Uphill Castle 2nd XI record an important victory in their fight against relegation.

UPHILL Castle 2nd XI entertained Old Bristolians/Westbury in a must win match in their attempt to escape relegation and obliged by beating their high-flying visitors by seven wickets.

Castle won the toss and inserted Old Bs in match reduced to 41 overs-a-side. A fine opening spell by Tim Holt (12-3-26-2) and Matt Loud (7-0-26-2) got the home side off to steady start, then backed up by some good fielding and catches by Luke Bliss, Tom Oultram and Kieran Ward, Uphill had their visitors in at 87-5.

McGeoch (64 not out) and Domone (45) got the visitors total up to 176-6 from their 41 overs. Bliss took the other two wickets.

Uphill’s innings got off to a solid start with Andre Belcher (34) and Tom Oultram (7) putting on 41 for the first wicket. Bliss (72 not out) joined Belcher and added 15 before Belcher was bowled by Domone.

Captain Andy Llewellyn (53) joined Bliss and took the score to 174 in the 40th over. This left new batsman Ian Tasker to face the last over needing three to win. Off the third ball of the over he hit a straight six to win the match and much needed points for Uphill.

Specsavers man of the match was Luke Bliss.

? The 4th XI enjoyed a hard-fought encounter with Cranmore seconds. Led by Mark Plummer, Cranmore won the toss and elected to bat first and found runs hard to come by.

Opening bowler 15-year-old Hallam Bickell started with four maidens and Jason Belcher, returning after 15 years, only conceded 10 in his three over spell.

The visitors scored 189-6, with Butt the mainstay with 74 not out. 14-year-old Jack Biggs kept wicket well and Dave Statham took two good catches. The pick of the Uphill bowlers were Bickell and Dave Kelley.

Uphill openers Plummer and Adrian Gardener put on 66 before Plummer was caught for 35. Gardener followed the next over for 22 and Dave Harding batted until the 32nd over before being bowled for 36.

With little resistance from the middle order, Belcher was joined by Kelley and the pair put on 27 for the last wicket before Kelley was bowled for 14 with the score on 164. Belcher was 10 not out.