Dramatic win is a great relief
RUNCORN Cricket Club’s first XI were able to record a great victory against Irby on Saturday and are hoping to carry that through into this week’s fixtures.
Ryan Beech and his side now sit in sixth position, largely due to a number of match cancellations.
It was a pleasing performance at the weekend, though, and vicecaptain David McNamara had plenty of praise for his skipper.
McNamara said: “We started off fielding after they won the toss. They’ve not scored over 150 often this season so we thought it was a strange decision.
“They started off OK and we looked a bit weary.
“Our captain, Ryan Beech, came in and took some really vital wickets and clawed it back for us. In the end, we were happy with the innings but it wasn’t easy.”
Runcorn started off very slowly with the bat too. McNamara was disappointed with how they started but admitted it was a relief his side were able to get a win in the end.
“Beech got out early and our best batsmen, Patrick Tyrell, got run out at the start too. However, we were able to bat well in the middle order to save things a little. James Wells got 61 for us and Stuart Drury batted 23 not out at number 10 so we clawed it back and were able to snatch victory in the end.
“We’ve been bowling great but our batting has let us down recently.”
This evening Runcorn face Barnton in the cup before they take on Stockport Georgians on Saturday.
McNamara said Runcorn’s strong bowling attack will put them in a good position to defeat this week’s opponents.
He said: “Barnton are looking strong. We’re at their place too. We’re reigning champions though and we’ve been undefeated in the competition so far, so hopefully we can deliver.
“We’ve got a lot of good bowlers. Beech has taken some important wickets recently but young Dan Booth has been bowling brilliantly for us too. He’s only about 17.
“Stockport are near the bottom of the table. It’s a strange one because they’ve got two of the best batsmen in the league so I’m not sure whether they have a weak bowling attack.
“We have won three very good games in recent weeks and now we’re only 25 points of the top of the table. That’s the equivalent to one victory.
“The table looks much healthier now. Hopefully we can get a result.”