Wellow & Plaitford 101ao, Sway 99-8 - Wellow won by 2 runs

Sway U15s suffered last over heartbreak for the second game in succession as they crashed out of the cup by 2 runs.

Wellow & Plaitford batted first and got off to a steady but slow start with some tidy bowling by Andrew Straw and an excellent display of pace and accuracy by David Steadman - by some way the best (and most unlucky) bowler on the pitch. Sway did not make a breakthrough until the score was on 42 when Harry Rothband claimed his first Sway wicket and followed it up with another in the following over. By now wickets started to fall regularly - Darren Clark picking up two and Noel Gallagher one. Star bowler of the innings was however spinner Nathan David who produced a superb display of spin and accuracy to tie Wellow down - taking 4 wickets for just 11 runs and taking the final wicket to wrap up the Wellow innings 2 balls short of the 18 overs. As expected coach Dave Marshall did nothing to change his reputation as a shocking umpire - calling a 6 instead of a 4 (note the winning margin!). In truth however, Sway bowled 16 extras and suffered a fair few mis-fields which ultimately turned out to be more important. On the positive side, hats off to Max Baybut - fairly new to cricket but prepared to put the body on the line every time with the kind of  attacking fielding in what is effectively 20/20 cricket.

In reply Sway got off to a shocking start. Opener Niall Gallagher tried to attack too early and was caught for a golden. The impressive bowler, Easton then, slightly predictably, bowled number 3 Gus Wooley a few balls later (generally speaking against the quick bowlers, the lads should experiment with taking guard further up the pitch, rather than getting "trapped" in their crease - if nothing else it puts the bowlers off and turns full length balls into half volleys). Joe Fussell (16) joined David Steadman at the crease and Sway ticked along quite nicely for a while - Fussell not only looks like Sway 1st team star and ex-colt Jack Walton, but bats like him as well. The key wicket fell when Steadman got a wicked bounce and ball popped off the shoulder of the bat for the simplest of catches. Sway were still very much in the game however with Laurie Symons producing his best display with the bat scoring 20 before holing out. Going into the final over, Sway needed 7 to win but ended up just 2 short of the required total.