Ockbrook’s slip means Swarkie in a stronger position
SWARKESTONE took a firmer grip on the Derbyshire County League Premier Division leadership with a tight victory over Spondon at the weekend.
Victory for third-placed Sandicare Town against second-placed Ockbrook & Borrowash lifted Sandiacre to second – but Swarkestone stretched their advantage to 20 points.
Captain Harvey Hosein was the hero with the bat for the leaders, initially standing firm as they slipped to 73-4 having been asked to bat at Locko Road, then combining with Cameron Wake for a fifth-wicket stand of 153.
Hosein saw it through at 102 not out from 105 balls, while Wake scored 89 from 68 balls, with nine fours and five sixes, enabling them to set a target of 263-8.
Spondon’s reply was going well at the mid-point, reaching 174-2 with Josh Brear and Alistair Dixon together.
But Brear went for 68 and Dixon for 60 as Nils Priestley turned in a spell of 3-63 and Ben Hutchinson kept battling away for 4-55.
Adam Finlay came close to hitting Spondon to victory at the end, with 30 from 18 balls, but he was out from the last ball of the innings and they were four runs short – the latest in a series of close finishes they have been on the wrong end of this season.
It was not all good news for Swarkestone at the weekend as they were well beaten at home by Nottinghamshire side Papplewick & Linby in the Derbyshire Premier Cup semi-finals, the visitors piling up 337-5 and bowling Swarkestone out for 203.
At Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre first stifled Ockbrook, then worked their way through them to bowl them out for 181, Mykylo Bird top-scoring with 45.
Matt Newbold took 5-59 and Connor Marshall 3-61.
Although Charlie Birch-Mann took 3-41 and Sandiacre wobbled a little at 86-4, David Torr (38) and Marshall (35 not out) saw them home by five wickets.
Victories for the bottom two tightened up the battle against relegation.
Centuries from Rob Peat and Dan Birch set Marehay up for a 108-run win away to Eckington in a feast of hitting in a rain-reduced game.
They came together at 77-2 and, 202 runs later, were not separated with the final score on 279-2 from only 27 overs.
Birch had scored 108 not out from 60 balls, with nine sixes and eight fours, and Peat 103 from 42 balls, with 10 sixes and six fours.
Eckington had no answer and
ended their 27 overs on 175-6.
Langley Mill put up 271-9 away to Alvaston & Boulton, with Samit Patel scoring 120 from 90 balls.
Matt Sisson’s belligerent 59 from 27 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes, got the reply off to a flyer but once Patel bowled him it was an uphill battle for A&B and despite 64 from Ahmed Raza, they were bowled out 42 short, Patel finishing with 4-27.
The wins for the bottom two have dragged Alrewas towards the relegation battle after their eighth straight defeat.
It was Ticknall who handed them the latest one, winning by 94 runs after Tom Wood’s century powered them to 305-9 at The Grange.
Wood was the dominant partner in an opening stand of 142 in which Paul Borrington contributed 27.
Wood was out for 106 from 87 balls, with 21 fours, and after that Greg Cork scored 53 from 51 balls.
In reply, Stephen Cole (38), Foley (50) and Billy Hodgkinson (45) all chipped in useful runs but the innings fell away to 211 all out from 38.1 overs and a home game against Eckington, four points ahead of them, will be important for the Herons on Saturday.
Denby are up to fourth in the table after scoring 321-7 away to Alfreton, Shanuka Vithanawasam (113) and Peter Burgoyne (81) adding 167 for the fourth wicket.
Alfreton’s strong top order failed them for once, Jake Simpson scoring 66 in the middle order as they were bowled out for 246, Jack Richardson and Ben Scott taking three wickets each.
Two cup finals were decided at the weekend.
Swanwick Hall seconds have lifted the Harry Lund Cup with a 60-run win over Tutbury thirds, while the James Harwood Cup is with Denby fourths, who beat Duffield thirds by six wickets.