CFCC Match Reports

1st team match reports 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Moorhouse) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:19:00 +0000

(scroll down for 2nd team reports)
First team reports from "Third Man".

July 26th 1st lost to Kirk Deighton by 9 wickets.
CFCC 170 all out lost to Kirk Deighton 171-1 by nine wickets.
CFCC won the toss and elected to bat on a boiling hot day. Richard Grogan was held up on the A66 so Rob Love went out to open the batting with Paul Wilman. Paul was out early on but Rob managed to hit a breezy 26 with 6 fours before playing an ambitious shot to the Aussie overseas. Wickets then tumbled and only Tom Hudson played nicely although he also played a rash shot and we found ourselves at 80 for 8 with twenty over’s left. Jimmy Langrick and captain Adam then batted well. Jimmy showed great character which should be noted by the rest of the boys. It was a stubborn and well fought innings of 11 runs. Adam, batting down at 9 because of a bad back then decided to go for it. He smashed 30 off Stewart Ruddock in one over. Two of his sixes being massive and the other flat ‘hits’ frightened the fielders at long off and long on. When Adam was finally out we had mustered a paltry 170 on a good wicket and given them an extra 10 over’s.
We needed early wickets and it just didn’t happen. Jimmy bowled a hostile spell with little luck . Only Gary Rucklidge could pick up a wicket. Deighton eased home with many overs to spare for a well deserved victory.
A very important weekend looms. We must beat bottom side Oulton to pull away from the bottom clubs and then we play Bramhope in the semi final on Sunday.

July 19th CFCC won by 7 wickets.
Shadwell 104 all out. CFCC 108 – 3. Richard Grogan led the team as Adam Walton had a back injury.The new skipper wasn’t let down by his bowlers and they provided a ruthless performance to bowl Shadwell out with more than 10 overs to spare.Rob Love 3 wickets and Ben 2 wickets bowled tight at the start and then Gary Rucklidge cleaned up the tail with figures of 3 for 1.Rich and Paul Wilman made it look difficult but stuck together and when the rain came we were about 30-0. Eventually the rain stopped and when we got out again Rich exploded into life. After Paul was out (his last innings in before turning 50), Tom Hudson carried on the good work and nearly finished off the job. All in all a good performance and confidence is building ready for our Twenty over game at Old Mods on Tuesday.If we win that, we are through to finals day at Walton CC

13 July 2008 Fred Fleetwood Sunday Cup Q Final. CFCC won by 31 runs.
CFCC 177-6. Old Mods 146. A great and much needed double for the 1st team this weekend. Good batting from Tom Hudson and Adam Walton set us up for a score of over 200 but when they were out close together the remaining over’s proved to be hard work with Jimmy Baker bowling a tight spell for the home side. 177 was only going to be an adequate score as CFCC were a little short of bowling. Rob Love bowled Mod’s opener first ball and then picked up a wicket third ball to put us on top and we were able to control the game from that point. A great win with good performances from Rob with 4 wickets, Adam 3, and Ben bowling tightly with an injured elbow. Into the semi final against Bramhope.

July 12th CFCC won by 6 wickets.
Wetherby 128 all out. CFCC 128-4. A much needed win for the first team as we defeated Wetherby quite comfortably in what turned out to be a feisty encounter. All the bowlers contributed and the fielding was tight in a much improved performance. When batting, CFCC got off to a bad start when Paul Wilman was run out without facing (Richard Grogan decided to run 3 and venerable Paul didn't quite make it) but we managed to canter home with few further alarms.

July 5th

June 28th

June 21st

June 14th 1st V Great Preston A
CFCC 166 all out lost to Great Preston 170-5 by five wickets.
Yet another defeat. We are now just above the relegation zone and a couple of wins are now desperately needed. We have lost 5 players from last years Championship winning side and with Chris Borradaile leaving for a new job in Birmingham early July it is not going to get any easier.
However, no more excuses as we are not playing to our potential except Richard Grogan. On Saturday we batted first and Rich played a blinder on hitting a great century in our score of 166 all out. Nobody was able to support him for any length of time and he was badly let down by our batsman in this respect.
Our score gave the bowlers a little to work with and at 50-4 we were in with a chance.
Adam Walton and Rob Love with 2 wickets each, bowled with aggression and not much luck. When the ball lost its hardness however the pitch seemed to ease and the Preston batsman took control. They smashed us all over and won the game with 13 overs to spare. We need to improve considerably as we are playing Spofforth next week who are top of the table!

June 7th

May 31st

May 24th 1st V Barwick-in-Elmet H
Church Fenton 203-9 beat Barwick 127 by 76 runs
CFCC improved in all aspects this week to earn a comfortable victory over close neighbours Barwick. Our innings of 203 was built around a solid innings from skipper Adam Walton. Although admitting to not feeling happy with himself at the crease, Adam got stuck in and the good score we reached was mainly built around his knock of 60. Other useful contributions were from Richard Grogan and Tom Hudson who both hit good 20’s.
When Barwick batted we bowled a lot tighter and put the batsman behind the clock from the start. After the openers Rob and Thomas Love came off, both Chris Borrodaile and Ben Durrant carried on the good work and picked up wickets at regular intervals. This became a godsend as the wind was bitter and we were all in danger of catching frostbite. Ben picked up 5-25 and Chris 3 wickets to secure a much needed win.

May 17th 1st V Oulton A
Oulton 165 all out beat Church Fenton 156-9
Another loss for CFCC. Oulton batted first on a wicket which gave some assistance to the bowlers but came onto the bat enabling good stroke play. The wickets were shared out with 3 for Tom Love and 2 each for Ben Durrant and Rob Love. The fielding was a mixture of very good and pretty bad. Adam and Ben pulled off two great run outs, Paul Wilman took a smart catch at first slip and Simon Hudson kept neatly. The intensity in the field seems to be lacking this year.
Chasing 166 to win, Fenton had another shocking start with and were 3 wickets down for less than 20. Ben Durrant and Tom Hudson rescued the situation a little and things were looking up before Ben became another LBW victim for 20 odd. This was the 4th LBW from the top 5 and I think Roy Rodgers would have been impressed by the speed of the trigger fingers on display.
Wickets then fell steadily and an especially big blow was Tommy Hudson, top scoring with 42, hitting a slow full toss straight to a fielder. Rob Love hit 27 in vain as Fenton fell behind the rate and fell 9 short.

May 10th 1st V Kirk Deighton H
Church Fenton 113 lost to Kirk Deighton 234-6
Another below par performance from the 1st team, this time with both bat and ball.
The visitors batted first and after losing an early wicket totally dominated the Fenton bowling. At 150-1 after 20 overs a score of 300 looked on the cards but Ben Durrant bowled a tidy spell and with Mark Waller and Adam Walton we managed to keep the visitors to a respectable 234-6. Mark Waller took two wickets, Ben, Adam and Jimmy Langrick (bowling a good spell opening up) being the other wicket takers with one run out.
Chasing 234 was not going to be easy but it should not have been as difficult as we made it look. We had a bad start and lost two quick wickets. Richard Grogan and Ben Durrant then rebuilt and were both batting well with Richard looked particularly fluent. Then once again the wheels came off, Richard out for 27 and Ben for 46. Nobody else got going and we capitulated to 113 all out. Another sorry effort.

May 3rd 1st V Shadwell A
Shadwell 116 beat CFCC 51 by 65 runs.
Not much to report on this one and a game the 1st team better forget.
Adam finally won the toss and put Shadwell in on a very slow wicket with a soddon outfield which was barely playable. Fenton bowled ok but we knew 116 was worth a lot more in these conditions. Ben Durrant took 3 wickets. Tom Love, Chris Borrodaile and Mark ‘Spider’ Waller each collected two. Paul Wilman made two lightning stumping’s and junior Ally Cope impressed in the field.
When it came to batting CFCC never got going and quite frankly it was painful to watch. We were bowled out for 51 in the 40th over, with only Rob Love getting into double figures with 12 not out. Only one boundary in the whole innings. Hopefully it will be a better conditions and a different result next week at home.

