Uphill Castle Under-13s defeated league leaders Blagdon by nine runs.

UPHILL Castle Under-13s took on North Somerset Youth League leaders Blagdon in a top of the table clash.

Captain Tommy Llewellyn won the toss and chose to bat on a damp wicket, but got off to a poor start when Joe Statham was run out without scoring in the first over.

Kruz Belcher and Llewellyn quickly raced to 50 off six overs before Belcher ran himself out for 10. Llewellyn continue to dominate and was well supported by Bradley Patch. The partnership was broken when Llewellyn (43) was bowled by George Fox (4-0-26-1).

At the halfway stage, Uphill had reached 77 as Blagdon started to slow Uphill down, only Matthew Ogborne (22) offering some attacking strokes. In the final over, Matthew Tanner (6) hit a four to bring up the Castle century, as they finished on100-8 from their 20 overs.

Uphill’s opening pair of Llewellyn and Patch kept Blagdon to only 13 from six overs. Wickets for Matthew Ogborne (3-0-8-1) and Tom Biggs (3-0-22-1) kept Blagdon to 23 after 10 overs.

Will Westbrook and Tommy Hester accumulated a crucial 44-run partnership before Hester (26) charged Ricardo-Johnson and was stumped by keeper Belcher.

With Blagdon now on 74-4 off 18 overs, Uphill opening attack returned and Llewellyn (4-2-5-1) bowled a tight penultimate over, while the wicketless Patch (4-0-24-0) remained composed as Uphill won by nine runs.