Everything went according to plan

The weather, ultimately, played very little part the days matches all went ahead as scheduled. The final three ties in the Preliminary Round of the BDICL Cup were played at the Leisure Centre, with the all Division One contest between Coggeshall and Kelvedon & Feering topping the bill. Coggeshall, in the modern psyche of football clubs, "rested" a few regulars. Though, in truth, non-availablity was probably a more accurate assessment. No Rob Lees, Will or Sam Blackwell, from what be described as their ideal six, but they still had enough talent available to see off the challenge of Kelvedon & Feering by 23 runs. Ollie Blackwell scoring 50 and Craig Lesiak, 34, as they reached 130 before losing their final wicket off the penultimate ball of their innings. Coggeshall then soon made telling inroads into the Kelvedon batting as Lesiak removed James Baker and Luke Scott in the third over, and with John Parsons following soon after, a score line of 37-3 did not make good reading for them. They did not lose another wicket though, but they did find run scoring a tough task, and they ended with 107-3 on the board. Ed Smith top scoring with 25 not out, with Matt Bridger on 22 not out. Extras turning out to be their top scorer with 30. Coggeshall now meet Division Two's in form team, Terling, in the First Round. Two Division Two clubs met in the second match, and strangely they will meet again at the Leisure Centre in the League next Sunday. It will be Helions Bumpstead who line up against Coggeshall Hamlet at the end of the month, after they defeated Boreham by 20 runs. Andy Rose, 47, Justin Rose, 29, and Gary Dicker, 26, all not out, were Helions Bumpstead's main run scorers as they achieved a total of 134-3. Boreham got off to a flyer in reply, with 42 runs coming from the opening two overs. Then their train hit the buffers as Liam Watts and Max Castledine were both run out, and Tim Pulham retired. Worse was to follow for Boreham when Andy Rose claimed three wickets in the first two overs of his spell, which saw them reduced from 81-2 to 109-5. Most importantly was the dismissal of Pulham for 30 soon after returning to the middle. This left Ken Greenaway with the task of getting Boreham home, but, with two overs still remaining, he was run out for 18, with Boreham on 114. A touch of panic, when it was not needed. The last tie of the round, paired two divisional leaders, as Division One leaders, Braintree Youth met Division Four leaders, Woodham Mortimer, for the first time. It was a harsh lesson for Woodham Mortimer in their first match in this competition, and did amplify the gulf between the top of the League and the lower reached. Michael Joyce added three more wickets to his career total, and his first wicket in the opening over, Damian Fannon being caught by David Denny, came one delivery after he had completed, the first player so to do, 1,000 overs in the League. Joycey went on to finish with 3-16 as Woodham Mortimer were dismissed for 49. They will have learned that in the higher reaches of the league, the bowling is quicker, more accurate, and chances are not squandered as often. Warren Celiz, 28 not out, and Dave Denny, 19 not out, took Braintree Youth through to 51 without the need for anyone else to bat, and in eight overs. Braintree Youth now meet Rayne in the First Round.

Earlier in the season, West Bergholt had to concede a Division Five match to Woodham Mortimer Reserves, and that still remains the only blot on their record as they atoned in the return fixture at Notley to recapture the lost fifteen points with an emphatic 87 run victory which gives them a 21 point lead at the top. Darren Davies, 44, and Andy Buckley, 31, gave their innings late momentum after they had been 95-4 in the ninth over. They both fell to Steve Collis in the last over but by then they had taken West Bergholt to 143. Woodrow also taking two wickets for Woodham Mortimer Reserves. Two wickets for the bowlers seemed to the order of the day in this match, as Francis, 2-9, Mark Applin, 2-12, and Andy Buckley, 2-11, then did likewise for West Bergholt as they dismissed Woodham Mortimer Reserves for 56. Strangely all twelve wickets fell to the bowlers, not a run out to be seen. Little Bardfield Village Reserves moved up two places and to within five points of a promotion spot as they maintained their unbeaten record at Notley by defeating Halstead by four wickets. John Buckle scored 42 and James Mickley, 22, as Halstead were bowled out for 90 in eleven overs. Josh Newman taking 2-29. Sam Bass and Peter Stone then each retired with 28 as Little Bardfield Village Reserves reached 91-2 with three overs to spare. Coggeshall III's, like Boreham in Division Two, possess a strange record of being undefeated at one Centre and winless at the other, and this was maintained as despite scoring 135-4 against Kelvedon & Feering III's, they could not defend it, and a one wicket defeat ensued. Steve Plampin, 36 not out, Jon Girling, 28, and 25 not out from Greg Farley, took Coggeshall III's to what should have been a match winning score. The reckoned without the eager running of the Kelvedon team. Given a good start by Sam King and Bryony Butcher they went on to finally get home with one wicket and one over to spare, with 137-5. King scoring 31, Butcher, 27, Shortridge, 23, but it was Will Bellamy's 20 that finally gave them the victory. Coggeshall A Reserves must be scratching their heads at their predicament. Accepted that they lost points which would still have had them bottom of the table, but oddly enough they are the divisions leading run scorers, but they just cannot seem to defend any total they achieve or chase any target they are set. Boreham Reserves gained revenge for the defeat that Coggeshall A Reserves inflicted upon them at the start of the season, winning by five wickets. Ben Smart hit 33 not out as Coggeshall A Reserves were contained to 78-4, then after losing an early wicket, Iestyn Powell and Trevor Money both retired with 25 before Boreham Reserves reached 82-1 in eight overs.