April 26th 1st V Wetherby A
Church Fenton 160-8 beat Wetherby 130 all out.
It was a bit warmer this week but not the heat-wave we were promised. Once again skipper Adam lost the toss and we were asked to bat on a very slow wicket.
After a steady start by the openers, Rich Grogan and Jon Marshall, we lost 3 quick wickets and the middle order struggled, leaving Jim & Kendall to pull us out of the mire, from 70-5 to a very respectable total of 160-8. Jim hit 52 and Kendall 27, batting with good common sense and patience, which I hope was noted by our middle order!! They perished in the last over just leaving time for Paul Wilman to run himself out off the last ball!
CFCC took to the field feeling confident and looking resplendent in new sponsored shirts. Even Mark ‘Spider’ Waller looked smart this week! The confidence seemed to be misplaced as Wetherby got off to a flyer with some aggressive, and rather fortunate, hitting. Tom and Rob Love bowled some ‘unplayable’ balls, but also some rubbish, and the home side reached 80-2 off around 20 overs. Time for an inspired bowling change and as soon as Ben Durrant and Chris Borrodaile came on the game completely changed. They both bowled superb spells and put a stranglehold on the scoring rate. Wickets soon followed with Ben and Chris both taking 4 wickets. This left Wetherby all out 30 short, and a comfortable win in the end for the reigning champions.
Overall a good performance but plenty of room for improvement, especially in the batting. Also some injury concerns for next week. Jim is suffering from a very sore knee, Mark Waller hurt his leg and Paul Wilman looked all of his 75 years in the White Horse after the game.

April 19th 1st V Scarcroft H
CFCC 177 all out beat Scarcroft 139 all out.
A bitter cold day welcomed the new season as CFCC took on Scarcroft. Adam lost the toss and we were asked to bat first on a flat if slowish wicket.
After a steady start by Richard Grogan and Chris Harvey, we lost 3 quick wickets including our overseas Ben Durrant who was beaten for pace (or lack of!!). We looked in some trouble before Chris Lawson hit his first ball over the pavilion and continued to play a cameo innings of 40 to take us to around 80 for 3. He even played a couple of defensive shots!! Another mini collapse saw Jim Love having to bat out the last 8-10 overs with the tail. James Langrick proved to be an able accomplice as Fenton were finally bowled out in the 44th over for a total of 177 a good score on a slow wicket.
The hard bit was to come for the Fenton boys as it got colder but they managed to keep focused and bowled with good discipline. Rob Love was ‘lightning quick’ as he and Thomas Love bowled tight spells to put Scarcroft behind the rate from the start. Mark Waller in his natty attire bowled a good spell but it was when Ben Durrant came on that the wickets tumbled. Scarcroft had no answer to his vicious turn and at one stage he had figures of 3 wickets for one run. James Langrick also bowled well and took a best of 4 wickets showing good promise.
It became dark and even colder and it was more relief than joy when we took the final wicket with one over to go and we all rushed to the relative warmth of the pavilion.
Overall a good win and a special mention must go to stand in keeper Chris Harvey.

2nd team match report 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Moorhouse) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:30:00 +0000

July 12th 2nds V Wetherby 2nds A
We won by 7 wickets. Skip won the toss and put Wetherby in on a drying wicket. For a while this looked like a mistake as their openers set off at a fairly rapid rate and after 10 overs the score was 40 for 0. Junior Tom Dean and old man Steve 'Disco' Pick had opened the bowling and had bowled well without getting that initial break-through. In the 11th over Steve, rolling back the years, suddenly remembered it helped if you bowled straight and promptly took two wickets in two balls. At this point, Skip made the sensible decision to remove Steve from the attack and bring on junior Olly Baxter and, with Olly Sowden, who has only recently started playing for the club, having already bowled a couple of interesting overs, there was no indication of the mayhem that was about to take place. Olly B bowled their opener who had scored 4o. At this point the second teams fielding became the talking point of the match. Adrian moorhouse had already set the standard stopping a certain 4. James Kettlewell took a running catch at deep mid-off to remove the next batsman, again Olly B bowling. Mark Moorhouse then got in on the action taking two catches off Olly Sowden's bowling, the first of which was reminiscent of James Anderson's flying two handed catch to remove AB de Villiers in the first test between England and South Africa. For the next wicket Johnny Marshall took a good catch at cow corner, the batsman having given a reasonable indication of his intentions by already hitting a six in the same direction. Olly Sowden got his 4th wicket with an LBW and it was left to Olly B to take the final wicket, caught by Chris Harvey at first slip. This was a really good fielding display by everybody in the 2nd team with no missed ground fielding and with all the catches offered being taken. 4 of the 5 catches were difficult. Wetherby were dismissed for 88 in 23rd over. Olly Baxter took 3 wickets 6 runs in 4.4 overs, Olly Sowden 4 for 37 in 6 overs and Steve Pick 2 for 26 off 7 overs and there was 1 run out.
This left us with 67 overs to score the runs in. Because of our recent batting exploits, we were a bit tentative. Johnny Marshall kept his run of bad luck going being out in the 4th over having hit the ball onto his foot to then see it roll back onto his stumps. James Kettlwell scored a good 27 batting at 3 followed by 11 from Andrew Marshall. Opener Chris Harvey, carried his bat, scoring a watchful 30 not out and Mark Moorhouse was 9 not out by the time we overtook their total in the 33rd over.
A good win as we beat Wetherby for the second time this year.

July 5th 2nds V East Keswick 1st H
Match rained off again, as it was at the beginning of the season. There was heavy rain in the preceding 24 hours and there was standing water on the square some of which spread under the covers and onto the wicket. Again we got 2 points for this cancelled match. This means we've got 4 points from East Keswick this season which I think is more than anybody else in division 3 as they are comfortably in first place.

June 28th 2nds V St Chads 2nds H
We lost by 19 runs. St Chads 168 all out in their 45 overs. We were all out in the 43rd over for 149. Owen Seymour bowled well taking 2 wickets for 34 in his 14 overs. Andrew Marshall took 4 for 60 in 13.2 overs. Unfortunately, we didn't make the most of this opportunity. Owen Seymour scored 29, Andrew Marshall 20, Stuart Dawson 27, Mark Moorhouse 19 and Mark Waller a bludgeoned 16.

June 21st 2nds V Old Modernians 2nds A
Match rained off against the second placed team in the division.

June 14th 2nds V Barwick-in-Elmet 2nds H
We won by 35 runs.

June 10th V Spofforth 2nds H Reserve evening cup
We lost by 7 wickets

June 7th 2nds V Long Marston 1st A
We lost by 9 wickets

May 31st 2nds V Oulton 2nds H
We lost by 50 runs.

May 24th 2nds V Scholes 1st A
We lost by 6 wickets.

May 20th 2nds V South Milford A Reserve evening cup
We won by 79 runs. CF 199 for 4 in our 20 overs. In reply South Milford reached 120 for 7.

May 17th 2nds V Sherburn 1st H
Another whupping, this time by 10 wickets against a Sherburn side who came down from Division 2 last year. We scored 158 all out in our 45 overs, almost entirely due to Andrew Marshall's splendid 98. In reply, Sherburn knocked of the runs in 28 overs without losing a wicket with old man Pick bowling 13 overs and juniors Tom Dean and Olly Baxter sharing the bowling at the other end. Thanks should also go to juniors Joe (screech) Parnaby and wicket-keeper Ali Cope, who did an excellent job behind the stumps.

May 10th V Rufforth 1st A
We lost to Rufforth by 6 wickets. We scored 97 all out with Simon Hudson, making his first appearance following the end of the football season, scoring 35. Rufforth reached this total for the loss of 4 wickets. Another 30 or 40 runs might have made the game interesting.

May 3rd 2nd V Saxton 1st H
We scored 52 all out and Saxton knocked off the runs without losing a wicket. While it looks poor, there were mitigating circumstances. We played with 5 juniors having lost a few players to the first team, to farming, to football and probably other things as well. It gave a few people the chance to have their first proper bat and bowl of the season and hopefully they will perform better in the future as a result. Mark Moorhouse top scored with 16 before lobbing a full toss to mid-off. The bowling could have been better with Steve "Disco" Pick trying to remember what he was supposed to do.

