The moon shone brightly on the end of the U15s game against Old Netley or was it VT. The game having survived the heavy showers started in bright sunshine, although a little late. But the smile on the skipper's face was as bright as the sun after losing the toss but being put into bat. The young Dons, with 6 U13s playing, started well with Archie Bennett and Henry Glanfield combining well until Archie was caught at gulley for 18. Henry kept the innings going and the Dons looked well set at 51 for 1 off 10. Henry retiring on 37. However, the young middle order struggled to make an impact on a slow wicket and a slow outfield. Wickets began to tumble and eventually the innings ended on 96 for 9.
In response Old Netley innings struggled to get going with a tight opening spell from Tom Toogood and Guy Mullins. But the Netley openers started to get into rhythm until Guy took a shy from 30m with one stump to aim at and took the first wicket. This caused a huge pile up of Dons players at square leg, with Guy at the bottom.
Some loose bowling and some good shots from the remaining opening bat gave the Netley innings boost required and at 77 off 12 overs looked set for victory. However, a change of bowling, fading light and a couple of wickets put the game back into the balance. The skipper brought himself and Guy back into the attack and throttled the run rate. The young Netley team eventually falling 4 runs short of their target. Pick of the bowlers was Tom with 2 for 4 in 4 overs and Archie with a brace. A good competitive game, but we need to work on our wicket celebrations.