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January 17th 2010

Advantage Braintree Youth

Braintree Youth took a massive stride towards becoming the first team to win nine League Championships, and their first since 2005, when they defeated the reigning Champions, Coggeshall, by 16 runs at Notley, to open up a 27 point lead at the top with only five League matches to play. Bocking moved into third spot after hitting the highest score at Notley this season, they now hold the seasons' best at both centres. Coggeshall Hamlet were their victims as they gained all fifteen points to go two points ahead of Braintree, who lost by three wickets to Kelvedon & Feering. That was not a result that Witham wanted as it almost nullified their 43 run victory over Shalford which lifted them off the bottom of the table but only a few points closer to getting out of the relegation zone.

Bocking Reserves still lead Division Two, but, of course, they cannot be promoted. Dunmow were their victims as they won by 49 runs, a result which keeps Dunmow in the relegation zone, it was also Dunmow's seventh consecutive defeat, an unwanted new record for them. Terling and Helions Bumpstead remained in the two promotion places. Terling by benefit of Rayne's second concession this season, and Helions Bumpstead by virtue of their 71 run thrashing of Boreham. Boreham are now 20 points adrift of Helions Bumpstead in fourth place. Braintree College made a bad day even worse for Coggeshall Reserves as Simon Brooks' 42 not out, got them home to a one wicket win after Shaun Bragg had hit 83 not out in rescuing Coggeshall Reserves from an even worse afternoon. Rayne's plight at the bottom hardly eased by being unable to field a team to play Terling, and the drop into Division Three is looking ever more likely.

Sampfords and Great Totham both won to consolidate their positions in the promotion spots in Division Three. Sampfords denting the hopes of Little Bardfield Village with a 15 run victory. Nick Hopkinson scoring 47, and then taking 3-19, to see his team retain top spot, It was a third consecutive defeat for Little Bardfield Village, equalling their worst run. Great Totham continued their amazing recovery from a shocking start to the season by defeating Rayne Reserves by 40 runs, their victory was a record sixth consecutive win for them.. Witham Reserves pulled themselves out of the bottom two by defeating Coggeshall A by 21 runs, Joe Suett retiring twice with 53 not out for Witham Reserves, who moved above Rayne Reserves in the table. Michael Smith hit 74 for Three Fields, but his run out in the final over left his team five runs behind Kelvedon & Feering Reserves, for whom Sam King hit 48. Kelvedon & Feering Reserves moved up into third place, ten points behind Great Totham.

Woodham Mortimer are now 26 points clear in Division Four. They defeated Shalford Reserves, who began the day in third place, by 32 runs. It is now Braintree Reserves who are in second place as they capitalised on the defeats of Shalford Reserves and, later, Earls Colne. Braintree Reserves defeating Margaretting by three wickets. It was also Margaretting;s 150th match as members of the League. Earls Colne suffered a shock 47 run defeat against High Garrett, who had begun this match in the bottom two, but now by virtue of a superior runs per wicket average to Margaretting, they are now out of it. Sampfords Reserves remain rooted to the foot of the Division Four table after going down by six wickets to Helions Bumpstead Reserves. It was Sampfords Reserves sixth consecutive defeat, equalling their worst run.

January 24th 2010

Rayne live another nightmare, and West Bergholt lose for the first time in action this season