April 26th V Wetherby 2nds H
We beat Wetherby 2nds by 29 runs. We were put in to bat and scored 142 for 9 in our 45 overs. Owen Seymour scored 33 having opened the batting with Chris Harvey. Stand-in captain, Andrew Marshall, top scored with 57. In reply, Wetherby were all out in the 41st over for 113. John Ridgeway was the pick of the bowlers taking 5 for 35 off 14 overs. Owen Seymour and Andrew Marshall and juniors Tom Dean and Olly Baxter chipped in with the other wickets. This was a great team performance. Ali Cope took 3 good catches (2 at long on), twelve year old Tom Harvey (son of Chris) wasn't phased by the occasion apparently having plenty to say while we were fielding and Joe Parnaby played meaning we won with 5 juniors in our ranks.

April 19th V East Keswick A
Match cancelled as the East Keswick ground was deemed unplayable because of all the rain we've had recently.

U13's and U11's Junior reports 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Moorhouse) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Under 13's

02/05/08 Shadwell 103 for 4, Church Fenton 78 for 2, CF lost by25 runs
Nathan Fearn 3 for 8, Simon Wilman 1 for 18.
Tom Parnaby 20, Nathan Fearn 12no, Simon Wilman 12no.

09/05/2008 Home to TABS Church Fenton lost by 2 runs
TABS 75 for 4 S Wilman 1 for 7, E Marshall 1 for 3, A Wilman 1 for 8
Church Fenton 73 for 8 T Parnaby 7, Nathan Firn 30 not out

30/05/08 CF v South Milford at home. CF lost by 9 wickets
CF 88 for 4 Nathan Fearn 30, Tom Parnaby 27
South Milford 90 for 1

Under 11's

21/04/2008 Church Fenton 187. Oulton 275 Oulton won by a lot.
Sam Parnaby 9 not out Joseph Thompson took the only wicket.

05/05/08 Church Fenton 234. South Milford 241. South Milford won by 7 runs.
Ben Parnaby 9 not out, Sam Parnaby 2 for 4

19/05/2008 Away to Amaranth.
Church Fenton 262 Amaranth 220 Church Fenton won by 42 runs
Simon Wilman 23, Sam Parnaby 9, Ben Parnaby 8, Charlie Carstens 7
Simon Wilman 2 for 6, Ben Parnaby 1 for 5, Sam Parnaby 2 for 3.
Will Brewin 1 for 11, Joe Thompson bowled 2 maidens out of 3 overs

02/06/08 Home to TABS. CF lost by 3 runs.
TABS 250 for 5 CF 247 for 7
Simon Wilman 16, Charlie Carstens 9, Ben Parnaby 8, Sam Parnaby 8

09/06/08 Away to Oulton. CF Lost by 28 runs.
Oulton 240 for 2 Joseph Thompson 1 for 1 Ben Parnaby 1 for 6
CF 230 for 6 Charlie Carstens 8

1st Team Match Reports 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Moorhouse) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:00:00 +0000

September 15th We beat Kirk Deighton in the last match of the season by 22 runs, the match sponsored by Parker March Solicitors. The edge was taken off this match as we had already won the title but it was still good to beat one of our nearest challengers in the only match we played against them this year. Fenton altered the batting order but it was the same old story as wickets fell too rapidly. Opener Thomas Love scored 19, Number 4 James Cooper, 13 as Fenton went from 52 for 3 to 53 for 5. Paul "did not bat" Wilman batted and put bat to ball for the first time this season and when he was out for 22, Fenton were 89 for 7. This quickly became 89 for 8 and brought this week's number 10, Adam Walton, out to bat with Rob Love. Once again the bottom order retrieved the situation and, when Rob (38) was out, it was 150 for 9. Last man, Jim Love (5n/o), came to the wicket and a few more runs were added before Adam (39) was out in 43rd over, Fenton having scored 160. Kirk Deighton had 47 overs to score the runs in and were scoring at 5 runs an over initially before opening bowlers, Rob and Richard Love, started to put a break on things. 53 for 2 off 16 overs moved on to 67 for 3 off 21 overs when Richard Ward (39) was run out having scored the bulk of the Deighton runs. By this time Jim Love had come on to bowl his slow something or other which seemed to terrify their batsmen as they went from 74 for 4 to 74 for 7. There was a couple of small stands as Deighton went on to 103 for 8, 105 for 9 and then finally 128 all out. Rob took one wicket. Jim Love's figures 14.2 overs 7 maidens 27 runs 4 wickets included a dropped catch by son Richard which he pushed over the boundary for a six. Our overseas, Andrew McDougall, took two of the last three wickets to fall (4-0-9-2). There were two run outs, one by James Cooper and, in a season which has included a few surprises - Richard Grogan's batting, Adam Walton's excellent captaincy, and others, the biggest surprise of the lot - a run out by Rob Love with only one stump to aim at. The only other wicket to fall was for (I think) "obstructing wicket". The batsman having faced a bit of Jim's bowling, obviously couldn't take anymore and, while standing 2 yards out of his crease, stopped the ball being returned by Glen Cooper to the wicket keeper and was correctly given out by the umpire. This was an excellent win and rubber stamped our right to be champions as we were undefeated against all the top teams in the league. Having been our nearest challenger for the last few matches, Kirk Deighton finished the season in third place with Spofforth moving back into second.

September 8th We beat Thorner by 8 wickets to become the Wetherby and District League first division CHAMPIONS for the first time in our history, the match sponsored by Keith Moxon. With winning the senior evening cup as well, this season has become our most successful ever and is a credit not just to the lads who played but also the backroom staff, helpers and supporters. Many ex-players and older supporters including William Harrison and Les Thornton came to watch and were obviously pleased with the days events. One of our ex-overseas players (1999), David (Bob) Hoskins (having just arrived from Australia on holiday with his wife and family) was also there to see the win and they were in fine form in the pub afterwards (as always).
The match itself was a bit of an anticlimax. Because of some problem with the outfield at Thorner, we had to play on the public pitch at Roundhay Park. It's a wonderful setting situated in a kind of amphitheatre with the park sloping upwards away from the ground - I watched Genesis there many years ago. Thorner batted first and were restricted to 82 all out in the 29th over leaving us 60 odd overs to score the runs in. C. Dempster scored 35, another player just got into double figures as did extras (12). Richard Love again bowled well (7 overs 4 maidens 10 runs 3 wickets) and captain Adam Walton (6-0-32-1) also opened the bowling, in the absence of Rob Love, but it was left to first change Jim Love to do the real damage with the rather startling figures of 8 overs 5 maidens 8 runs for 5 wickets. Andrew McDougall took the final wicket. In reply, Fenton reached their total for the loss of 2 wickets in the 21st over. Richard Grogan (4) caught by the wicket-keeper, 21 for 1, and James Cooper (18) bowled, 65 for 2, were the wickets to fall. Andrew (38 n/o) hitting the championship winning runs and Adam (6 n/o) were there at the end. There isn't much else to report. Tommy Hudson tells me he took another good catch though Jim can't understand why he seems incapable of standing on his feet when taking a catch and some passing members of the public (on mountain bikes) were impressed enough by Chris Lawson's fielding to watch (and heckle) for a few overs. We got the full six points from this match which meant that we were definitely champions and that next week's match against Kirk Deighton was no longer a decider. As it happens Kirk Deighton lost to Kippax by 7 wickets.

