Uphill Castle crash to defeat at neighbours Clevedon.

UPHILL Castle travelled to local rivals Clevedon in the latest round of matches from the Bristol & Somerset Division of the West of England Premier League.

The home side won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat first. George Cox and Simon Webster opened the bowling for the visitors, with the latter looking particularly sharp in his first over against his former side.

After some loose shots early on Trenaman was cleaned up by Webster in the seventh over and Cox bowled well without luck. Clevedon then piled on the runs as Mike Hanley scored a run a ball 72 to support Tim Hancock (117) through to his century.

Chris Davidson managed to get a wicket when Hanley holed out to Lambert in the deep, before Cox ran out Hancock.

Spinners Luke Bliss and Matt Kearsey did the bulk of the work, bowling 28 overs between them to get Castle through the overs. Jason Lane came back for his second spell at the end and bowled well.

This couldn’t stop the home side amassing 321-5 from their allotted overs, with captain Paul Bachelor finishing not out on 69. Two late run outs from Lambert and Cox saw Castle gain an extra bowling point.

Faced with a massive run chase, openers Seb Winn and Steve Cooke struggled to take control, with Winn bowled in the eighth over. John Davidson came in and was looking comfortable until he was given run out.

Luke Bliss (26) pushed things along for the Castle until he was bowled by Hanley (1-49). Captain Jon Lambert joined Cooke and the pair put on 44 for the fourth wicket, before the latter was bowled for 36.

Tom Moseling (24) gave good support to his skipper as the pair put on a half century stand to see them past 175. However, the partnership was broken when Lambert was caught on the boundary for 56.

Matt Kearsey (10 not out) and Simon Webster’s 19 from just 15 balls saw Castle past 200. The pick of the bowlers for the home side was Aussie Tom Drake who took 5-51 from his 15 overs.

Castle tasted defeat for the second time this season, and must learn to bowl with greater discipline as the season kicks on. Man of the match for Uphill was Jon Lambert for his efforts with the bat. Castle entertain Chard on Saturday in a must win game.

? Uphill Seconds entertained local rivals Clevedon and after losing the toss they were asked to bat first.

Another steady opening partnership from Mark Hodder and Andre Belcher produced 33 before Hodder was lbw for 21. Belcher also went for 21 and this brought Hayden Watts to crease.

Watts joined Andy Llewellyn and together they put on 87 for the third wicket, before Watts was run out for 43. Llewellyn soon followed for 41. The remaining overs saw Gareth Williams (14), Matt Humphries (11) and Gary Kennedy (7 not out) take the total to 192-7.

When Uphill took to the field, opening bowlers Gary Kennedy and Pete Jobling produced an accurate spell of swing bowling. This left Clevedon in trouble at 25-2, but some sloppy bowling by the back-up bowlers and a third wicket stand of 107 put Clevedon back in control. They eventually got their target in the 36th over for the loss of four wickets.

A fine spell of bowling by Gary Kennedy, who finished with figures of 11-5-27-1 earnt him the Specsavers man of the match award.

? The Cavaliers bounced back with a terrific win at Huish and Langport. Nigel Cook won the toss and elected to bat first and the Cavaliers started briskly.

However, although the run rate was healthy, wickets were also tumbling, undermining Ashley Doyle’s sparkling 55, leaving Castle on 87-4 at halfway. Tom Oultram (23) and Matt Hill (19) steadied things for a while, but another clatter saw Uphill teetering on 127-7 in the 33rd over.

However, this brought the cavalier Matt Loud (36) in to join veteran Bob Hurford (31) and the pair ran riot in posting a third team record eighth wicket partnership of 66 in only eight overs as the Cavaliers were propelled to maximum batting points, finally being all out for 203.

Loud was soon in action again with the ball, but the home side’s openers posted 50 in 12 overs and things looked ominous for the Castle.

However, Loud and his opening partner, Tony Moore, stuck to their task and only 29 runs came from the next 12 overs. Huish still required 115 from the last 20 overs, but when Hurford took a wicket with his second ball, Castle scented victory.

Ian Tasker, Doyle and Hurford himself took excellent catches as the home side tottered. 14-year-old George Chapman and Hurford took more wickets, leaving Huish and Langport on 139-8, leaving Uphill winners by 64 runs.

Specsavers man of the match Bob Hurford took 6-29 (from 10 overs) in a vintage performance and George Chapman took 2-25 off 11. Moore conceded 34 from his 12, with Loud finishing with 0-40 from his 12 overs.

? Crusaders skipper Tim Holt won the toss for the first time this season and had no hesitation in batting first against Kilmington.

Crusaders openers, the evergreen Slocombe and 15-year-old Latham built a steady opening partnership of 46 before Latham was bowled by Horner. Paul Kuht came to the wicket, but lost Slocombe with the score on 63.

Kuht batted solidly and gave good support to another youngster, Kyran Davidson who scored a stylish 42. Other contributions came later on in the order as Keiron Ward made a fine 28 and Tim Holt a quick 30 not out as the Crusaders made a challenging 213-7 off their 45 overs.

In reply, Kilmington stuttered intially against a fine opening spell from 15-year-old James Holt who had the dangerous Barton well caught by Davidson for 18. Thereafter, Kilmington looked comfortable despite all that Uphill could throw at them.

Finally with the score on 136, Slocombe had Rose caught by Bickell for 55. The Uphill bowlers then exerted tight control on the Kilmington batsmen. Wickets started to fall steadily and they were bowled out for 182 in the 41st over. Slocombe finished with 4-41 and Kelley with 3-37.

The whole team were awarded the man of the match award from Specsavers.