With Earls Colne on a winning roll and team spirit at an all-time high the weather threatened to dampen the hopes of another win and redemption over Maldon 4ths. Luckily the captain and trusted allies Ian Doyle and Wife covered the wicket with anything they could get their hands on overnight on Friday 19th and were delighted to see their efforts were worthwhile after after a night of biblical style rain.
A crucial toss was won by Earls Colne who inserted Maldon on a damp pitch and the usual suspects of Paul Bromley and Harry Porcher opened the bowling for Colne. After a brief onslaught from N. Case(25) who Harry had caught behind brilliantly the usual tight bowling and excellent support from the field made it hard for Maldon to score runs with both Paul and Harry getting a wicket. Alex Chamberlain came on for his debut bowling spell and bowled some great balls and will greatly add depth to what is developing into a tight bowling unit. Then on came Russell Dawes who bowled incredibly to return figure of 4 wickets for 12 runs of 7 overs. Going into the last over Colne were chasing the final wicket to grab what could be a important extra point come the end of the season. Up stepped Booty whose composure when a difficult throw came in with a run out chance stopped the ball and then had the presence of mind not to panic, but to gather the ball and remove the bails in time to run out their final batsman. Maldon 104 all out in 39.1 overs
After a tasty tea provided by Ian Doyle, Colnes opening pair Daryl Sleeman and Pat Kerry strode out to the crease knowing they just needed to bat sensibly to get the full 20 points for Colne.
The innings started off well with both openers blasting the bad balls to the fence and getting through the opening bowlers. Pat (16) was first to depart caught after trying to turn the leg spinner Joe Gregory round the corner caught by their wicket keeper. Daryl reached his 50 soon after, after taking a liking to M. Newman depositing 1 ball for 6 into the tennis courts followed by another 6. Russell Dawes (14) picking off the bad balls the other end also fell to J. Gregory. Daryl (61) also fell soon after trying to despatch one too many to the boundary which left father and son (Colin Holdgate and Sam Holdgate) to bat out the final runs ensuring Colne the victory in just 14.2 overs.
Fantastic effort from all who helped get the ground ready and great to see so many players and family come along to watch a good game of cricket.
This result takes Colne up to joint 3rd and the winning machine just keeps on rolling