September 1st We beat fourth placed Barwick by 3 wickets, the match sponsored by Martin Horbury of "Up and running" Huddersfield. Barwick won the toss and batted. Rob Love and Adam Walton bowled really well as Barwick went from 16 for 1 (5th over), 18 for 2 (7th over),27 for 3 (9th over), 49 for 4 (21st over) and 49 for 5 (21st over). This brought Pete Cawson out to join Ian Jenkins (who had almost won the quater final evening cup match for Barwick earlier this year). They doubled the score before Pete (11) was out, 98 for 6 (32nd over). Ian Jenkins and Jamie Swales increased the scoring rate before Ian was out for 73, 164 for 7 (39th over). Further wickets fell at 176 for 8 (40th over) and 204 for 9 (43rd over) when Jamie Swales was out for 65. Barwick were finally all out for 207 in the 44th over leaving us 46 overs to score the runs. Rob Love, who is just recovering from some ailment, took 6 wickets for 69 off 18 overs with 3 maidens. Adam 10 overs 3 maidens for 22 runs, Andrew McDogall 11.5 overs, 2 maidens, 56 runs for 2 wickets. Adam was obviously relaxed enough about things to give James Cooper a bowl 2 overs for 24 runs and David Marshall, having taken 8 second team Barwick wickets the previous week, 2 overs for 26 runs. Tommy Hudson informs me that he took another good catch.
Richard Grogan and Andrew McDougal got the innings off to a quick start and when Andrew was out in the 12th over Fenton had 64 on the board. James Cooper (6) was out in the next over (72 for 2). Richard was joined by Adam and they took the score to 130 in the 26th over before Richard was the third wicket to fall having scored 63. This was another surprising innings from Richard. In the first eighteen balls he faced, he hit seven scoring strokes which went 4, 4, 4, 6, 4, 6, 4. Having given the team a terrific start, he started hitting singles, building an innings (I don't think he hit many more boundaries) and, in effect, doing the proper job of an opener. He was probably forced to bat more responsibly as Barwick bowling improved (the very experienced Pete Cawson came on to bowl his medium paced trundlers after about 10 overs) and also because we had lost some wickets. Tommy Hudson (0) didn't trouble the scorers any more than normal (131 for 4, 27th over) and things were beginning to look awkward when Adam (34) was out in the next over (141 for 5). We needed another 66 off 18 overs with 5 wickets remaining. When Chris Lawson (7) was out (145 for 6, 31st over) and then Glen Cooper (17), it was 170 for 7 in the 36th over. We needed another 38 off 10 overs and David Marshall and Chris Harvey were at the wicket. These two can't even score runs for the second team at the moment and, with an under the weather Rob Love and Paul "did not bat" Wilman padded up and ready, once again things didn't look promising. David (28 n/o) and Chris (16 n/o) proceeded to surprise everybody, including probably themselves, by knocking off the runs reaching Barwick's total in the 44th over with 2 overs to spare. Barwick's bowling figures - S. Miller 8 overs 43 runs 1 wicket. Jamie Swales 4 overs 21 runs. Pete Cawson 17 overs 52 runs 3 wickets. Phil Leckenby 4 overs 30 runs and Ian Jenkins 11 overs 46 runs 3 wickets.
This was a good win with possibly, on paper, the weakest team we've put out this year. It would be nice, and better for everybody's nerves, if we could win a match having only lost 3 or 4 wickets but this team seems determined to do things the hard way. In the pub afterwards, John "the scorer" Cahill, who had been full of praise for the lads the previous week, was a nervous wreck and was unable to give me any lucid or printable quotes. With Kirk Deighton and Spofforth both winning, getting maximum points, we are still 7 and 9 points ahead of them with two games to go. We play bottom of the table and already relegated Thorner next week. A six point win in that match and the championship is ours. A five point win, then a defeat to Kirk Deighton in the final match and we could still be caught.

August 25th We beat third placed Spofforth by 35 runs, the match sponsored by Scalm Park Golf Course. We won the toss, batted first and scored, after a few hiccups, 202 runs for 8 wkts. In the absence of Jim, Thomas and Richard Love, Mark Iveson(5) played again, his second game this year, opening the innings with Richard Grogan (30 for 0 off 10 overs). James Cooper (17) came in when the score was 31 for 1 and faced 22 balls for his runs before being LBW, 57 for 2 (62 for 2 off 20 overs). Richard (33) again batted well before being bowled, 64 for 3. Andrew McDougall was joined by Chris Lawson (0) who came and went fairly quickly, 64 for 4. Captain Adam Walton, batting at six this week, took the score on to 94 with Andrew (11) being the fifth player out, caught. When Thomas Hudson(0) was bowled playing a forward defensive shot, it was 95 for 6 in the 30th over and the game and our title aspirations were delicately poised. Kendal Edgely shared the best stand of the match (80 runs) with Adam (166 for 6 at 40 overs) and Kendal was finally out caught for 47 runs off 44 balls hitting 3 sixes and 3 fours (175 for 7). Rob Love (4 n/o) came in for the last few overs but he sensibly allowed Adam to take most of the strike as they moved the score on to 202 for 8 with Adam being run out off the final ball for 70 hitting 3 sixes and 6 fours. Glen Cooper and Paul Wilman (again) did not bat.
Spofforth, getting off to a faster start than ourselves, were 38 for 1 at 10 overs, 64 for 3 at 20 overs and at 30 overs had scored more runs than us and lost less wickets (108 for 4). At this stage Fenton started to get the upper hand and by the 40th over they were 154 for 8 and all out in the 43rd over for 167. Rob Love bowled unchanged 21.3 overs 1 maiden 75 runs for 5 wickets. In the absence of Richard Love, Adam Walton also opened the bowling (7 overs 2 maidens 32 runs) before Andrew McDougall took over (14 overs 1 maiden 47 runs 4 wickets). None of the Spofforth batsmen were allowed to play a decisive innings. Spofforth's and the league's captain, Nick Robinson scored 29 before being dismissed by another good catch by Tommy Hudson (he's taken a few gooduns this year) off Andrew McDougall's bowling. Their overseas player, Dwain Vidler also scored 29 being caught by wicket keeper Paul Wilman off Rob Love's bowling and the same combination accounted for James Roberts (28). Chris Lawson also took a good catch to remove number ten, Ian Giddings. There was 1 run out. Our scorer John Cahill said after the match that he was "really proud of the lads", that they had played really well, been focussed right from the start and that it was great to see considering who was missing from the team.
We got 6 points and Spofforth 1 point which leaves them 9 points behind us. Second placed Kirk Deighton lost to Old Modernians getting one point from their match which leaves them 7 points behind with three games to play. It's fourth placed Barwick next week.

August 18th We lost to Leeds Police by 7 runs, the match sponsored by Bill Bradley. Unfortunately, the rain returned as forecast and it drizzled incessantly through half of the Leeds Police innings and all of the Fenton innings. Leeds Police batted first and reached 207 for 9 off their 45 overs with their number 5 batsmen Q. Mohmood 89 n/o. Rob Love took 4 wickets for 48 runs off 12 overs including, unfortunately, 12 no balls. The other Loves, Richard, Thomas and Jim also bowled and Andrew McDougal came on at the end of the innings to take 2 wickets. R. Grogan (10) and, making a welcome return because we were missing a few players, Mark Iveson (13) opened the innings. We were 26 for 1 off 10 overs and 49 for 2 off 20. Andrew McDougal (68) and Richard Love (23) meant that we were 105 for 2 off 30 overs. While we were a bit slow between the tenth and twentieth overs, traditionally you would expect to double whatever score you have at thirty overs provided you've got wickets in hand. Unfortunately, shots which had been going for 4 on the dry outfield in the first half of the match were being cut off as the ball slowed up the longer the match went on because of the wet conditions. By this stage most of the Leeds Police fielders were fielding on the boundary. We were 163 for 5 off 40 overs. Tommy Hudson was out for 9 having just hit a six. Finally, we were 200 for 6 off our 45 overs, Jim Love (39) being out in the final over with Thomas Love (17 n/o) and Chris Harvey (2 n/o) still there. Leeds Police bowled and fielded well in the conditions with a ball which must have been like a bar of soap. We started the day three points ahead of Kirk Deighton. We are now two points ahead as we got one point for scoring 75% of the Leeds Police total and Kirk Deighton got two points for a rained off draw. The chief beneficiary of today's matches was Spofforth who beat Kippax and have moved back into contention just behind Deighton. There is now four games to go and next week we play Spofforth.

