Derbyshire County League report - 27th July

Abbey Glass Division 1

Marehay 239-5 drew with Selston Town 178-4

This was a clash between the top of the Division and a side in the relegation zone. One would have expected Marehay to roll over Selston, but this didn’t happen. Marehay batted well enough with consistent form shown by Brian Caulton (33) and Andy Walters (66) who put on 110 for the first wicket, followed by Arif Mehmood (49) and Adrian Vickerage who scored 59 not out off 34 balls. However, when it came to the Selston innings skipper Chris Dunn showed a commendable resistance in scoring 94 and Scott Godfrey carried his bat for 34 not out. Selston may go down, but if they do they will go down fighting. Marehay have a useful lead but they haven’t completely broken away from the pack.

West Hallam 247-8 drew with Lullington Park 157-9

A winning draw kept West Hallam in contact with the leaders, but they could have done with the win because there is no prize for coming second in this Division where promotion is open to only one team.Once again West Hallam’s batting responded well, with good knocks from Wes Essex (37), James Chapman (56) and Campbell Ogilvie (47) Lullington fell behind the required run rate, but held on for the draw thanks to the defence of young Andrew Goodwin (56 not out). For West Hallam Danny Haddon took 3-36, but they will rue their failure to get that last wicket.

Spondon 157-9 drew with Belper Meadows 193

This was a good day for Belper Meadows who were finally thwarted by Spondon’s last pair. They posted a challenging score, with main contributions coming from Gavin Fernyhough (47) and Barry Dallas (32). There were two very good bowling spells for Spondon, from Joe Kellogg (4-26) and from Lee Fox (4-47). Kellogg also featured in Spondon’s reply, scoring 35 not out and holding on for the draw. Earlier Dean Vickers (44) had topped Spondon’s scoring. For Belper, two bowlers almost pulled off the win, James Cox (4-36) and Ben Tait (4-39).

Elvaston 188-8 lost to Shipley Hall 191-7 by 3 wickets

Whilst Elvaston’s fortunes continue to flourish in the National Knock Out tournamount, they are slipping a little in the County League. By their standards their performance was a little below par, with Dave Watson the only player listed for batting, with 38 and for bowling with 3-20. Shipley’s reply was very much a one man show, with Harvinder Singh Sodhi scoring 124, more than half of their total. This included 22 fours.

Nutbrook 54 lost to Staveley Welfare 56-0 by 10 wickets.

After last week’s great effort at Morton this was a very disappointing display by Nutbrook. The batting was decimated by Tim Hoare who took 7-8. Four of those runs came from a snick through the slips and he had one catch dropped. At the other end Peter Camm took 3-41. Chasing such a meagre total Staveley’s openers coasted to victory.

Abbey Glass Division 2

Ockbrook 2nds 158 lost to Denby 2nds 163-5 by 5 runs

This was a desperately close finish with Denby securing the last Ockbrook wicket in the final over. Ben Perry-Taylor made 38 and Ian Burgoyne 32 in the Denby innings, and for Ockbrook Nigel Sulley made 36 and Russell Sexton was 56 not out. Skipper Simon Mann took 3-33 for Denby who are clear leaders of this Division. They know that they cannot gain promotion, but they recognise the pleasure of emerging on top

Ticknall 139-1 beat Sandiacre Town 2nds 135 by 9 wickets

This was a big win for Ticknall and it gives them a good lead over their rivals, and, of course they can gain promotion, with two teams going up to Division 1. Sandiacre’s batting display was disappointing, though there were useful knocks from Duncan Bembridge (30) and Ron Patel (35). They were undone mainly by Graham Chamberlain (4-51) and Nathan Harding (3-28). Ticknall knocked off the runs in 35 overs, with Luke Harvey making 62 and John Coxon 70 not out.

Mickleover 178-5 beat Rolleston 176-7 by 5 wickets

There was little to choose between these two sides, but no doubt it was an advantage to be batting second. In the Rolleston innings Sean Green made 41 and Alan Mellor 40, and Mickleover’s Alan Worth produced a match winning 91, well supported by the consistent Chris Mottram who was 55 not out. Despite this loss Rolleston are currently in second position of those who are eligible for promotion.

Duffield 184-7 lost to Aston on Trent 189-2 by 8 wickets

Duffield batted first and posted a decent score, with Edward Sims making 40 and Balrage Johal 50, whilst for Aston Rafaqat Ali took 3-34. After losing two early wickets Aston moved easily to their target, thanks to another splendid innings fron Syed Faisal (94 not out) , well supported by Irfan Fazal (39 not out). Duffield are now 10 points behind Rolleston, but only three points ahead of Alfreton. An intriguing struggle is developing for the second promotion spot.

Little Eaton 210-8 lost to Alfreton 211-3 by 7 wickets

Little Eaton’s batting has improved, but they do have difficulty in bowling sides out. Paul Sinclair dominated their innings with 85. Ian Bowler took 3-31 for Alfreton and when they batted Jon Hughes made 55, and Matt Lineacre 55 with Andy Buckley 35 not out.

Allestree 168-7 beat Brailsford 165-9 by 3 wickets

Brailsford batted first , with Andy France making 35 and Andy Williams 38, and for Allestree Dave Gifford took 4-34 and Matt Sirrell 3-38. Allestree cut it fine, but were helped along by Andy Layton (47), Ben Sarton (33) and Simon Taylor (31).

Derbyshire Building Society Division 3A

Swarkestone maintained the lead with a winning draw against Spondon 2nds. In their innings of 204-6 Andrew Lancaster made 76 not out and Bruce Dilkes 37 not out, and Dilkes ws again prominent as a bowler, taking 4-39 as Spondon hung on for the draw at 149-9.

Alvaston & Boulton 2nds are 4 points behind. They dominated their game with Darley Abbey after scoring 198-8, which included 80 from newcomer Achin Chand. For Darley Abbey Tom Howell took 4-42, and for A&B Mohammed Ayub took 3-15 as the Abbey hung on at 103-6.

Ambergate are still in the hunt, three points behind A&B, and furthered their cause with a good win against South Wingfield. Imran Ullah was again their star, takin 3-30 as South Wingfield were dismissed for 99 and scoring 69 not out in Ambergate’s reply of 104-4.

Rolls Royce had a good win against Derby Congs after posting a big score of 252-6. This included a century from Darren Green (101) and 60 not out from Phil Clark, and when Congs batted they were all out for 205, with Dave Yeomans taking 5-37 and Mohammed Malooq 4-42. For Congs Trevor Archibald made 76.

Quarndon 2nds had a good win over Tibshelf. After confining them to 123-6 they scored 127-4 with Chris Sanders making 49. This defeat confirms Tibshelf in bottom spot.