Ley Hill U'14s vs Dinton U'14s, Friday 4th June 2004

Stephen Walter

The Invincibles – 100% record survives!

Ley Hill continued their strong start to the season with their third win in as many games. Despite the absence of big names such as Ford and Mace, Ley Hill took to the field after again losing the toss and started badly. The ever reliable Sam Harrison and Chris Morris were up against three of the strongest batsmen in the league, but luckily Morris got the breakthrough with a ball that kept low, hitting middle stump.

After 4 overs, Dinton, our opposition from Aylesbury, had already managed 35 for 1, but slowly the run rate deteriorated with bowling from Craig Peterson, Felix Chamberlain, Alex Wallis, Dan Wilde and Stephen Walter. Wallis eventually broke a second wicket partnership of 65 when Sam Harrison took a great catch at deep mid off. Shortly afterwards, Dinton were bowled out for 123 after a collapse which saw 6 ducks, 5 of which were bowled. There were wickets for Peterson, Morris, Wallis and Walter and a couple of run outs from James Lowe and Felix.  

Ley Hill got off to a slow start in which we had to recover from 28 for 1 off 7 overs. It was time to start taking risks with wickets in the bag and the gamble paid off. A partnership of 42 from 4.1 overs between Richard Falconer and Walter proved important and with 8 overs remaining, Ley Hill needed 53 for victory. By now a large crowd had gathered for what proved to be a fantastic climax.

Unfortunately, on his return from a broken leg, Gazza was run out, but thank goodness for extras. 36 were racked up during the innings and only 92 came from the bat. It went right to the last ball in which Wilde, an entertaining batsman to say the least, needed just 1 for victory, as the scores were level. The poor kid bowled a no ball and Wilde smashed it for four with Peterson at the other end, again playing an important part in the innings. A spirited fight back from the team paid off, and if we can continue this form, Arsenal might not be the only team unbeaten.  

The decisive moment was Sam’s brilliant catch and if that had gone down, so would have the match. Also, key contributions from Runswick and Walter, both 25, Falconer, 10, Peterson, 14 n.o, and Wilde, 9 n.o. proved that it wasn’t just extras who scored all the runs. Who needs Ford and Mace! 

WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!