August 11th We beat Great Preston by 24 runs, the match sponsored by Crusties Bakery. Fenton batted first and scored 197 for 8 from our allotted 45 overs. After the batting hiccups of the last few weeks, captain Adam Walton decided he needed to change things and opened himself with Richard Grogan. When Fenton have batted well this year, Richard has usually held up one end and let the other more free scoring batsmen score runs around him. Adam (11) took his time scoring his runs and was out with the score at 41. Similarly James Cooper (12) was taking his time before departing the scene at 81 for 2. When Richard was unfortunately run out in the 30th over he had scored a surprising but excellent 66 of the runs out of a total of 96 for 3. Andrew McDougal was also unfortunately run out (10) 110 for 4 and when Richard Love (15) was out in the 35th over, 122 for 5, the scoring rate was beginning to accelerate. Tommy Hudson (22) 142 for 6, Thomas Love (7) 168 for 7, Glen Cooper(24) 174 for 8 all kept things moving and it was left to Jim Love (23 n/o) and Rob Love (a few balls at the end for 2n/o) to wrap up proceedings. Once again Paul Wilman wasn't required to bat. This was a much better batting performance from the team with 75 runs being scored in the last 10 overs of which 45 runs were scored in the last 5. These runs at the end of the innings were to prove vital to the teams success.
The bowling has been consistently good all season and is probably the main reason why Fenton are top of the table. Richard Love and uncle Rob Love have consistently got the team off to good starts by not conceeding many runs and often getting early wickets but today wasn't one of those days. Great Preston, who needed a run rate of just over 4 an over, were 24 for 1 in the 4th over, had 70 in the 10th over and were 79 for 2 in the 12th as their top order batsmen batted very positively right fom the start. Rob Love, who has had an excellent season so far went for 35 in 5 overs for one wicket. Richard Love went for 33 runs in 7 overs. Bowling changes finally started to put a break on proceedings. Preston were 115 for 3 in the 21st over, 127 for 5 in the 30th over, 147 for 6 in the 36th, 169 for 9 in the 40th and finally all out for 173 in the 42nd over. Jim Love, bowling his slow something or others, took 6 wickets for 51 runs and Thomas Love, bowling almost as slowly, chipped in with 3 for 43. This was an excellent win with Fenton getting the maximum 6 points to leave us still top of the table.

August 4th We beat Kippax by 2 wickets, the match sponsored by A. Poulter and sons. The weather is improving. The incessant rain has stopped over the last week or so, the wickets have dried out and teams are beginning to score more runs. Kippax were put in to bat and were all out in the 42 over for 137 runs. This was a another good effort by the bowlers considering Kippax had been 98 for 2 wickets in the 30th over. Rob Love (9 overs 28 runs 1wicket) and Richard Love (7 overs 17 runs 1 wicket) once again got things off to a steady start. It was Jim Love (12 overs 37 runs for 5 wickets) assisted by Adam Walton (6 overs 13 runs 2 wickets) who took most of the wickets.
Which brings us to the batting. Fenton had 48 overs to score the runs which is less than 3 runs per over. Richard Grogan was out for 0 off the second ball hitting a full toss straight to square leg (0 for 1).The other opener Andrew McDougal was also out for 0 off the second ball he faced (13 for 2). After a few fours, our number three James Cooper was out for 13 off the thirteenth ball he faced (14 for 3). Adam Walton (caught, 0) (14 for 4) and Thomas Love (0)(run out stranded mid-wicket when his brother declined a quick single) meant 5 of our top 6 batsmen had been dismissed and we only had 15 runs on the board in the 8th over.
At this point Jim Love came to the wicket to join his son Richard and things began to improve. When Richard (caught down the legside by the wicket keeper, 17) was out the score had started to move in the right direction (46 for 6). Thomas Hudson (bowled, 11) (70 for 7) and Chris Lawson (caught, 6) (76 for 8) left us 62 runs short of our target with only 2 wickets remaining. Our wicket-keeper and number eleven Paul Wilman informs me that he has only faced one ball this season in league matches and he was out shouldering arms. (He also got to the wicket on one other occassion but didn't face a ball). No pressure on Rob Love then who came out to join brother Jim. Apart from Paul, these two are the oldest, slowest (just) and most experienced members of the team and they finally brought some sense to the proceedings. We reached the Kippax total in the 40th over with Jim (76 n/o) and Rob (21 n/o) still at the wicket. Fortunately, Paul wasn't required to bat.
This win means that we are still at the top of the table but our batting frankly is woeful and needs to improve if we are to win the title for the first time in our history. There are 6 games to go with Great Preston (A) next, Spofforth (A), Barwick (H) and Kirk Deighton (H) all still to be played. Spofforth lost against Old Mods and Kirk Deighton just won by one wicket against Great Preston, their last wicket putting on 22 runs to win the match. Kirk Deighton are in second place three points behind us and Spofforth are 5 or 6 points behind them.

July 28th We lost to Sicklinghall by 41 runs, the match sponsored by Chris Horbury. This was our second loss in the league and Sicklinghall have been the opponents on both occasions. I understand this was their first Away win of the season. Sicklinghall scored 181 for 8 wickets with Dave Boyd (79) and Andy Wood (45) getting the bulk of the runs. Our bowling wasn't as successful as it has been. Rob Love kept it tight bowling 11 overs for only 22 runs and 1 wicket. Jim Love (4 wkts for 42) was the main wicket taker with Andrew McDougal getting 2 wkts and there was 1 run-out. In reply Fenton got off to a disastrous start being about 30 for 6. At this point the older players started pulling things round with Jim Love (37) and Rob Love (?) doing well. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and we were all out for 140 though we did get a bonus point. The only good thing from the day was that Spofforth also lost without getting a bonus point. As a result we moved a point further ahead of them on 65 points and Kirk Deighton won so they are now level with Spofforth on 62 points.

July 24th We won the final of the Senior Evening Cup against Shadwell, the game played at Fenton. This was another low scoring game, which was typical of practically all of the cricket played over the last rain filled 6 weeks. Shadwell, batting first, reached 62 for 8 in their 20 overs. This was chiefly due to a wonderful opening spell of bowling from both Richard Love (6 overs 1 maiden 4 wickets for 15 runs) and Rob Love (6 - 1 - 3 wkts for only 9 runs). After 12 overs, Shadwell were 28 for 8 with that gazelle Glenn Cooper having run out their opener and overseas player from Jamaica, Ronville Brown. During their bowling spells, both Rich and Rob were on a hat trick though neither managed it. Adam Walton (4 overs for 17 runs) and Thomas Love (4 overs for 12 runs) continued to keep things tight with Shadwell finally concentrating on taking singles and damage limitation.
Our batting got off to the worst possible start with Tommy Hudson being bowled first ball. He says the ball didn't bounce and I wasn't watching as I didn't expect much to happen straight away - which was a mistake considering who was at the wicket. The batting was very tentative after this with their opening bowlers also making full use of the conditions. Andrew McDougal (12) was out in the fifth over having hit only 2 scoring strokes, a run 2 with 4 overthrows and then a 6 before being run-out off the next ball to an excellent piece of fielding - the bowler's stumps were thrown down by the fielder when flat out on the floor having just managed to stop a hard drive at mid-on. This brought Adam Walton to the wicket to join James Cooper. Things went fairly quiet for the next 6 overs and after 12 overs the score was 28 for 2 with the batsmen just taking whatever easy runs were on offer. Adam said afterwards, in view of the total we were chasing, that he couldn't see the point of chasing the game against their best bowlers. Sure enough, the first change bowler promptly disappeared for 12 in his first over - a 6, 4 and a 2, and Jim Love (8n/o)came in right at the end to hit the winning runs at the beginning of the eighteenth over. James Cooper (10), Richard Love (0 - first ball, I think) and Adam (34 n/o) meant that we passed their total for the loss of 4 wickets.
In the end, this was a comfortable win with the bowlers doing their bit and the batsmen assessing the conditions and batting accordingly, though the spectators were nervous throughout. This was the club's first cup win since the second team won the reserve evening cup in 2003 (incidentally captained by Ed) and the first cup win by the 1st team for about 20 years. A big thank you must go to all those people who came down during the day to prepare the ground, including some recently arrived Aussies. Buckets of standing water were removed from the outfield by using some kind of "squeezy" machine and areas close to the boundary were still squelchy by the time of the match. Many probable 4s slowed down enough to be caught by the fielders. Frankly the conditions have been such that that the groundsmen and helpers have done a wonderful job getting this game and others played. As it happened, the weather was wonderful for the match - sunny, little wind - but as I'm writing this, Wednesday early morning, it is raining again.

