.Bashley (Rydal) 36ao,  Sway 37-2. Sway won by 8 wickets

After giving New Milton A a scare the previous week, Sway U15s comprehensively beat Bashley with a superb performance to rival any produced by the Club at any level.

Sway skipper David Steadman lost the toss and Bashley elected to bat. Steadman however was firing on all cylinders producing a superb display of pace and accuracy and with his 3rd ball of his first over induced an edge that was superbly caught by keeper Laurie Symons diving away to his right. With a run-out following just a few balls later, Sway began to believe that they might have a chance. At the other end Andrew Straw is becoming a genuine strike bowler in his own right, especially now following his recent haircut the reduced wind resistance has upped his pace!  With the final ball of his first over Straw induced a mis-timed shot that well caught at point by Niall Gallagher. When in the 3rd over Steadman bowled the number three, Bashley were suddenly in all sorts of trouble at 8-4. Straw finished his superb three over spell with figures of 3-1-5-1. It now remained to be seen if Sway's change bowlers could keep up the pressure and press home the advantage. The nagging medium pace of Darren Clark and the swing and height of Harry Rothband kept Bashley on their toes - with hardly any extras and sharp fielding, runs were like hens teeth. Clark then struck with the first ball of his second over, clean bowling the Bashley number 5. Not to be outdone, Rothband induced a mis-hit in his next over which ballooned into the air and luckily found the ever-reliable Joe Fussell underneath to take the catch.

With 6 wickets down after just 9 overs, Bashley found themselves in a very tricky situation and probably with batsmen come in that were more used to end of innings pinch hitting. Sway were in no mood to relinquish their grip on the game and Clark (4-0-15-2) struck again in his second over, the batsman popping a simple catch up to Steadman fielding in close. Rothband continued to bowl a tight line and was doubly rewarded in his fourth and final over when he took two further wickets - one clean bowled and the other caught by Gus Wooley to finish with 4-0-10-3. With Bashley 9 wickets down, Steadman returned to the attack and with his second ball, finished off the Bashley innings for just 36 with a LBW.

The Bashley opening bowlers were fired up as they desperately tried to take early wickets, which would almost certainly be necessary if they were to have a chance of defending such a low score. Bettle bowled a cracking 4 over spell (4-1-5-0) that had Steadman in particular playing and missing on several occasions - but he had no luck. At the other end Read was equally impressive producing 3-2-5-0. Niall Gallagher and Steadman however survived various scares and although Steadman conspired to run out Gallagher (again!), the relief in the pressure was palpable as Sway made their way through to the Bashley change bowlers. Although Gus Wooley was trapped LBW for 8, Sway had crept the score up to 29 after the 12th over. By now the rest of the Sway team knew that victory, and a team KFC was surely theirs and when Steadman hit two consecutive  boundaries to win the game there were joyous, albeit well-deserved scenes.

The lads have been unlucky in a couple of games this season and despite their amazing team spirit perhaps lacked a bit of self-belief that little Sway can actually beat some of the big names. Today however they produced a superb all round display that will be long-remembered and hopefully generate the belief (as opposed to over-confidence!) that on their day they can give pretty much anyone a decent game.