Christian O'Mahoney and Al Horton opened the Park batting and the runs flowed right from the first ball as bowler Taz struggled with no balls and wides, whilst Christian dispatched any legal balls to the boundary. Park taking 25 off the first over. Christian was just hitting overdrive, with a glorious straight six, when he was bowled next ball, under edging into his own stumps. Park off to a flyer at 65 for 1. Dave Fletcher joined Al, who had been quietly accumulating the runs, and these two kept things steady until Fletch was caught behind for 14. Park 88 for 2. The wheels came off the Park wagon a bit here with Craig partridge bowled for 7 (Park 96 for 3), Carl Chamberlain caught behind for a duck (96 for 4), Dave Brupbacher caught behind for 9 (110 for 5), and debutant Owen Carroll run out for nought. All of a sudden Park were 111 for 6 and Skipper Gannon joined a bemused Al Horton at the crease with 15 overs left. Al cracked a couple of boundarys to ease the pressure, and after watching a few overs go by Gannon joined in with a few fours and the runs started to come once again. When Al was bowled for a priceless innings of 35, Park were back on track for a decent total at 151 for 7. Trevor Brupbacher came in at no.9 and after defending well for a few deliverys was bowled without scoring. Park 151 for 8. Bill Partridge was in next and a couple more Gannon boundarys pushed the score on til he top edged to be caught for 35. Park 165 for 9. Terry Shannon entered the fray, last man in, and hit a super boundary before being bowled (for four) to leave Bill unbeaten on 0, and Park 169 all out, and looking twenty runs short of the big total required.
Bill & Craig partridge opened the bolwing with a lot of pressure on to make a big hole in the Blodge top order. With Craig suffering from too many chips at tea time it was Bill who kept the pressure on, hardly giving a run away. It was Bill indeed who made the breakthrough, taking Wolstenholmes edge, with Dave Brupbacher taking the catch behind the stumps. BLodge 27 for 1. Shah and Ely then put a partnership together that looked like putting the game beyond Park adding 54 before Dave Fletcher put the skids on. Shah powered a drive into the covers where Carl Chamberlain took a brilliant hand numbing catch. BLodge 81 for 2. Fletch then trapped the new batsman LBW straight away, BLodge 81 for 3. A couple of overs later and Fletch had Ely caught behind by Bru and Park were back in it at 94 for 4. When Craig came back on to finish his spell he clean bowled Renny to put the wobbles on BLodge, now at 94 for 5. There was still a lot of work to do though, and Terry Shannon and Skipper Gannon came on for a twin spin attack. Terry snared Arrison when he drove into the covers only to see Christian swoop to take a superb low catch. Blodge 123 for 6. Tel did it again next over when Cherrill popped one up for Bru to take behind the stumps, 139 for 7. The following over and Terry had Taz coming a mile down the pitch to him, only to miss and see Bru stump him, yards out of his crease, 145 for 8. Gannon at the other end decided to get in on the act when he had Naqvi caught and bowled and all of a sudden Park were looking for victory with BLodge at 157 for 9. With only 11 runs required to win, a couple of lucky swipes could have won the game but Shannon would have none of it, clean bowling Night, the very next over, to cap a brilliant display and have Britannic Lodge 158 all out for a brilliant Park win.
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Partridge | 8 | 4 | 31 | 1 |
| Craig Partridge | 8 | 2 | 29 | 1 |
| Dave Fletcher | 8 | 1 | 36 | 3 |
| Terry Shannon | 6.2 | 0 | 27 | 4 |
| Tim Gannon | 6 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
Good batting from Horton, O'Mahoney and Gannon saw Propsect Park up to a respectable score but they still looked a few runs short against a usually strong BLodge batting attack. Dave Fletcher's bowling got Park into the game when it appeared to be going away from us, but it is Terry Shannon who takes todays MOM, with a brilliant display of bowling that eventually won the game for Park. the bowlers were well supported in the field with good catches being taken, particularly from Christian and Carl. A great game of cricket, very competitive and played in tremendous spirit, as usual in our trips to Hornchurch, and capped by a good drink with the BLodge lads over at Hornchurch CC. A timely reminder why we play the game, and I'm sure everyone who played will agree how worthwile it is to put in the effort to keep up this fixture.