July 21st Match against Old Mods, sponsored by Geoff Marshall, rained off like most, if not all, of the other games in the league. This is the third league game to be rained off. The weather has been absolutely lousy since the first rained off game against Barwick on June 16th.

July 14th We beat defending champions, Oulton, by 3 wickets, the match sponsored by Dennis Darley. This was a good win as Fenton's main wicket-taker of this season, Rob Love, was not playing. Oulton were bowled out in the 40th over for 114 with 9 of the wickets still going to a Love. Richard (5 for 40), Thomas (1 for 13) and Dad Jim Love (3 for 37) shared these 9 wickets with Captain Adam Walton (1 for 13) getting the other one. Our venerable wicket-keeper Paul Wilman took 2 catches and a stumping. We had fifty overs to score these runs and, at the eighteenth over, everything was going quite well. Richard Grogan (14) and Andrew McDougal (35) were then both out as were James Cooper, Chris Lawson and Richard Love. Andrew's parents, Ian and Julie, who have just arrived from Australia for 3 weeks, must have wondered what was going on. We went from 50 for 0 to 52 for 4, 61 for 5 and then 68 for 6 when Thomas Love (10) departed the scene. I can only assume that things were fairly chaotic as, at this point, Tommy Hudson promptly marched to the wicket (which surprised everyone else and particularly Jim Love who was supposed to be in next). Vice-captain Tommy (22) was obviously confident as he and Adam Walton (30 n/o) took us to four runs from their total when Jim finally got to the wicket to help finish things off.
This was a good day as, with Spofforth losing to third placed Kirk Deighton, we moved into top spot with 62 points. Spofforth are 2 points behind and Kirk Deighton have, I think, 54 points. These top three teams are well ahead of everybody else.

July 7th We beat 4th placed Shadwell convincingly, the match sponsored by Alan Marshall. Captain Adam Walton won the toss and asked them to bat first on a wet wicket. We bowled them all out for 39 with Rob Love (6 wickets for 11 runs in 13 overs) getting most of the wickets. Richard Love again kept it tight (2 for 8 runs in seven overs) and Adam (2 for 17) finished things off. We reached their total for the loss of 3 wickets with Opener Andrew McDougal 22 not out. To be fair to Shadwell, while I don't think it rained on the morning of the match, their ground was still extremely wet following the last few weeks of rain and they don't have covers yet to protect their wickets. Their ground slopes down to a long ditch which has probably flooded a lot. They have recently purchased a new ground, are in the process of preparing it for cricket and, hopefully, will find combatting the elements easier. This match could easily have been cancelled but, with both teams near the top of the table and wanting the points for a win, it was in everybody's interest that the game be played.

July 3rd In the Semi-final of the Senior Evening Cup at Home against Leeds Police, CF were victorious in a low scoring game. Because of the weeks of rain a high scoring game was probably out of the question and Fenton, batting first, made 101 for 8 in their 20 overs. Richard Grogan (12), Thomas Love (13), Richard Love (16) and Richard Marshall (24n/o) were the principal scorers. In reply, Leeds Police were always behind the run rate, kept losing wickets and were finally all out for 64 in the 18th over. Richard (1 wicket for 13 runs) and Rob Love (4 for 21) bowled really well in their allotment of 6 overs each. Most of the runs scored off Richard were edges down to third man and, because he kept it so tight, at the other end Rob benefitted by getting the wickets. One slower ball from Rob, which was telegraphed and spotted by everyone - players, spectators, our President Willie Harrison and, most importantly, the batsman, disappeared for 6 over long off. The only person who didn't spot this slower ball was Rob himself who says it was one of his normal deliveries. Thomas Love (1 for 19), Adam Walton (2 for 7) and one run out complete the statistics. The other semi-final between Shadwell and Division 2 side Crossgates is to be played this Thursday otherwise, the final, which was supposed to be on July 10th, may have to be postponed. The good news is that the league allocated Fenton the Senior Evening Cup Final at the beginning of the season so, whoever we play, we will be playing at home.

June 30th Match against 3rd placed Kirk Deighton rained off, the game sponsored by Keith Ellis, Biggin Lane Garage. Fortunately Spofforth's game against Barwick was also rained off as, I suspect, was most of the league.

June 23rd CF beat Thorner Mexborough by 7 wickets in a rain affected game, the match sponsored by Colin Marshall. Because of the weather, there was a delayed start resulting in the game being reduced to a 30 over match. Thorner were bowled out for 77 with Rob Love taking 8 wickets for 42 and Fenton were 83 for 3 at the close. Tommy Hudson (34), Andy McDougal (22) and Chris Lawson 18n/o) were the run scorers. Special thanks must go to Thorner who were keen to play this game and apparently could easily have persuaded the umpires that it was unplayable. The umpires were all for cancelling the game and only played at the insistence of the captains and players. Thank you to them and everyone else, particularly all those who were helping to prepare the ground, removing water etc in the morning. Elsewhere, Spofforth beat Great Preston by 5 runs (Spofforth, who are still in first place, have had 3 or 4 close wins like this) and in third place Kirk Deighton beat Kippax by 9 wickets. Our next league match is against Kirk Deighton.

June 16th CF's league game Away at Barwick was cancelled due to rain, the match sponsored by Station Farm Guest House B&B. Barwick were 27 for 3 before, after another stop for rain, the umpires called a halt to proceedings. Unfortunately, it looks like our main rivals, Spofforth, managed to play their match.

June 12th CF playing at Home beat Barwick-in-Elmet by 3 wickets in the quarter finals of the senior evening cup.
Barwick batting first, were 41 for 5 after 10 overs, 69 for 6 after 14 overs and looked as if they had been contained to a reasonable total. However a rapid 56 late on from number six batsmen Ian Jenkins changed the complexion of the game as Barwick added 75 in the last six overs and they finished the innings with a very competitive 144 for 7 off their 20 overs. Rob Love bowled well with figures of 6 overs for 27 runs and 2 wickets and also Richard Love with 5 overs 23 for 3. Everybody chipped in with some runs with Andrew McDougal (18), Adam Walton (29), and Thomas Love (21) being the main run-getters. The Barwick total was looking too much for Fenton who, with two overs to go still needed 22 to win and then 20 to win off the last 8 balls. At this point, the youngest player in the team, seventeen year old Richard Love, hit a six and a four from the last 2 balls of the nineteenth over off Pete Cawson (one of Barwick's resident Australians), Simon Hudson hit a six in the last over before the winning run was scampered off the penultimate ball. This was a terrific match and I'm disappointed I had to take my 3 year old son home to bed half way through.

June 9th CF beat Spofforth by 41 runs. Match sponsored by William Harrison.
Fenton batted first on probably the first genuinly hot day for cricket this season posting a total of 224 for 9. Adam Walton scored 78, Andrew McDougal 40, Thomas Love 26 and Tommy Hudson 20 n/o. Spofforth were bowled out for 183 with Adam taking the last two wickets off the last two balls of the innings - the first a catch by Andrew McDougal at silly mid-on and then, to finish an excellent day, an LBW, the first of the day. The (apparently) injured Rob Love bowled unchanged taking 4 wickets for 75 runs off 22 overs. (The previous week he had dropped himself into the seconds where he had scored a painful 50 never running two if a slow, hobbled one would do). Adam Walton took 5 for 34. Nick Robinson, the Spofforth opener and captain (and captain of the Wetherby League team) scored 76 before being bowled by Rob Love. Tommy Hudson took a fantastic catch (again) diving low to one side in his position at mid-wicket to remove James Roberts, their dangerous number 3 batsman, for 20 runs. Spofforth got 1 point from this match for scoring 75% of our runs and we got a bonus point for bowling them out as well as 5 points for the win. This leaves both teams on equal points at the top of the league and with everything to play for.