You have to go back fifteen years to find the last time that Terling won five consecutive matches, but they have achieved that again after defeating Helions Bumpstead by 5 runs the battle between the teams in the two promotion positions in Division Two. Over the last couple of seasons Terling had magically managed to not get themselves relegated to Division Three because other factors kept them in Division Two, and after losing their opening two matches this season, any chance of staging a promotion push looked unlikely, to say the least. Three months later, and with this sequence of results behind them, they are now nineteen points clear of the next team down the promotion pecking order. Now with five matches remaining to be played, they are probably only three wins away from returning to Division One for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Although they did not make the best of starts against Helions Bumpstead at Notley, Tristan Woolfenden being bowled in the opening over, John Marshall, 47 not out, and Peter Tomkin, 33 not out, rallied them and enabled them to close with a decent 103-4 on the board. Terling still needed to prevent Helions Bumpstead’s top order taking control, and this they achieved in the third and fourth overs when they took three wickets including those of Andy and Justin Rose. Helions Bumpstead were 20-3 and that then became 43-4, but as long as Neil Winter was still in, Helions Bumpstead would remain in the contest, and so it proved. The final over began with their score on 91 but the fourth ball of the over proved decisive as Tomkin had Winter caught behind for 51, with Helions Bumpstead five runs adrift on 98. Tristan Woolfenden ending his bowling spell with 3-18, a most telling contribution. The unlikely dream of Division One cricket for Terling remains intact, with Helions Bumpstead still the most likely to go up with them. Of course all this is possible because Bocking Reserves, twenty-five points clear on top, cannot be promoted, but they kept their Championship winning hopes on course with a 49 run victory over Coggeshall Reserves, for whom a fourth defeat in five matches, along with their points reduction, is pushing them towards Division Three. Bocking Reserves were never in any danger of slipping up once they had posted a total 114-2. The highlight of the innings being the worrying collision between Rob May and Danny McIntyre when neither of them was looking where they were running, but both were watching the ball. Sportingly, and rightly, no attempt was made to run either of them out, as the Umpires swiftly declared a dead ball. The collision seemed to have no lasting effects, McIntyre continued to retire with 27, a score also achieved by Darrell May. Coggeshall Reserves never threatened, and ended up being dismissed for 65. Boreham and Braintree College both kept their chances of getting into the promotion picture alive. Boreham recorded a five wicket victory over Rayne, a result which leaves Rayne staring at their first season in Division Three since the 1993-94 season. Rayne were dismissed for just 58 with Tom Alen’s 13 being their top score. Glenn Hadgraft and Trevor Money both taking two wickets to maintain Rayne’s woeful form. Money then hit 21 not out, and Neil Collins, 27 not out, as Boreham moved through to 60-1 in just eight overs. Braintree College, like Boreham, almost the masters of inconsistency, also recorded their first win this season in a match at Notley, when they defeated Dunmow by 32 runs. Braintree College have Simon Brooks’ 38 to thank for reaching 92, but Dunmow could not find anyone to match Brooks’ efforts and they were dismissed for 60, with only Majid Raja, with 20, reaching double figures.

Division Three was also active at Notley, with the match between the top two, Sampfords and Great Totham topping the bill. This division is extremely competitive this season, almost matching Division Four of last season, and with Great Totham recording a club record seventh straight victory, it keeps the Championship race simmering nicely with their lead being cut from thirteen points down to six. Great Totham eventually reached 90 with their number six, Peter Shortland, top scoring with 24. Sampfords then scored 18 from their first over, also with the loss of one wicket, but from being 37-1 in the third over, they stumbled to 49-4 in the fifth, and struggled thereafter. In the end they did manage to capture four points as they were dismissed for 73, but with three overs unused. A chance to put some distance between themselves and the pack wasted. Now every team in the division has lost, at least, three times. Kelvedon & Feering Reserves remain in third place after defeating Witham Reserves by 34 runs. However, that must have seemed a distant dream for Kelvedon Reserves as they slumped to 25-4 with Danny Steadman taking two wickets. Salvation for them came in the form of Chris Leftwich. he hit 40 not out in taking them to a final score of 90-5, with 33 coming in the last two overs. Witham Reserves’ reply began dreadfully with James Bonvini taking two wickets in the opening over, he went to record figures of 3-14 as Witham Reserves eventually recovered from being 6-3 to reach 56. Grady O’Brien scoring 31 of them. One positive note for Witham Reserves was that they did pull two more points clear of the relegation places. Little Bardfield Village are level on points with Kelvedon & Feering Reserves but behind them on victories recorded, but they will struggle to gain an easier win than this one over Rayne Reserves. Matt Graham’s 25 not out, Tom Graham’s 28 not out, and Josh Tyrell’s 21 not out, helped them reach 119-3. Rayne Reserves reply lasted just five overs, of which they managed to score a princely 14. Charlie Holmes recording 3-4, Tom Graham 2-1, as they vanished without a murmur. Whether they fact that they are resigned to relegation because of their first team status, I know not, but something is amiss somewhere. Three Fields had little trouble in brushing aside Coggeshall A by four wickets. Pat Kerry and Michael Smith both claimed two wickets as Coggeshall A were dismissed for 55 with no one scoring more than 11. Three Fields did lose two early wickets as Brett Patmore and Dave Atterbury were dismissed, but Josh Taylor’s 25 alleviated any doubts, and after nine overs, Three Fields reached 58-2, and they must still be considered promotion candidates as they continue to recover from a poor start to the season.

