Park took to the field against a strong Hadlow side and opened up with Paul Moss and Digger Barnes. Hadlow's openers looked very confident so we were ecstatic when we had them both out for 7, with Mossy bowling Gethins and Digger trapping Williams LBW. Paul Moss then repeated the trick to bowl Dolding and Hadlow were 27 for 3. Swapping Bill Partridge into the attack saw the scoring rate grind to a halt as Hadlow consolidated and when Bill bowled the no.4 Hadlow were 58 for 4. Paul Moss got his third wicket in his last over when Blacklee hoisted him deep out to mid off only to see Simon Ewin take yet another trademark excellent catch, hadlow 103 for 5. With Craig replacing Paul at the top end runs were even harder to come by and with two hours gone it looked like we were going to restrict Haldow to a pretty tame score. But the oppo came back to prove why they came runners up in the league this year, by launching an onslaught at the end. Dave Partridge did well to bowl Portlock out for 16 but Foad and Large did some damage in the last few overs, and when Hadlow finally called it a day after two and three quarter hours of batting they had reached 172 for 6.
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digger Barnes | 8 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| Paul Moss | 10 | 2 | 36 | 3 |
| Bill Partridge | 10 | 4 | 18 | 1 |
| Craig Partridge | 6 | 2 | 19 | 0 |
| Dave Partridge | 5 | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| Alan Russell | 6 | 1 | 35 | 0 |
Alan Horton and Tim Gannon opened the batting for Park but were soon back in the dressing room as Portlock bowled them out for 0 and 1 respectively (Park 6 for 2). Simon Ewin and Dave Brupbacher came to the rescue though with a superb partnership adding 62 for the next wicket, dealing admirably with the hostile Portlock and getting boundarys at the other end. Simon was eventually out for a fine 21 when he was LBW to Wren and Bru followed shortly after for an equally good 23 when he was bowled by Foad (Park 72 for 4). Craig Partridge and Alan Russell were at the crease and it was good to see Craigs confidence back as he set about getting the required run rate. After a big six and a couple of fours the Propsect Park bench were starting to think we might be able to do it as Craig rattled off the runs. But he was to start losing partners as first Russell went, caught for 2, the Dave Partridge for a duck (Park 99 for 6). When Digger joined Craig and started hitting the boundarys we were definitely back in with a shout but Digger was bowled going for his shots for 15 to leave Park on 131 for 7, and 5 overs left to score 43 runs. Bill Partridge came out and swung the bat and was looking good til he was caught and bowled by Blackley for 3 (Park 138 for 8). Paul Moss came out to see the game through with Craig, but just as the game looked safe, horror of horrors, craig was bowled with three balls of the match left. Craig departed with a superb 41 to his name and it was down to Trevor Brupbacher to see out the last 3 deliveries to save the game for the Park. Showing loads of bottle Trev fended off the remaining balls admirably to take Park to a well deserved draw.
This was an excellent display against a very strong Hadlow side. Paul Moss bowled excellently and was superb in the field also. Craigs batting kept us in with a chance of a win til very close to the end after a great rescue job from Si Ewin and Dave Brupbacher up the order. But the MOM today has to go to Trevor Brupbacher for his tireless running in the field and for batting the game out for a draw for us. Well done Trevor !!