Weston upset the league leaders with an unexpected victory at Frocester.

WESTON 1st XI travelled to league leaders Frocester in desperate need of a good win, but in reality expected the worst after a string of poor results.

Captain Gary Morgan won the toss and perhaps invited Frocester, including ex-Gloucestershire batsmen Nick Trainor and Mark Hardinges, to bat first.

Hardinges took an instant liking to Sean Stringer, all of his 24 runs coming off boundaries from the Somerset Academy bowler, whilst Trainor decided to try the same tactics against Tom Main.

Once Hardinges faced Main he was instantly undone, being well caught in the slips. His replacement Tom Wand also seemed to find the boundary with ease.

Enter Jalal Ahmed and Intouch CRM man of the math Andy Fear (4-16) as runs dried up and pressure began to build on Frocester. Fear’s second over saw him take two wickets, and just 10 overs later Fear had also accounted for Ashley Davies and the key wicket of Trainor.

Suddenly the tables had turned, especially with the first direct run out of Frocester’s innings as the batsmen began to lose their heads.

A mini partnership between Sam Birch and Louis Gegg (46) saw Frocester to their first batting point. Gegg batted sensibly to give Frocester a total to defend as they recorded their third batting point in the final over of the innings, but a run out ensured Weston recorded their first clean sweep of wickets for the first time in over a month.

Chasing 177 did not seem like too daunting a prospect for the Seagulls and openers Turner and Simon Green started cautiously.

Frocester brought on Tom Furley and he soon reduced Weston from a comfortable 39 for no wicket, to 48-4 in the 13th over.

Green edged to Hardinges in the slips, Jackson Davey followed two balls later. Hardinges then helped himself to the wicket of John Williams and in the next over Turner danced down the wicket completely yorking himself and handing Furley another key Weston wicket.

Shabil Ahmed and Edd Brown were left to pick up the pieces, which they did with some style. Together they put together a match-winning partnership, as when Ahmed fell to Oli Jones, Weston only needed 50 runs to win off 18 overs.

Morgan joined Brown, and took a liking to Trainor, hitting him back over his head into the road for six. He and Brown pushed on, with some excellent running, leaving A well played 30 from Morgan saw Weston draw level with an over still to play. Morgan’s dismissal denied Weston a fifth batting point, but despite a dodgy hamstring, Fear saw Weston home to an unlikely, but well-deserved victory and 19 points.

This just failed to take Weston out of the relegation zone thanks to the other results in the division, as only four points separate the sixth to ninth placed teams.