Castle remain unbeaten

UPHILL Castle entertained Wembdon in the latest round of matches in the Somerset Division of the WEPL.

The home side got off to a good start with Sam Trego and Steve Cooke in good touch before Cooke was run out. Jon Lambert joined Trego and the pair took the total past the 100 mark. Trego was the most dominant before he fell five runs short of his century. Lambert soon followed as he was caught in the deep for 25.

Two quick wickets fell before Chris Davidson and Hayden Watts (29) pulled Castle through the middle overs. Some fine running between the wickets, and some late boundaries by the pair helped see the home side over the 200 mark.

Davidson carried on to the end to see Castle reach maximum batting points, ably assisted by some late hits from Tom Moseling and Kimmins. Davidson finished on a well played 46 not out, leaving a competitive total of 245 for the visitors to chase.

Castle could not have got off to a better start as young George Cox (1-36) removed Wembdon opener Rich Gower with the first ball of the innings, caught by keeper John Davidson. Alex Winn (2-24) then joined in the act as he removed Puddy's off stump in the sixth over. Wembdon started to fight back but Brockwell (23) was bowled by Winn in his fifth over. Trego and Davidson came into the attack and the latter immediately got some luck as Joshi chopped on to his stumps.

After that, Wembdon mounted an attack, with Pope and Bailey getting on top before three tight overs by Cooke proved too much for Pope and he was bowled 64. Trego and Matt Kearsey (3-16) kept things tight with some fine off-spin bowling.

The pressure once again was too much for the visitors as Bailey was caught in the deep by Tom Moseling for a patient 67. Needing 22 off the final over, Trego held his nerve to bring his team home, leaving Castle winners by just 13 runs.

Another good victory for Uphill, seeing them take three wins on the bounce and continuing to set the pace in the league. Significant performances came from George Cox and Alex Winn, who, at the ages of 16 and 17, bowled with great maturity to open the attack for Castle.

Sam Trego took the man of the match for his excellent 95 off just 74 balls.

Castle travel to Cheddar this Saturday, looking to maintain their 100 per cent record.

Castle 2nds travelled to Wembdon searching for their third consecutive victory of the season

On losing the toss, Uphill were invited to bat and openers Mark Hodder and Seb Winn put on 114 when Winn was dismissed in the 17th over for an excellent 57, his second 50 in as many weeks. Hodder reached his 50 shortly afterwards but was out for 55 as Uphill found themselves 148-2 after 24 overs.

Uphill slipped to 194-8 after 38 overs, but this just paved the way for Marcus Bail to hit the home attack to all parts as he raced to his 50 as Uphill closed on 251-9, with Bail undefeated on 54.

Uphill were given the ideal start in defending their total as Pete Jobling (12-3-42-3) had Lott caught by Hodder at mid-off. Aided by good catches from Bail, Tom Oultram and Kennedy, the home side fell to 71- 5 after 18 overs.

The home side then began to counter-attack as Eele (54) and Pope (34) added. However, removed both Eele and Pope in consecutive overs. Despite this, the eighth wicket pair added 48 to leave the home side requiring 56 from six overs.

All hope was ended for the home side when Humphries had Davies (29) well caught on the boundary by Owen. Humphries then had Paull caught by Llewellyn for 19 to leave the home side 204-9.

Kennedy then reintroduced himself into the attack to snare the last man as the home side were dismissed for 206 in the 42nd over.

Although there were notable performances from Hodder, Winn and Humphries, the man-of-the-match was Marcus Bail for his match winning 54 not out.

Castle Cavaliers' batting resources were over-stretched, in the absence of a few key players, and came unstuck at Sparkford where they lost by 105 runs.

Having inserted the home side, Castle competed well in the field and were given an early boost when James Doyle bowled opener Woof for a duck. A brisk 50 partnership followed between Poole and Day, before Dave Kelley had Poole lbw and Martin Palmer ran out the latter, to bring Castle back into the game.

Uphill then exerted a degree of control for several overs, through the leg spin of 13-year-old George Chapman, who was unlucky to only take one wicket, a well judged catch by James Doyle, in his 12 overs which yielded only 39 runs.

The introduction of Graham Cheeseman saw two quick wickets and Jack Rekesius took a smart catch off Dave Kelley, to reduce the home side to 150-7. However, quick runs saw Sparkford to an impressive 215-7

James Doyle took 1-35, with Dave Kelley (2-48) and Graham Cheeseman (2-48) the other wicket takers. Jack Rekesius bowled well but without luck.

Paul Kuht and Martin Palmer went cheaply to fine deliveries and when skipper Nigel Cook was leg before to a shooter, the writing was on the wall. Sam Frost and Jordan Doyle resisted well for a time. Graham Cheeseman and Tony Murphy also carried the fight to the opposition for a few overs, as did James Doyle, who batted sensibly to top score with 29, before being last out with the score on 110. Man of the match was James Doyle for his all-round contribution.

Uphill Castle Crusaders continued their winning ways with a four wicket win over Banwell and Churchill 2nds.

Batting first from their allotted overs, Banwell reached a respectable 198- 7, highlights of their innings were 55 from Langley and 48 from Quick.

For Uphill, veteran Phil Loud took 3-34 and Parks continued in the wickets by taking 2-26 from 12. Mention should go to Nick Kuht, James Holt, Liam Wakefield and Charlie Williams who all bowled well without much luck.

Uphill got off to a rocky start losing their first five wickets for 45 runs. The innings was rebuilt by Gareth Williams and Liam Wakefield (18) in a partnership of 51.

On Wakefield's departure at 106, Dave Bickell joined Williams and the job was finished off in the 40th over without any further scares. Bickell finishing on 30 and Williams on 113 which included 17 boundaries and two sixes. Uphill taking 32 points from the game.