Revival sings are set for the Fishpond

Published on 19th June 2008 in Sport

Bolton Percy 95

Carlton Towers I 96-2

The Wright way forward for Carlton Towers as they climbed out of the bottom two places in Division two, with an important eight-wicket victory against relegation threatened Bolton Percy.

The former captain was as irreplaceable as usual with an impressive all round performance. He initially took 4-16 runs in 17 overs and then finished unbeaten on 41 as Carlton Towers reached the target with 19 overs to spare.

It was a milestone too for Mark Chambers. Having joined the Club in the close season from South Yorkshire Club Dearne, he made his best score in the York Senior League with an undefeated 23 and featured in a third wicket stand of 67 with Paul Wright.

Bolton Percy were never in the match and at one stage had been reduced to 39 -6. Mark Spetch took 2-19 from his 10 overs, supporting Wright in an opening spell in which he took out opener Rigby for a duck in his second over.

In fact it was only a late surge from the last pair that prevented an embarrassing total on the bored. Martin made 27 and with Ferguson put on 37 for the last wicket.

Despite the loss of Jonathan Dilks who made 21 and David Hoe, the result was never in doubt, being achieved in the 26th over to give Carlton Towers their second League success in their last three matches.

One swallow does not make a summer though and there is much work to be done to preserve second Division status.

Carlton Towers II 119-7

Whitkirk II 120-4

Having been unable to play last week due to a waterlogged pitch, the enforced break in their sequence of good results, in which the side had moved up to fourth place in the table, has had a detrimental effect as Carlton Towers went down to their third defeat of the season against an ordinary Whitkirk side by six wickets at the Fisjpond.

Missing both their regular captain and vice captain, the Carlton Towers batting never got to grips with the Whitkirk attack apart from Yorkshire Ladies player Robyn Still who made 27 and Stephen Carr coming in at number 6, who made 20 and featured in a 5th wicket stand of 32 with Tim Clayton (13). Kevin Tate hit 17 late on, putting on 29 for the seventh wicket with Oliver Lister (10 n.o.).

Whitkirk used a total of seven bowlers as Carlton Towers finished on 119-7.

The result never looked in doubt as the Whitkirk openers Luke Masey who made 33 and Nick Pickard with 50 put 84 on for the first wicket. However the Carlton Towers bowlers created a flurry of activity when four wickets fell for 35 runs with Kevin Tate taking 2-5 and Will Brown and Robyn Still taking one wicket each.

A serious set back to Carlton Towers hopes for promotion, although with players to return it has no need to be anything but a setback.

Cup joy for Carlton against higher opposition

Carlton Towers 197 Bridlington 183

Carlton Towers progressed to the quarter finals of the Edward Readman memorial trophy, for the first time since winning the Competition in 2001, thanks to a 14-run success against First Division title challengers Bridlington.

The highlight of the match was a powerful batting performance from Captain Jamie Pocklington. He made 90 out of 115 runs in an outstanding innings, taking up 22 overs, including five sixes and 12 fours. When he came to the crease, Towers had reached 41-3 including the Bridlington handicap of 15 runs. He was out in the 30th over with the score on 156, showing that the reverse sweep is not his strongest point!

Earlier Paul Wright, Jonathan Dilks and Nick Kline had all fallen to an impressive opening spell of bowling from former Bradford League player Dick Mainprize, who took 4 for 16 from his eight overs. It was a fifth wicket partnership of 91 with Richard Knapp who made 15, that catapulted Towers to their total, continued by the impressive Mark Spetch whose all-round skills disguise his tender 14 years.

The Carlton Towers Under 15 captain pushed the score on making 21 before being stumped with four overs remaining.

The Bridlington batsmen showed why they are a force in the First Division following their promotion last season as the opening pair put on 47 for the first wicket in only 13 overs. This was despite the efforts of Paul Wright who conceded only 15 runs from his eight-over spell. Mark Spetch had gone for 23 from four, although was replaced by Robert Haw, who stemmed the tide and was to play a decisive role in the closing overs.

As the innings progressed it was clear that a tight finish would be on the cards. Although there were two breaks in play due to the weather, the score never went beyond the target of five an over and it was all to play for. However, to cap a superb display Mark Spetch came back into the attack, taking four wickets from three overs conceding only six runs. The contributions of David Hoe and David Squires could not be underestimated either, bowling at crucial parts of the match and taking one and two wickets respectively.

The last pair were at the crease with 25 required for victory. With three overs remaining Robert Haw, who had been brought back into the attack and had taken the penultimate wicket in his sixth over, had the last man stumped by Mark Chambers, his third wicket of the match. Keeper Mark Chambers also made a valuable contribution taking four victims in total.

It was a well earned and probably unlikely victory for Carlton Towers, in this a season of adversity and agony and the reward of a place in the quarter final at home against Harrogate or Crayke.