HORNCASTLE V OUTCASTS - LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

Outcasts ended their best ever season in the Lincolnshire League with an exciting win at Horncastle which ensured they finished in third place, which is their highest ever finish, WRITES GLEN SANDS.
They travelled across the county to Horncastle with only ten men and were dismissed for 86 by a team who's fate was already sealed and it was Graham Clark who held the innings together with a battling 44. Andrew Lawson made a quickfire 18 before being the first to fall , well caught by Ben Wilkinson off Brody Willerton then Scott Buttrick was adjudged LBW to Harry Smith with the score standing at 26. Danny Hilton was next to go , caught by wicket keeper Ross Dixon off Willerton and without a further run added Jack Lupton was back in the pavilion leaving Outcasts on 32 for 4. Skipper Liam McAnaney , in at number six when normally he bats at nine or ten joined his cousin Graham Clark but he was the third to go LBW having made just a single and that meant the Isle side were standing at 39 with over half their men gone. Danny Taylor hung around as Clark began to push the score along and they had taken the total to 55 when Taylor was caught by a diving Kelsey off Harry Smith. Graeme Fletcher was another who supported Clark well , taking several blows as Horncastle fought hard to dismiss him and he was able to help Clark move the score to 70 before edging a catch to Dixon off Paul Wood. Clark was approaching what would have been a richly deserved half century when he was out stumped , over balancing to a delivery from Wood when having reached 44 then the innings was brought to a close when Connoe r Webb was run out leaving the total at 86 , Brody Willerton taking 3 for 29 , Harry Smith 3 for 33 and Paul Wood 2 for 11.
For Outcasts to have any hope of winning the game they needed to make early in roads and that was just what they did as Graeme Fletcher had Nick Paige caught by wicket keeper Danny Hilton for nought then Liam McAnaney produced a beauty to bowl Harry Smith for four. Fletcher then bowled number three batsman Kelsey with the total on 15 and with a further ten runs on the board McAnaney hit the stumps again to send Ben Wilkinson back to the hutch. Tom Johnson hit seven then hit a catch to Danny Taylor off Fletcher with the overall score on 34 then Hilton caught number four batsman Nick Hill for ten to give Fletcher his fourth wicket and the Isle side were looking capable of gaining an unlikely win. Ross Dixon and Jim Watters then put together a stand of twelve before the latter was superbly caught by Jack Lupton off Fletcher again for 10 , a catch that swung the game back into the balance then Brody Willerton skied a catch for Hilton to take his third catch which brought Joe Smith to the crease to join Dixon who was showing all his experience in such a tight match. They took the total to 72 and appeared to be on their way to victory when spin bowler Scott Buttrick trapped Smith LBW for five which left the visitors seeking one more wicket to win but another " old head " in the guise of Paul Wood strode to the middle and along with Dixon the Lincoln club moved to within one blow of victory. It was at this point that 14 year old Adam Wroot produced a fantastic piece of fielding when Dixon blazed the ball at him , a stop that just about clinched the win for Outcasts because the same man was then caught behind off Liam McAnaney having made 20 , leaving the home side tantalisingly four runs short of the Outcasts target.
So the season ended with Outcasts having achieved their best placing , just one spot away from stepping up into the Premier Division. The second eleven were awarded the points against South Kelsey in Division Three who were unable to field a team to travel to Hirst Priory but it was all to no avail as Old Lincolnians beat Cleethorpes to wrap up the second promotion spot. Despite that disappointment it has been an outstanding season for the club as a whole and they will all meet at the ground to celebrate a successful 2014 at the ground on September 27th for a hog roast and to hand out the awards to the club members who have achieved so much during the summer.