Spalding Town (236-6) beat Sleaford (193) by 43 runs
A top team performance steered Spalding Town to their first Lincs ECB Premier League victory of the season on Saturday as they saw off hosts Sleaford by 43 runs.
Town went into the game on a run of four successive losses, but received a massive boost before a ball was bowled as destructive all-rounder Tim McIntosh – who clubbed 123 not out and 79 not out in the two meetings last season – was ruled out with a side injury.
They lost the toss and were put into bat, but Spalding started pretty well with skipper Rob Ambrose making 42 in a new role of opener and Warren Nel managing a typical 40.
New Zealand all-rounder Mark Joyce (35) and Luke Hollingworth (40) also chipped in with decent knocks, while Ben Smith (13), Tim Norris (15), Charlie Kearns (15no) and Jimmy Hook (18no) kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely to reach 236-6 by the close.
Thomas Shorthouse (3-62), Louis Kimber (1-31), Cameron Hall (1-33) and Nick Goacher (1-34) got the wickets for the home side.
In reply, Sleaford opener Jonathan Cheer (115no) made a superb century as the hosts looked to knock the runs off, but he never really good any support. Indeed, only Shorthouse (19), Andy Hibberd (15) and Shaun Morris (14) managed double figures.
That was largely down to excellent bowling from Town’s Nel (4-38) and Joyce (4-68), while Kearns (1-42) also snared a victim to ensure Sleaford were all out for 193.
The win – which was worth the maximum 20 points – doesn’t move Spalding off the foot of the table, but they are now just six points behind nearest rivals Louth.
A relieved Ambrose admitted that he decided to promote himself up to order in a bid to lead from the front – and paid tribute to the performance his side delivered.
But he also accepted that McIntosh’s absence was perhaps that lucky break his side had been missing.
He said: “To be honest, I’ve been umming and arring about opening for a while.
“I just felt that the time was right for me to take the responsibility on of leading from the front – and thankfully I got a few runs.
“It wasn’t about individuals, though. We all chipped in with the bat and got a very decent score. They probably thought that they’d put us in bat and bowl us out cheaply.
“But everyone contributed – even young Jimmy Hook at the end got a few vital runs.
“We bowled and fielded really well, too. Mark and Warren bowled superbly and we held on to some very good catches.
“We’ve not had much luck this season – but it was vital that McIntosh didn’t play.
“He was on the teamsheet when we arrived, but they pulled him because of an injury. We all know that he could have knocked the runs off himself, so that was perhaps the luck we needed.
“As it turned out, Cheer batted superbly for them. But it was great to leave him high and dry in the middle.
“We sat together at the end and the overriding emotion was one of relief. That win has been a long time coming!”
