Relegation fears eased by victory
LANGLEY continued their resurgence in form with a hard fought win away at Over Peover with Paddy Turner and Dave Gregory putting in fine performances.
Asked to bat on a damp wicket, Langley got off to a poor start losing both their premier batsman cheaply as Pattison (6) was caught in the covers and Hobbs (5) was bowled by a ball that cut back, with only 11 on the board.
Veteran Gregory and Luke Cartwright both dug in, ensuring Langley did not subside in an embarrassing fashion.
They took the score to 54 in 23 overs before Cartwright (20) was caught behind.
Tift joined Gregory and they pushed the score to 82, before Tift (7) was bowled.
Gregory continued to defy the bowlers, mixing solid defence with a stubborn across the line swipe.
The score reached 91 with 10 overs remaining and the Langley batsmen looked to hit out.
Instead, they struggled in tough conditions against some tight bowling.
Letven (7) chipped to mid on, Gregory was stumped for fine 44, George Parry (2) was caught in the covers, Tony Parry (7) was caught at mid wicket, Berzins (11) was stumped, Turner (2) misjudged a run and was run out leaving skipper Frame (1no) as Langley posted 116 all out.
Mark Nightingale 4-27 was the pick of the attack.
In reply, the recalled Turner struggled for his length as skipper Frame kept things tight.
The youngster then found his rhythm in fantastic style as had Gosling (4) caught at mid off, Owen (7) was deceived by a slower ball and was caught and bowled and Bodymeade (7) was trapped LBW. Tucker was then run out as Peover struggled to 25-4.
Berzins replaced Turner and bowled Goldstraw (7) with the score on 34-5.
Ingarjola and M Nightingale fought back and the duo put the pressure back on the bowlers.
Turner returned to the attack and struck immediately bowling Ingarjola (20) and O’Donaghue (4), Letven then had M Nightingale (8) caught at slip.
Rottenbury and B Nightingale showed resistance and for six overs looked to be taking Peover to a unlikely win however Turner refused to be defied bowling Rottenbury (2) and then Mills (0) as Peover were all out for 88.
Turner put in a fantastic display, talking a career best 7-22 off 11.4 overs, assisted by Berzins 1-16 off 9 overs, Letven 1-24 off 7 overs and Frame 0-18 off 13 overs.
The result saw Langley rise to fifth in the table and ease any relegation worries.
Skipper Frame was in a happy mood as he said: “With all the rain we had batting was always going to be tough. Losing Ben and Chris early left us in trouble. Greggers did a great job as did Luke, the middle order struggled and I felt we were 20 short.
“Credit to Paddy he’s had a tough start to the season but bounced back in style. I’m really pleased for him. All the bowlers did well and it was a hard fought win against a good side who don’t deserve to be bottom. They have some good players and I hope they turn things round. We have a tough game at home to Stretton next week and must raise our game again”.