Monday, 29 July 2013

OUTCASTS v HOLTON-LE-CLAY - LINCS LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

BY GLEN SANDS

Fingers were bitten to the quick at Hirst Priory on July 27th when Outcasts took on promotion chasing Holton le Clay in the Lincolnshire League Division One and it took nerves of steel from Graham Clark to guide his team home by the narrowest of margins in a low scoring thriller, the match being kindly sponsored by Scunthorpe Specsavers.It was something of a first for the Priorymen who's team consisted of eleven players that had come through their youth teams and it was a red letter day for Graeme Fletcher who bowled superbly when picking up 6 for 38 as Holton le Clay were bowled out for 120. Fletcher struck earlywhen visiting skipper Holmes was caught by Charlie Mason at backward square without troubling the scorersand he followed that by bowling Sam Ford for seven as HLC slipped to 13 for 2. Fletcher had'nt finished and he produced another beauty to bowl Rob Griffin for four then Lewis Gash was run out following a good bit of fielding by Scott Buttrick and the visitors were really struggling0n 21 for 4. Danny Portus was next to go , caught behind by Mark Fletcher off brother Graeme which meant half the HLC team were out with only 23 on the board. Richard Griffin and Gareth Cook steadied the ship for a while before the latter lofted a catch to Darren Clark off the bowling of Matthew Mellers, then Josh Plaskitt joined Griffin to take the total to 83 , then another brothers combination saw Griffin out for 37 , caught by Darren Clark to earn Graham his first wicket of the innings. Luke Ford became Clarks second victim when bowled for just four then James Rock and Plaskitt took the total to 117 before that man Fletcher returned to take his fifth wicket , having Plaskitt caught by Scott Buttrick for a well constructed 37. It was left to Fletcher to pick up the final wicket , his sixth , when bowling Rock for five leaving HLC all out on 120 and earning the Isle side maximum bowling points. Graeme Fletcher definately took the plaudits for his 6 for 38 but special mention should also go to Liam McAnaney who bowled fifteen overs for just 19 runs.
Outcasts' reply saw them lose Oliver Coulman early, adjudged LBW off the bowling of Luke Ford for just three then with the total on 20 Darren Clark mistimed a shot straight to Danny Portus to give Ford a second wicket , Clark having made 13.Peter Tait hit a solitary boudary before being caught at slip by Rob Griffin off brother Richard to continue the sibling theme then Scott Buttrick and Charlie Mason , fresh from his ton a week earlier , took the score to 69 with some steady batting which was required to put their team back on track. Mason had reached 24 when spin bowler Dan Portus trapped him LBW which brought home skipper Richard Wroot to the middle. He and Buttrick added sixteen runs before Wroot was out LBW to Portus for 11 and that signalled the arrival of Graham Clark to the procedings. Buttrick was very well caught at slip by Gareth Cook for a well constructed 26 , then Mark Fletcher was caught by Josh Plaskitt off James Rock with the score on 91 , leaving Outcasts in need of 30 runs to win but with overs and wickets slipping away ! Clark took command and along with cousin Liam McAnaney moved the total to 104 then Macca was bowled by the impressive Portus as HLC fought tooth and nail for the points. Matthew Mellers struck one seering four only to then get bowled by Richard Griffin and with bowling hero Graeme Fletcher joining Clark the game was on a knife edge. Soldier Clark stept up to the plate in his teams hour of need and with just four deliveries remaining he struck the winning run to loud cheers from his team mates as he finished on 27 not out , clinching a full 20 points haul for his team.
It was a good day all round for Outcasts as the 2nds continued their good run in division three with a third successive win, James Glew hitting a terrific 89 and Josh Bramhill 30 as they set a tough target of 205 for 5 against Broughton who were then bowled out for 87, Lee Gash picking up 5 wickets with Jonathan Wroot taking three and Jamie Arrowsmith two. The victory lifts Jason Whiteley's side up to within a handful of points of third placed Barton Town and they will be looking to stretch their run on August 3rd when they head to Old Lincolnians for what promises to be a tough encounter. Richard Wroot's first team play hosts to promotion chasing Appleby-Frodingham 2nds to Hirst Priory looking to do the double over the Steelmen.

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