Saturday 23rd June ~ Rothwell (Away)

League Leaders Take A Beating

A weekend that saw both teams somewhat depleted by absences resulted in a resounding win for the Tongites and a victory that threw open the first division of the League.

Tongs arrival at Rothwell was something of a mess though, as most of the team arrived via Lofthouse and the 11th man was summoned by telephone with five minutes to go! Apparently Reg was the only member of the Tong club who was unaware that Dave Hornby was at a wedding (not his own of course) and so having picked him was forced to quickly find a replacement - hence Steve Holmes got the call-up on his way to the ground to spectate.

Derr - this field placing's tricky

By the time that Shack had returned to Rothwell kitted out, we were back down to 10 men as Bob had managed to re-pull his damaged fetlock, and was leg up with icepack infront of the pavilion. Being the gentlemen that they are, Rothwell then provided the team with a substitute fielder, a factor that might well have had a bearing on the final result.

Reg, having won the toss had elected to field, and it was soon clear that this might not have been a wise choice as the Tong bowlers slaved under the hot June sun (a rarity in itself). Rothwell, depleted of two Danby's (Keith and Nigel) still managed to open with two others (Ian and Simon) and it was the younger of these two who quickly set about the Tong attack.

Simon Danby on his way to an excellent 120

Bowling uphill from the golf course end proved particularly difficult for both Steve Taylor and Pat Sowerby, and it was not until Reg brought Smiler on that there was a grip on the scoring rate. Despite some fortuitous shots Simon Danby was hitting the ball extremely well to all parts of the ground, but after the dismissal of his dad he was never really given any support, and by the time he had passed his century the combined left armers of Stockill and Hudson had begun to bite into the Rothwell batting order. Aided by some excellent deep fielding, particularly by senior Shack, the Rothwell innings eventually concluded in the final over with a runout, leaving the score on 203 and 5 bonus points apiece.

Smiler takes another 4 wickets at Rothwell

A score of over two hundred may well have fazed many teams, but the inclusion in the Tong side of that evergreen professional Chris Leathley at number three left most of the Tong support in an optimistic mood over their mutli-flavoured sandwiches.

The big fella returns from retirement

Tea also brought news of an impending Tongan victory over Rothwell 'A' at the Hound, where chasing a score of 170 the Tongans were 70 for one in nine overs, with Duncan Hawkins maintaining his fine recent form with the bat.

The Tongan innings got off to a fine start with Neil Dickinson infuriating the Rothwellians with his ability to chip and lob the ball into every space in the outfield. Neil's pinch hitting saw him get to 48, before he fell to a poor shot off an even poorer ball, being caught at 'pointish'. The Rothwell attack were though unable to stem the steady flow of runs , and Huddy maintained the pressure by hitting his first ball immaculately for 4. Perhaps we should have told Kirsty not to put the batsmen's scores up when they reached forty though, as the first three batsmen all fell in the nervous forties.

Rothwell towards the golf course

No worries though for the class of Leathley soon showed as he took charge of proceedings and guided Tong home. Even the fall of Darren with forty-five still needed was greeted by Reg sweeping for six as his opening scoring shot. The eventual victory with an over to spare belies the ease with which the target was achieved, and the victory over the previously undefeated Rothwellians has thrown open the first division title race.

Young Holmes takes a breather on the boundary

Well done lads, let's do the same next week to Caribbean with another maximum 30 points.