BY GLEN SANDS
Luddington put themselves right in the thick of the promotion battle on August 18th when they beat a plucky Barton Academy Vikings side on the Isle and it was a case fo keeping it in the family as brothers Darren and Graham Clark took the eye with both bat and ball.
Runs flowed from the off as Luddington set off well , although the Vikings did keep nipping out the odd wicket to keep themselves in the hunt. Geoff Smith was first to go , caught by visiting skipper Andy Genney off Liam Parker for two , the Vikings skipper going on to claim three catches and a stumping throughout the innings with a spritely display behind the stumps. Joe Woolhouse made a quickfire eleven before picking out George Phil;lips in the deep to give Jack Waller his first wicket of the day which brought the Clark brothers together in the middle. They were looking to be in good form when Darren got a delivery that kept a little low from George Short who's skiddy action was well suited to the track which saw him bowled for 42 and Andy Lawson suffered a similar fate when he was out for eight , leaving Ludd on 77 for 4. Jamie Arrowsmith and Graham Clark took the total past the hundred mark then Genney picked up a second catch when Arrowsmith top edged a skier off Short having made ten. Oliver Saxon , back in the team after weeks of training for road races around the country , was next to join Clark but it was the latter who was next back in the hutch when he edged a catch to that man Genney again for 23 , taking Short to four wickets in the inningsbut the Luddington tail wagged as Saxon ( 7 ), Rick Green ( 7 ) Danny Taylor ( 10 ) , Andy Clark ( 10 ) and Gareth Parkin ( 4 not out ) all added to the score with some excellent play , leaving the final all out total at 168 , Jack Waller returning to the attack to take 4 for 39 along with George Short's 4 for 25.
The Vikings made the worst possible start to their reply when Matt Waller was well caught at slip by Andy Lawson off Graham Clark's opening delivery , then the two Georges , Phillips and Short took the total to 18 before Short was caught behind by Gareth Parkin for 12 , earning Clark a second wicket.Phillips had looked in no trouble but was then yorked by a beauty from Danny Taylor having reached 14 then came the big wicket as skipper Genney was trapped LBW by Clark without troubling the scorers which left his team struggling on 29 for 4. Liam Parker and Rob Eastwood then took the total to 61 with some excellent shots until Eastwood was run out for ten by a superb throw from the dep by Darren Clark that hit the stumps direct. Danny Harris joined Parker and they showed a fighting spirit , moving the score on to 83 before Parker was bowled by Darren Clark for an impressive 32. Harry Short made just three then was bowled by Rick Green who bowled a good spell then Jack Drury produced a cameo of an innings only to edge a catch to Graham Clark at slip off brother Darren for an entertaining 13. Green picked up a second wicket then Darren Clark wrapped things up by bowling Jack Waller . leaving the Vikings all out for 115 and earning him equal billing with brother Graham as they both finished with three wickets.
So Luddington moved to within a point of leaders Outcasts and Alkborough at the top of the table and with two games , one of which is against Alkborough , they are right in the mix for a top two finish. Barton on the other hand find themselves in the bottom two with just one game remaining but they can take some encouragement from this display as their young guns performed well despite their eventual defeat.
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