Woodham Mortimer increased their lead at the top of Division Four by six points, and now they stand 32 points clear of the rest of the field, most of whom are now covered by just nineteen points. At the Leisure Centre they made surprisingly heavy weather of chasing down Braintree Reserves total of 88-5. Braintree Reserves struggled after losing two early wickets and it was only a late burst from Matt Jefferson and Joel Ainsley that gave them any chance. Woodham Mortimer began patiently, and survived one dropped chance before they did start to lose wickets. They also began to fall behind the clock, so much so that when the final over began they still required 14 runs to win, and they had only two wickets remaining. Fortunately for them wides assisted them as Trevor Mason, 27 not out, and Chris Shaw got them through to 89-4 with one ball to spare. Shalford Reserves took the chance to move one point ahead of Braintree Reserves and Earls Colne, but in a way they were fortunate to be second and not fourth as Margaretting wasted the chance to take an extra bonus point by not running on either of the last two balls of the match. Made me think that the batsmen was unaware of the bonus points structure, which would have put them on equal footing with High Garrett. Lee Godding starred for Shalford Reserves, with the bat, hitting 59 as they amassed 59. They were also handicapped by Nick Wright having to retire hurt early on, and being unable to continue. Brown, with 24, and Swan, with 31, chipped in with useful runs as Shalford Reserves took control. Margaretting kept a decent pace up all through their reply, but they did not really make a push for victory. Buck Jones, 26 not out, Rob Brazier, 25 not out, and Colin Wade, 24, were their main run scorers, but why Ollie Glasson did not want to run on either of the last two balls, only he knows, and they ended on 110-3. earls Colne were given a test by struggling Sampfords Reserves, before they came out on top by 12 runs. Henry Pilgrim top scored for Earls Colne as they were bowled out in less than nine overs for 98, with James O’Brien taking 4-24 from just nine balls, but nineteen deliveries. Earls Colne managed to defend the total successfully as Sampfords Reserves reply ended on 86-4, with Steve Ward, 31 not out. John Gibson’s 2-10 from three overs being a telling factor. Helions Bumpstead Reserves defeated High Garrett by three wickets in the remaining Division Four match to keep themselves in the hunt. High Garrett needed a late spurt to close with 116-5. Martin Browne top scoring with 29, and with Phil Porter, 26, and Howard Pettit, 16 not out assisting. Adrian Cox, 30 not out, Michael Claydon, 28 not out, and 24 from Graham Page then took Helions Bumpstead Reserves to 118-3 with one ball to spare. It was Helions Bumpstead Reserves first win over High Garrett in six matches.

There was a major shock in Division Five, at the Leisure Centre, as West Bergholt suffered their first defeat in the field of battle this season. Only a concession had blotted their copybook this season, but now the entire ink pot has been spilled over it as Kelvedon & Feering III’s not only defeated them, but actually gave them a sound thrashing. However, they do remain on top of the pile, albeit with a lead reduced to just ten points. Rob Bradshaw’s 34 not out, and Will Shortridge’s 23 not out helped the team of six players aged 16 or under attain a score of 109-3. West Bergholt, with not far off their strongest possible team, simply had no answer, and were dismissed for 57 in less than eight overs, and they were only saved from a more humiliating defeat by Tony Bull’s 26 after coming in at number six. A warning to Braintree Reserves not to under-estimate them in the forthcoming Reserve League Cup tie. For West Bergholt, it may have been a stark warning that they cannot take it for granted that promotion is in the bag, and their next opponents in Division Five could suffer the backlash.Woodham Mortimer Reserves and Little Bardfield Village Reserves are still in contention for the title after recording efficient if not devastating victories. Woodham Mortimer Reserves hit 118-4 against Coggeshall III’s, Steve Richardson top scoring with 25 not out. Dave Goodchild then took 3-16 as Coggeshall III’s five man team were dismissed for 106. Steve Plamplin top scoring with 30, and Greg Farley adding 26, which tested Woodham Mortimer Reserves to the full. Sam Bass played the captains’ role for Little Bardfield Reserves as they defeated Boreham Reserves by 33 runs. He hit 48 not out as they closed with 115-5, and then took two catches and a wicket as Boreham Reserves scored 82. Little Bardfield Village Reserves used five bowlers, and each of them got one wicket. Jonny Pyle top scored for Boreham Reserves with 43, all scored in either fours or ones!!!!! Finally, Coggeshall A Reserves look almost doomed to facing a ballot with Braintree College Reserves, should their application for membership be forthcoming after going down meekly to Halstead by six wickets. The match lasted just 7.5 overs, not the shortest on record, but amongst the shortest. Tim Little took 4-12 from two overs as Coggeshall A Reserves were dismissed in four overs for 35. Adam Egg scoring 21 of them. Halstead took 3.5 overs to reach 37 without loss, of which extras top scored with 18. Coggeshall A Reserves are now 36 points adrift at the bottom with only five games left.