker for 18. The big hitting Paul Reed was next to go , comfortably caught by Oliver Coulman off Clark for 19 then there was a clattering of wickets as Broughton went for late runs , Mark Coulman taking a terrific catch at deep mid wicket off Whiteley's bowling to remove Liam McIntyre before Clark and Whiteley took one more each , leaving the visitors final total on 157 for 8 from their 45 overs.
Father and son combo Mark and Oliver Coulman opened the Outcasts innings and they had made 22 when Mark was caught at slip by Neil Simpson off Paul Reed for eight. That brought Scott Buttrick to the crease to join fellow acadamy youngster Coulman and the exciting young bucks put together an exceptional partnership of 76 runs in no time. Coulman appeared set for a half century only to fall two short when he was caught by Simpson again this time off Jake Parker but yet another player who came through the youth ranks , Graham Clark , strode to the middle and along with Buttrick proceeded to guide the Priorymen to victory. Clark had reached 16 when he gifted a simple catch to Martin Wilson off Robbie Glentworth with the total on 151 which brought Andy Lawson onto the scene. Buttrick took his personal score to 50 with a single but it was Lawson who cracked the winning boundary that brought their total to 160 for 3 , earning them an additional batting bonus point and an all too rare win over Broughton whom they trail in the table by just 29 points now.
So there was yet another five wicket haul for " golden arm " Graham Clark and a well constructed and classy half century from Scott Buttrick for Outcasts who also had reason to thank Jason Whiteley for his three wickets and Oliver Coulman who hit 47 to help them to a dominent win over a below strength Broughton side and they will hope to continue their good form on Saturday when table toppers Scothern are the visitorsa to Hirsts Priory in what promises to be another thrilling encounter.