Captain Rob Ambrose has vowed that Spalding Town will bounce back following their relegation from the Lincs ECB Premier League.
Town concluded a pretty disastrous campaign with a losing draw against Louth on Saturday, having made 197-8 in response to 250-6 from the visitors at Spalding Grammar School.
Tim Norris (57) top scored for relegated Town in their season finale, while Ben Smith and Josh Newton both managed scores in the 30s.
Charlie Kearns and Roy Tilley had earlier got amongst the wickets for Spalding, but they failed to register a third win of the campaign.
Town finished 49 points adrift at the bottom after losing 15 of their 22 games, meaning their stay in the county top tier lasted just three years.
Ambrose has confirmed that he intends to stay on as captain – and he has commitments from the rest of the team that they’ll stay and fire Spalding to the South Lincs and Border League Premier Division title next season.
Although it’s been a testing campaign, the Town skipper has already put it behind him.
“We gave it a decent go on Saturday,” said Ambrose. “That’s been the case for the past few weeks, which has been pleasing.
“But overall it has been a terrible season for us.
“I think we lost it in the first seven or eight weeks. We took some terrible beatings and never really recovered if I’m honest.
“Yes, player availability has been poor this year. But, hand on heart, I don’t think it would have made any difference.
“We have been relegated because we failed to score runs and didn’t bowl well enough – it’s that simple.
“But that’s gone now. The positives are that we’ve blooded some top young talent in Jimmy Hook, Patrick Harrington and David Thomas. They’ll benefit from that long-term.
“We’ve all had a chat and everyone is keen to stay. We’re now focused on winning the league next year and bouncing right back.
“If we can keep this team together, it would be criminal if we don’t win the league.”
Bracebridge Heath clinched the league title on the final day with a four-wicket win at Bourne, while Market Rasen joined Spalding in the drop zone.
Results: Lindum 126 (Akhtar 5-36), Market Deeping 131-6; Grantham 172 (Nurse 58, Morris 5-40), Sleaford 173-9 (Bansal 6-48); Bourne 188-8, Bracebridge Heath 189-6 (Cook 58); Louth 250-6, Spalding 197-8; Woodhall Spa 239-9 (Bandara 74), Grimsby Town 125; Skegness 158 (Brackley 52), Market Rasen 137 (Rutherford 54, Young 5-40).
