The second XI of local rivals Woodhouse Grange visited the Park last Saturday and contributed to a nail biter which saw the hosts just gain the upper hand.
Skipper Tom Eagling’s fourth consecutive toss loss resulted in the Britcom International Ltd sponsored Park taking first knock and an injudicious start saw Messrs Beevers, Drewery, Rook and Stephenson all back in the hutch with only 35 on the board. Cometh the hour, cometh the skipper with some lusty blows, aided by support from Sam Dodd (14) and Tom Williamson (15), as Eagling almost single handedly turned the match into a contest, posting 11 boundaries and 4 maximums in a score of 84. Further valuable runs at the death from Joe Shingles with an unbeaten 21 saw the Park close on 174 in the final over. For the visitors Tom Burdett took the bowling honours with 5 for 42 from 12 overs.
Yet again the Park’s front line bowlers Tom Sowersby and Joe Shingles produced tight spells whilst their team mates supported well in the field to stem the run rate for Grange’s top order batsmen. Wickets fell at regular and important intervals but the visitors continued the chase. However the introduction of James Beevers to the attack turned the tide as he produced a fine spell of 5 for 40 to ensure the visitors fell short of their target, the ninth wicket pairing of Paul Grewer and Dan Durkin surviving to the close just 9 runs short of victory.
Skipper Tom Eagling battered his way to the Harper's fish and chips man of the match award whilst Lucas Stephenson deserved credit for seeing out the game at 7.40 pm despite his evening shift starting at 7pm. The Bengal Brasserie kindly sponsored the match ball.
Londesborough Park 1st XI 174 (T Eagling 84, T Burdett 5-42) Woodhouse Grange 2nd XI 166-9 (M Smith 35, T Stubley 32, J Beevers 5-40)
The Park’s second string, sponsored by the Red Lion, headed west to North Duffield who were asked to bat first. Rich Foster kept runs to a premium at his end, conceding just 30 from his 9 overs, but opener Wesley Pears enjoyed success with the bat, making 81 until evergreen Steve Mudd added him to his fine tally of 5 victims. A welcome return for Dan Howard saw him pick up three wickets as the hosts were dismissed in the 41st over for 204.
Last week’s hero with the bat Ian Hodson fell cheaply but solid contributions from the top and middle order from Ed Smith (28), Jacob Todd (21), Alex Barlow (15) Dan Howard (32) and Chris Barlow (15) kept the Park in contention. However the bowling of Craig Patrick and Josh Carline proved to be the deciding factor as, despite Foster and Henry Smith both contributing 14, the Park were finally dismissed for 162.
The Harper's man of the man was Dan Howard for an all round solid performance.
North Duffield 1st XI 204 (W Pears 81, D Buckley 27, S Mudd 5-63, D Howard 3-41) Londesborough Park 2nd XI 162 (D Howard 32, E Smith 28, J Carline 4-42, C Patrick 3-24)
The Park’s juniors, kindly sponsored by The Star Inn, Sancton, have been in recent match action. The under 9s had a tough start against Acomb with 5 of the 8 participants playing for the first time. The Park boys bowled first and only conceded 8 wides, an excellent effort, with Thomas Wood taking two wickets on debut. The batting honours went to Cameron Hodson (26) and Jack Scanlon (19) as the Park fell just short of victory.
The second fixture was a home encounter against Stamford Bridge. Starting on a score of 200, the Bridge totalled 271 for 3, courtesy of Josh Sandhill (13) and Jack Mc Donagh (10). The Park bowled a few too many wides but Jack Dicconson created a run out with an excellent direct hit. The Park went on to secure victory with 295 for 2, the runs coming from Will Needler (20) on debut, Cameron Hodson (19) and Seb Staal (14).
The under 13s travelled to Malton & Old Malton for their first fixture in division 1. Batting first on a warm spring evening they scored 100 for 4, the runs flowing from the bats of Rob Thomlinson (30 retired), Toby Williamson (18) and Harry Snelling (14 no). In reply the hosts totalled 87 for 7 as 3 wickets for Snelling and two apiece for Billy Spruyt and Tomlinson earned an excellent victory for the Park in somewhat gloomy conditions at the finish!