June 2nd CF beat Leeds Police by 5 wickets.
Leeds Police were bowled out in the 37th over scoring 155 runs. Richard Love took 4 wickets for 27 in 8 overs, Andrew McDougal 3 for 35 in 9.3 overs and Thomas Love 2 for 13 in 7 overs. As we bowled them out within the alloted 45 overs, Fenton gained the extra 8 overs to score the runs in. Andrew McDougal and Adam Walton both went cheaply leaving Fenton at 15 for 2 in the 3rd over. Opener Richard Grogan (56 n/o) and James Cooper (44) took the score to 77 for the 3rd wicket in the 20th over. Richard Love (19) and Chris Lawson (15) chipped in with some runs (and John Cahill, our scorer, fell asleep during 5 consecutive maidens). Richard Grogan and Thomas Love finally took us passed their total in the 46th over.

May 26th. CF beat Great Preston by 44 runs.
CF scored 234 for 5 and Great Preston replied with 190 for 8 giving Fenton 5 points and Great Preston 1 point. Jim Love and Andrew McDougal opened the innings scoring 30 and 22 respectively. James Cooper followed with 41. Adam Walton was not out with 82 and Chris Lawton not out with 42. Richard Love took 4 for 62, Thomas Love 2 for 28, Rob Love 2 for 20 and Adam Walton 1 for 62.

May 20th. National Village knock-out. Originally scheduled for the 13th at Woodhouse Grange, because of rain the march was delayed a week and replayed at Fenton. Woodhouse Grange comlpetely out played us scoring 211 all out in their 40 overs. In reply Fenton were 92 all out with none of the top of the order scoring any runs.

May 19th. CF beat Kippax by 5 wickets.
Kippax scored 155 for 9, Owen Seymour taking 3 for 17. James Cooper 2 for 13 and Rob Love 2 for 15. Fenton passed this total for the loss of 5 wickets in the 35th over. Richard Grogan opened and was still their not-out at the end with 52. Andrew McDougal scored 31, Adam Walton 30 and Tommy Hudson who saw us home with 23.

May 15th. CF beat Walton in the Senior Evening Cup by 51 runs
Fenton scored 113 for 7 off their 20 overs with a bit of help from second teamers Simon Hudson 24 and Richard Marshall 21. In reply Walton struggled to 62 for 9 with Rob Love taking 2 for 14, Richard Love 3 for 22 and Thomas Love 3 for 11. Fenton play Thorner in the next round in 2 weeks time.

May 12th. CF lost to Sicklinghall by 8 wickets.
Fenton had the worst of the conditions batting first on a wet but drying wicket and were bowled out for 92, with the openers Andrew Mcdougal scoring 35 and Jim Love 17. Sicklinhall knocked off the runs for the loss of 2 wickets.

May 5th. Church Fenton beat Old Mods by 2 wickets
Old Mods were bowled out for 174 with Rob Love finally taking his first wickets of the season with 4 for 60 and Owen Seymour 2 for 20. Fenton struggled but finally managed to win with the loss of 8 wickets. Adam Walton held the innings together with 79 after Fenton were 40 for 4. Thomas Love was the next best to chip in with some runs with 20.

April 28th. Church Fenton beat Oulton by 97 runs.
This was a good win playing away against last year's champions. Fenton batted first scoring 274 for 8 with once again everybody scoring some runs including James Cooper with 60, Thomas Love 49, Richard Love 32, Andrew McDougal, 30, Tommy Hudson 29 and Richard Grogan 27. In reply Oulton struggled to 178 all out though they were 96 for the fall of the first wicket. Adam Walton took 4 wickets for 39 runs and Owen Seymour 3 wickets for 6 runs late on.

April 21st. Church Fenton beat Shadwell by 7 wickets.
Shadwell made 199 all out in 42 overs, with most of the bowlers getting wickets. New captain Adam Walton took 2 wickets for 17, Jim Love 3 for 19, Thomas Love 2 for 49 and Richard love 2 for 42. We knocked off the runs in 30 overs for the loss of 3 wickets with everybody who batted getting some runs - Andrew McDougal scored 86, Richard Grogan 31, Chris Lawson 30 n/o and Richard Love 34 n/o.

2nd Team Match Reports 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Moorhouse) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:00:00 +0000

April and May.
The 2nd team plays at a good level in the 3rd division of the Wetherby league playing against mostly other clubs' first teams and four of the stronger clubs' second teams. Traditionally, we have always got off to a slow start as it takes a few weeks at the beginning of each season for everybody to become available. This year was no different as we lost the first four matches to teams currently occupying the top six places in the 3rd division table before winning the next 2 matches.

April 21st. Our neighbours, Saxton, completely outplayed us in the opening match of the season winning by 9 wickets in a low scoring game. Andrew Marshall top scored with 23.

April 28th. It was a much better performance the following week, against Oulton 2nds who have yo-yoed between Divisions 2 and 3 in the last 2 years. An opening partnership of 98 from Chris Harvey (52) and captain, Jonathon Marshall (66) allowed us to reach 184. Oulton reached this total for the loss of 5 wickets in 35 overs.

May 5th. At Scholes, who scored 125, the bowlers came to the party with David Marshall taking 4 wickets for 52 runs and Steve "Disco" Pick 3 for 49. The pitch apparently was a bit of a minefield with both of the openers who batted well against Oulton the previous week being out for 0 and Fenton being all out for 82 with John Ridgeway batting at number 8 scoring 30 and John Boddy 18.

May 12th. Our next opponents Bramham & Clifford having been relegated twice in two years were recently in Division 1. Our 104 was disappointing as Bramham lost 5 wickets in reaching this total. Another 30 runs might have made the game interesting. Jonathon Marshall again did well scoring 44, Andrew Marshall 20 and thirteen year old Tom Dean took 2 for 20.

May 19th. The next match against Sicklinghall 2nds was realistically the first match we could have expectations of doing well in, though we should have done better at Scholes. Chris Harvey (32) and Jonathon Marshall (46) again led the way with Simon Hudson (46) and Richard Marshall (44) building on the steady start. Mark Moorhouse added a rapid 18 at the end of the innings to leave a total of 197 for 5. Sicklinghall, in reply, were 161 for 8 at the finish with Steve Pick taking 5 for 36 off 20 overs.

May 26th. We beat Amaranth by 153 runs. Fenton batted first and scoring 238 for 6 on another variable wicket. Another good opening stand of 65 set up the innings with Chris Harvey (22) and Jonathon Marshall (47) followed by David Marshall with a good 52 though he was fortunate as he was caught at the wicket early on off a no-ball. It was a good game for the over 50s with Mark Moorhouse scoring a magnificent, chanceless 69 before being run-out off the penultimate ball and Steve "Disco" Pick taking 4 for 10 in 10 overs in Amaranth's reply. Dave Marshall took 3 for 38 and fourteen year old James Langrick, who opened the bowling, 2 for 23 as Amaranth collapsed to 85 all out.

June
June 2nd. We were beaten by top of the table Walton. We scored 155 and they reached this total for the loss of 6 wickets with their overseas player making 97 of them. There was certainly a feeling in this match that without their overseas player we could have won.

June 9th. We lost to Barwick A by 56 runs. Barwick 203 all out in the 45th over. Steve Pick 17 overs 2 maidens 65 runs 5 wickets. Fenton 147 all out. Chris Harvey 51 and Jonathon Boddy 38.
June 16th. V Wetherby A. Match rained off

June 23rd. We beat St Chad's 2nds by 79 runs. Fenton, batting first on a wet wicket, scored 155 all out in their 45 overs with the Marshall twins, Jonathon (70) and David (54), both scoring runs. St Chad's were 30 for 1 off 7 overs when the captain brought on thirteen year old Tom Dean. He proceeded to take 5 wickets for 7 runs off his overs including 2 wickets in consecutive balls. Because of his age he couldn't bowl any more overs. Olly Baxter, another 13 year old, took the ninth wicket and, after an odd assortment of bowlers, James Fernando apparently bamboozled the last man out - caught at cow corner. I missed the end as I had to go to St James' Hospital with a broken finger, the result of trying to field like Jonty Rhodes. When I left, St Chad's were 49 for 9 and were finally all out for 76 in the 30th over. Unfortunately, we won't hear the end of this performance from Tom. Fortunately, as it was an Away match, his family and supporters weren't there to give their rather vocal support for every wicket. We played this game with 4 juniors and, with Alistair Cope getting a run out, they were responsible for taking 7 of the wickets.

