Chesterfield charge to top

This time league leaders Denby were the victims as Rahim Karim produced his best performance of the season, bowling unchanged for 14 overs to take 5-23 before Chesterfield raced away to an eight wicket win in a game that lasted only just over three hours.

With club captain David Adams unavailable, Tim Kirk took over the reins and invited the visitors to bat first on a good-looking Queen’s Park track. Kirk, fresh from a 7-47 against Sawley and Long Eaton Park the previous week, opened with Karim and Fran O’Neill.

Ray Karim has Phil Glenn trapped lbw for 1 to claim his fifth wicket

Karim struck in his second over as Ben Perry-Taylor was taken in the slips by the dependable Simon Lacey and O’Neill then induced a rash stroke from Ian Parkin with returning keeper Paul Burdett taking the catch and neither batsman troubling the scorers. The fired-up Karim then took two prized wickets. In-form James Chapman (12) was caught by Alan Gofton on the long leg boundary and captain Stuart Poplar (1) departed to another Lacey catch as Denby slumped to 32-4.

The fifth wicket partnership afforded some prospects of a recovery. Although not without mishap, the pairing took the score on to 55 before Stephen Bullock (25) was caught behind off Karim and Australian Anthony Clarke-Bruce (7) played on to Paul Goodwin without any addition to the total.

When Phil Glenn (1) was adjudged LBW six runs later, the indefatigable Karim achieved his first five-wicket haul for his new club. More importantly for his team, Denby were reduced to a perilous 61-7.

Peter Scott (20*) did his best to add some respectability to the score before the needless run-out of Mark Pykett (1). Then captain Kirk intervened with a double wicket maiden as Michael Dean, who became Burdett’s third victim, and Anil Bria, trapped LBW, departed without scoring. This left Denby with a score of 79 all out from 28 overs in only two hours of play.

Tim Kirk wrapping up the the Denby innings for 79 by trapping Anil Bria lbw

With the stylish Alan Gofton stroking a series of fine boundaries and normally cautious Andy Brown racing along at a run-a-ball, Chesterfield were closing in on a ten wicket win at a rate of eight runs an over until the introduction of Anil Bria (2-4) accounted for Brown (29) and the luckless Dean Hopkinson (0). Andy McCarroll (0*) kept watch as Gofton (41*) sealed the win with his eighth boundary.

Ray Karim was Man of the Match for Chesterfield for breaking the back of the Denby innings as he accounted for five of Denby’s top seven batsmen. The other three bowlers all chipped in – O’Neill (1-31), Goodwin (1-18) and Kirk (2-2) – the fielding was generally of high standard with some good catches and a fine piece of fielding from Joe Cooper to gain the run out.

With the match wrapped up in good time for tea, Chesterfield were assured of second place in the table by virtue of overhauling Denby with the 22 points for the win. But subsequent confirmation of second placed Sandiacre Town’s defeat at the hands of Alvaston & Boulton meant that Chesterfield now lead the league for what is believed to the first time in the history of the competition.