Five league wins on the trot for the Glenpark XI

Glenpark XI v Shawholm XI

Glenpark kept up their challenge at the top of the table with a comfortable win over struggling Shawholm on Saturday. It was a sunny afternoon and, after a harrowing summer, the wicket finally looked like the batting tracks of old.

The home team’s opening bowlers dispelled this appearance. Phil McIntosh was on the money from ball one – taking 1-1 in his first three overs. Dave Sharma took a couple overs to settle but, after bowling a Shawholm opener with a novel off-break, found a good rhythm. This opening pair reduced the visitors to 15-5 after nine overs and it looked as if it was going to be a brief match, but the batsmen rallied to see them off. After a brief spell from Jonathan Hempsey, Mark Robertson then turned to his secret weapon – himself. He took a wicket in his first over to put pressure on the batting side again; although runs still came, wickets kept falling – the innings finished with an excellent direct hit run out from Kieran Begley, who earlier had also had success with a ball. With a target of 126 and a strong batting line up, Glenpark were confident of securing their fifth successive league win.

That confidence was knocked somewhat at the start of the innings. Jonathan was adjudged LBW in a dismissal that might have benefited from a referral (!), and Dougie Moore unluckily picked out a fielder with a pull shot. Mark Robertson looked comfortable until giving a catch to leave Glenpark on 31-3. Aiden Forrest joined Alex Baum to start the recovery. Alex scored freely and, although struggling to get runs himself, Aiden stayed with him for a while. He was replaced by Chris Hempsey who, uncharacteristically struggled to time the ball, but with Alex looking more and more at ease at the other end, the score rattled on to within sight of the target. Chris was bowled with just a few runs required, just leaving Dave to knock the them off in the same over – at the same time unfortunately denying Alex a well-deserved half-century.

Glenpark have two tough away matches to close their season, Nunholm next week, followed by Partick on September 3rd. Unless Titwood slip up to give another team a shot at the title, the latter might be a battle for second place.

Shawholm XI (3 pts) 125 (31.2 overs) AB Scott 37, DC Sharma 4 for 24

Glenpark XI (12 pts) 128 for 5 (26 overs) AJL Baum 48*, RM Lauder 3 for 28

Glenpark XI Man of the Match:  Between me and you, Alex – if only I hadn’t denied you your fifty! This week’s man of the match: Dave Sharma

Scooby Award: Alex Baum – for telling his skipper that he liked playing the two's as it’s so much more relaxed and he's better than the other players! I don’t think this was reported verbatim, but the team wasn’t letting him get away with it!

scorecard

'The Snake'