South Northants Cricket League
Division 1

Gayton v Willoughby

Willoughby (119 all out – 20 pts) beat Gayton (96 all out – 5 pts) by 23 runs

A much needed success came Willoughby's way ay Gayton on Saturday in a low scoring tense affair.

The seemingly customary late withdrawals and re-jigging of the sides eventually saw Willoughby travel to find themselves batting first, where the visitors looked to be on the back-foot. A combination of two run-outs and dubious umpiring saw them capitulate to a meagre 119 all out. with only Dave Alcock (32) and Tom Green (33) making an reasonable impression to an otherwise unimpressive scorecard.

However a very slow outfield meant the target was always going to be harder to reach than it seemed. So it proved. Gayton looked favourites to take the points having reached 72-4 off 21 overs, with one of their middle order scoring some quick runs and taking them nicely towards the total. However a proverbial 'last throw of the dice' saw skipper Stuart Hall introduce the experienced John Gregson into the attack. His first ball was middled into the offside by the form batsman, only to be snapped up by Alcock at short cover. Buoyed by that crucial wicket, Gregson and Tom Hill - returning for his second spell, went on to take 6 wickets between them in a matter of overs. Hill finished with 32-4, Gregson starred with 4 overs, 4 runs, 3 wickets as Gayton fell short by 23 runs and giving a welcome winning boost.