Spalding Town’s hopes of a top six finish in the Lincs ECB Premier League were dealt a big blow on Saturday as they slumped to a heavy loss against basement boys Market Rasen.
Stunned Town were bowled out for just 96 at Rase Park, with Josh Newton (24), Henry Charlton (16), Tim Norris (18) and skipper Rob Ambrose (13) the only players to make double figures.
Tom Borysczuk, who claimed six wickets for just 22 runs, was the star turn for Rasen with the ball.
Rasen, without a win all season before the clash, needed just 16.3 overs to knock off the runs thanks to 55 from opener Graeme Bell.
Warren Nel (2-34) and Nuwan Jayasena (1-21) took wickets for Town, but it was a day to forget for Ambrose’s men.
Having been the only side to beat leaders Bourne on their own pitch, Town are now the sole side to have been beaten by Rasen – which is testament to how inconsistent they have been this year.
Ambrose admitted that it was simply a day to forget for his side, but wasn’t too hard on his charges.
“It just wasn’t very good,” admitted the captain. “We batted poorly and just couldn’t get any partnerships going.
“Then their opener came out and treated it like a 20/20 game and it was pretty much all over for us.
“It’s just one of those days where we were just not at the races and very happy to finish the game and get out of there. Thankfully, it was all over very quickly.
“It’s disappointing, but I’m not going to start ranting and raving. The season is nearly over and we’re safe, which is the main thing.
“I suppose the game summed up our season. We started really well, then went on a terrible run. Then we went and beat Bourne, but dropped points to the likes of Billingborough and Rasen.
“We’ve been inconsistent and should really be a lot higher in the table than we are. But I’ll say this – I’ve enjoyed this season much more than I did the last.”
Town welcome Louth to the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field for their final home game of the season at Spalding Grammar School on Saturday (noon).
They expect to name a similar squad to the one that was thrashed at Rasen, but could have popular all-rounder Jimmy Clarke in the fold.
Ambrose would like to see his side get a win against a Louth outfit that are just one point behind them in the table, but just wants to see Town go out and strut their stuff.
He added: “Saturday is quite an important one if we want to finish as high as we can.
“But it is hard for the lads to get up for this kind of game at this stage of the season.
“Hopefully we’ll go out there and enjoy ourselves.
“We all get on well and have a laugh, so I hope we take that onto the pitch and get a result.”
- Spalding Town 2nd could go a long way to sealing promotion from South Lincs and Border League Division One on Saturday.
They play host to third-placed Billingborough 2nd, who go into the clash ten points behind Town with three games to go.
The Memorial Field contest (1pm) is also Spalding 2nd’s last home game of the campaign, with only trips to Boston 2nd (September 13) and Long Sutton 2nd (September 20) to come.
