LEAGUE leaders Ives II struggled to show any form in their defeat to Soham in Junior 2A.

ST IVES

LEAGUE leaders Ives II struggled to show any form in their defeat to Soham in Junior 2A.

Batting first, Ives were soon on the back foot, losing wickets at regular intervals and finally being bowled out for 114.

They were unable to prevent the Soham batsmen marching towards the target and they soon reached 119-4 to take the spoils.

Indifferent bowling by St Ives allowed Weston Colville to stack up a match-winning 263-8 in their Tucker 2 game on Saturday.

Opener Reuan Williams (90) was on song but he had lost five partners by the time the score had moved on to 77. A late-order rally by Stephen Setchell (42), Kevin Sequenza (38) and Kevin Gilder (23*) took Ives to 245 all out.

Ives III were on the wrong side of a big defeat against Chatteris II in 3A. Chatteris batted first and compiled a challenging score of 207-9. Ives had nothing to offer and crashed to just 84 all out.

GODMANCHESTER

VICTORY in the final over kept Godmanchester in touch with Wisbech and Camden in the race for promotion to the East Anglian Premier League.

The hero on the day was skipper Paul Swannell, who ripped out Nassington’s final two wickets in the last over of the match after top-scoring in the Goddy innings.

Invited to bat on a damp top, the bowlers held the whip hand and reduced Goddy to 67-5, before Swannell (77) and Simon Cafferkey (13) added 43 to start the recovery. James Cowan (37) and Ollie Verrall (34*) smashed 56 for the final wicket to bring up 250 all out.

After a steady start Nassington lost three wickets in rapid succession, two going to Cowan (3-55), who later mopped up Nassington’s top scorer Kasim Ikhlaq (70).

Nassington were left needing 37 from the last four overs, but Swannell’s (3-14) intervention signalled the end in a dramatic final over which saw Nassington close nine short at 241 all out.

WARBOYS

JUST 48 hours after losing to Eltisley in the final of the Coote Cup, Warboys were back at the St Neots ground for the re-arranged Smith Barry Junior semi-final against St Neots.

Batting first in the 15-over match, Warboys openers Daniel Wright (29) and Ryan Humphrey (36) built a good platform that enabled the middle order to take the score to 138-7. James Howlett (3-17) proved the most effective of the hosts’ bowlers with four economical overs.

After an early run-out, Ali Jabber (12) and Jason Welch (36) advanced the score but the introduction of Matt Lavender (4-31) wrecked the middle order and the innings fell away to 102 all out.

Lavender (3-27) was in form again on Saturday against Yaxley II in Hunts 3. The visitors were bundled out for 105 after Warboys II had racked up 222-7, thanks to Toby Saunders (75*) and Dominic Hills (50). Sam Latchford (3-20) helped Lavender wreak havoc.

In Hunts 1 Warboys’ batting failed to ignite against league leaders Newborough. The Witches were invited to bat but struggled against a good attack, Roger Allpress and Adam Hyde (both 16) top-scoring in the final total of 95 all out.

Newborough had few problems in reaching 96-5 to strengthen their hold at the top of the league.

Warboys took the spoils on Sunday in their Rutland 6 game against Peterborough Lions. On a poor pitch the Lions hardly whimpered in hitting 136 all out and Warboys needed less than 25 overs to reach 137-4.

In Rutland 7, Warboys II put up a brave fight for the points against Stewart & Lloyds. Lloyds batted first, failing to come to terms with the bowling of Ed Trafford (7-33), but still eked out a final total of 177.

Connors Withers (56) and Grant McMurdo (24) clocked up runs but the Witches still fell for 143 all out.

HUNTINGDON

HUNTINGDON beat Alconbury by 33 runs as they continue to chase top spot in Hunts 1. Huntingdon made 193 all out with Joel Marion (66) providing some sensible batting. A depleted Alconbury side put up some fight but ended on 160-6.

In Hunts 4, Huntingdon II continued their march to promotion with the comprehensive destruction of Sawtry II. Huntingdon totalled 259 all out with Joel Marion (68) shining again on second-team duties, backed up by skipper Darren Humphreys (49) and debutant Jamie Crook (39). Hayden Bream (4-64) starred with the ball for Sawtry.

The Sawtry reply fell well short at 160 all out as Marion (5-20) and Crook (3-29) found form with the ball.

Huntingdon III 215-6 lost to Bretton II 268-7 by 53 runs, with Chris Aldred (92) top-scoring.

BUCKDEN

ALEX MARSH (101) notched his third ton of the season as Buckden II reached 297-9 against hapless Dean II.

Twin Lawrie Marsh (67*) and Tom Chester (67) helped make it a bad day for Dean, and Lester O’Driscoll (3-24) eased them out for 143.

WARESLEY

WARESLEY kept their title aspirations on track with a workmanlike win over Babraham on Saturday in Tucker 2.

Matt Rawlings (37), Paul Field (30) and Chris Whitfield (59*) ensured a competitive score of 184-7.

Babraham’s reply struggled and the introduction of Whitfield (4-6) ended the game as a contest with the hosts on 126 all out.

On Sunday Waresley beat league leaders Potton in Beds League 1 after Whitfield (95) held his form and Waresley scored 233-7. Fifteen-year-old Joe Colebrook (6-26) excelled to keep Potton to 120 all out.

HOUGHTON & WYTON

HOUGHTON and Wyton beat Hunts 3 title rivals Upwood for the second time this season. After inviting Upwood to bat, Simon Wales reduced them to 32-3, and Chris Mastin (3-24) kept the pressure on as Upwood totalled just 148 all out.

Mike Hudson and Wales shared an opening stand of 95, but both fell short of their half-centuries. However the damage was done as Houghton reached 149-2 comfortably.

EATON SOCON

PROMOTION candidates Eaton Socon saw their chances greatly reduced after a poor bowling performance left them defeated and dejected against Old Eastonians.

Needing to keep the pressure on the rest of the pack in Hunts 1, Eaton batted first and set a competitive 203-6 with Terry Day and Dean Presland (both 49) boosting the score. Eastonians made it look easy in reply, reaching 204-4 promptly.

NEEDINGWORTH

RESURGENT Needingworth made light work of fellow strugglers Over on a bowler-friendly strip.

Tom Mitcham (4-36) helped restrict the home team to a below par 120 all out, and Needingworth wasted little time chasing it down. James Baldock (39) and all-rounder Dan Sherlock (32) helped the visitors to 121-5 and continued their fight for Cambs Junior 1 survival.

COUNTY CRICKET

NORTHUMBERLAND II proved too strong for Huntingdonshire in a two-day match played at Tynemouth CC last week.

Hunts struggled to 181 all out in bowler-friendly conditions, as Michael Cafferkey (54), Trent Pascoe (32) and Wayne Bradley (30) sought to establish a total.

David McCallum (5-83) excelled as the hosts were restricted to a first innings total of 193 all out.

Chris Budd (26) and Paul Swannell (22) dragged Hunts away from disaster at 29-4, but could only reach 119. Northumberland reached 111-3 with few scares to record the win.

At U13, Hunts got the better of Cambridgeshire at Kimbolton Castle in the ECB U13 Competition. Hunts posted 148-8 with Marcus Watkinson (56) topping the stats.

Jacob Howe (3-16) and Jordan Cafferkey (3-24) hustled the Cambs batsmen out for 116.

JUNIOR RESULTS

U9

Ramsey 160-4 beat St Ives 149 by 11 runs