MATCH REPORT BY GLEN SANDS
Luddington played their first home game of the 2013 campaign in the Broughton Evening League on May 22nd against Normanby Park and groundsman Dill Pullan can be pleased that all his hard work during the winter and early spring was well worth it as his team racked up 153 runs when taking first knock on a cool and windy evening.
Home grown talent Darren Clark opened the innings along with Peter Tait and from the off they batted with purpose , taking every opportunity to pick up singles and twos as the recent rain had rendered the outfield somewhat slow. Normanby's young bowling attack were bowling quite well and it was Jacob Render who made the break through when he had Tait caught by Sam Kelsey for 23 with the total on 42 which brought home skipper Andy Lawson to the crease. He quite sensibly took his time to assess the bowling and the track but along with the now well established Clark they kept the scoreboard ticking over before eventually pressing the accelerator. Lawson was just beginning to threaten another big innings when he was involved in a run out that saw him depart for 27 with the overall score on 97 , his stay at the crease producing just two fours and only one six ( though it was a mighty big hit into the adjacent field ). Scott Buttrick joined Clark in the middle and they continued to push the score along before Darren brought up his half century with a boundary , prompting him to retire as per league rules after which Russell Fletcher and Buttrick finished the innings off , taking the score to 153 for 2 , Fletcher making 13 and Buttrick 11. Despite the large total it has to be said that the Normanby youngsters all bowled quite well without any luck and on another day might well have picked up a wicket or two.
Old hands Paul Mitchell and Andy McDaid opened the innings for Normanby but McDaid had made just three when he edged a Graeme Fletcher delivery to brother Mark behind the stumps with the total on eleven. Liam Hebblewhite joined Mitch at the crease , taking the score to 30 before Liam McAnaney bowled the latter for 11 and with just six runs added Hebblewhite was also gone , bowled by Scott Buttrick for 13 as the ex Garthorpe youngster contnues to improve with his new slow bowling action. Skipper Declan Dunning and Jacob Render then put together a stand of 23 only for Dunning to then find himself bowled by that man Buttrick having made 20 then Ludd's Sunday skipper Gareth Parkin was brought on by Andy Lawson and he picked up the fifth wicket when bowling George Thomas for two , leaving the overall score at 72. Render was still batting well but he was running out of overs and partners and finally was dismissed when caught by Russell Fletcher off Darren Clark for a top score of 32. Clark went on to pick up a further two wickets , both Tom Donnelly and Will Wenban being stumped by Mark Fletcher which left Clark with figures of 3 for 2 from just one over !
So Normanby Park ended their innings on 93 for 8 , some sixty runs shy of the Luddington total but their young side never let their heads drop and to a man they performed well against a vastly more experienced Luddington side. Speaking of experience the game was umpired in an exemplary manner by Ralph Gray and Mick Walker , although as matches go this was probably one of their easiest to stand in with both sides showing them and each other the greatest of respect.
Luddington travel to Brumby Hall on May 29th to take on Appleby Frodingham who beat Barton Town on the opening day whilst Normanby head to Champions Broughton who suffered an opening day defeat against Scunthorpe Scorpions. I'm sure everyone will be hoping for some warmer weather and less wind so that they can enjoy their time on the field instead of shivering in the biting winds !
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