June 30th. V Rufforth. Match rained off.

July
July 7th. We beat our neighbouring village Saxton first team. Fenton batted first reaching 171 all out in 45 overs. Jonathon Boddy, having been given strict instructions not to get out, almost carried his bat scoring 46. David Marshall (38) and, a junior, James Kettlewell (26) also scored runs. Saxton were all out in the 36 over for 116. Chris Borrodaile, playing his first match of the season after coming back from university, took 5 wickets for 42 in 14 overs. David Marshall took 4 for 36 in 18 overs. Another feature of this match was James Fernando's two catches.

July 14th. Oulton "A"easily beat us by 7 wickets. Because of holidays and other commitments, we played with 6 juniors. We only made 69 and they knocked off the runs in 18 overs.

July 21st. V Scholes. Match rained off which was a shame as unlike the previous week we had one of the strongest second teams we've ever put out.

July 28th. We lost to Bramham by 5 wickets. We scored 108 being all out in the 40th over with Owen Seymour (34), Jonathon Marshall (20), David Marshall (19) and Mark Moorhouse (18) scoring the bulk of the runs. David Marshall got 2 wickets, Olly Baxter 2 wickets and Tom Dean 1 wicket.

August
August 4th. We beat Sicklinghall "A" for the second time this season by 35 runs. We scored 197 thanks to Simon Hudson (82), Mark Moorhouse (17), junior alistair Cope (14) and 51 extras. In reply Sicklinghall had thrashed 55 runs off the first 5 overs. With both their openers being dismissed in the seventh over things slowed down dramatically. They had scored 59 runs by the end of the tenth over, 83 for 3 in the twentieth over, 111 for 5 in the 30th over and finished with 162 for 8 off their 45 overs. David Marshall bowled 23 overs 6 maidens 71 runs for 3 wickets having gone for 23 runs in his first two overs. Gary Rucklidge bowled 17 overs 5 maidens 35 for 4 wickets and junior Olly Baxter bowled a few overs at the end (3 overs 1 mdn 13 runs 1 wkt).

August 11th. We beat Amaranth again by 67 runs. Amaranth had a much stronger side in this game compared with earlier in the season. This was a must win game for them if they were going to beat relegation. This win was mainly due to two excellent innings from captain Jonathon Marshall (78) and Kendal Edgely (79) as we reached 210 for 6 from our 45 overs. In reply Amaranth were 143 for 8 at the finish. The bowling figures were David Marshall (15 overs 4 mdns 35 runs 3 wkt), jnr Olly Baxter (5 overs 11 runs 1 wkt), jnr James Langrick (6 overs 1 mdn 16 runs), Kendal Edgely (8-5-12-3) and Gary Ruclidge (9-2-37-1). There was a particularly fine catch by James Fernando which came down with snow on it in the gully/backward point area.

August 18th. We lost to top of the table Walton by 51 runs. They scored 207 for 5 with two of those wickets being run outs. The notable feature of this performance was junior Tom Dean bowling their overseas player for 10 runs in the sixth over. We were 156 for 9 at the close which got us a point for 75% of their runs. Steve Naylor (51 n/o), Jonathon Marshall (28), Stuart Dawson (24) and Andrew Marshall (19) were the main run scorers.

August 25th. We lost to Barwick A by 35 runs. This was the first game that the second team have played in this year where I was genuinly disappointed with our performance. We did the hard work bowling Barwick out for 117 in 39 overs with David Marshall taking 8 wickets for 56 runs in 19.2 overs. These figures got his name into the Wetherby News but he bowled an awful lot of rubbish including some of the wicket taking deliveries. It looks good in the book though. Junior Tom Dean opened with 5 overs for 12 runs before veteran Steve Pick was first change bowling a lot of overs for little reward (14 overs 1 mdn 40 runs 1 wkt). Jonathon Marshall threw down the stumps for an excellent run out. We had 51 overs to score the runs and promptly lost our top 4 batsmen for 28 runs by the 13th over. David Marshall (22) and Mark Moorhouse (20) started to pull things round but when they were both out in subsequent overs with the score at 69 there was little batting to come and we were all out for 82.

This result means that with 3 games to go we are third from bottom having won 6 games lost 10 and had 3 games rained off. There are 3 or 4 teams just a few points ahead of us. As the club's overseas player, Andrew McDougall, put it - there is "a log jam" at the bottom of the table. There have been a lot of odd results because of the weather. All the 3 teams that we have to play are also at the bottom of the table, two of whom we didn't play in the first half, Wetherby "A" and Rufforth, because of rain and the other team was St Chad's who we've already beaten. Next week we play Wetherby "A" who are second from bottom three points behind us.

September
September 1st. We beat Wetherby "A" by 39 runs. We scored 171 for 9 in our 45 overs with Andrew Marshall (35), Gary Rucklidge (63) and junior Alistair Cope (21) scoring most of the runs. We restricted Wetherby to 132 all out with junior Olly Baxter taking the tenth wicket in the final 45th over to give us a maximum 6 points while they got 1 point. Veteran Steve "Disco" Pick again bowled well (20 overs 5 maidens 36 runs 3 wickets) as did Gary Rucklidge (14-3-52-3) and 3 juniors were the other bowlers - Tom Dean (5-1-17-1), James Langrick (3-0-10-1) and Olly Baxter(2.2-0-9-1). There was another good run out by captain Jonathon Marshall, this time with only one stump to aim at. There are 2 games to play and we are now 8 points ahead of Wetherby.

September 8th. We beat St Chads "A" by 81 runs. Fenton batted first and Chris Harvey, fresh from helping the first team beat Barwick with 16 n/o last week, was promptly out first ball bowled trying to drive through the covers, 0 for 1 wicket. Opener Jonathon Marshall (21) departed at 72 for 3 and twin David came to the wicket. David (10), who also helped the first team beat Barwick last week with 26 n/o, only hit two scoring strokes - a six and a four. At 90 for 4, Mark Moorhouse joined Gary Rucklidge at the wicket and proceeded to score about 2 runs in a partnership of 57. Gary, who had been dominating proceedings since coming in at 22 for 2, was finally out for 96 with the score at 147 for 5 having once again missed out on ever scoring a hundred. Gary has a certain style of batting and it seems to make very little difference whether the ball is a good one or not. An awful lot of runs came in the arc between long off and mid-wicket. When Gary was out we were in the 22 over and the scoring had accelerated to seven runs per over. With not a lot of batting to come and in danger of not using up our overs Mark and new batsman Stuart Dawson deliberately slowed things down and didn't start to speed things up until there was 10 or 12 overs to go. Mark (39) was out in the 39th over at 216 for 6, Stuart Dawson (also 39) departed in the 44th over, leaving promising junior Alister Cope (15 n/o) and Steve Pick (a few lusty blows for 9 n/o) to take the score up to 255 for 7.
St Chads got off to a good steady start and were 78 for 2 in the 20th over. They kept losing wickets from this point and were finally restricted to 174 for 9 in their 45 overs. The wickets were shared out between a number of bowlers with Steve Pick 2 for 42, Gary 2 for 20 and junior Tom Dean (again) 2 for 18 from his 5 overs. There was another excellent run out, this time by Mark Moorhouse. James Fernando again took a good catch as well as being allowed to bowl one over, captain Jonathon Marshall stopped an awful lot of runs in the extra cover area and junior Ally Cope kept wicket well for the second week running. St Chads didn't get any points from this match as they didn't get 75% of our total. We got 5 points for the win but not the bonus point as we didn't quite manage to take all ten wickets. This win definitely keeps us in division 3 and moves us 2 points ahead of St Chads. This was an excellent game of cricket, much better than the first team's fairly easy championship winning match against Thorner. It was good to see many of the first team, having won the league, come back to the ground to support the second team, over the last 10 to 15 overs. The club's overseas player from 1999, Australian David (Bob) Hoskins also caught a few overs and, on seeing Gary's run up, commented that he was surprised Gary was in a fit state to bowl by the time he reached the crease. This was a good team performance and an excellent win against a St Chads side who were much stronger than in our first meeting and who were confident having just beaten second placed Bramham first team the previous week.

September 15th Match against Rufforth cancelled.