U10 NECSC CUP 2nd Round v Reigate Priory [Reigate win by 3 runs]
Sutton 243 for 8; Reigate 246 for 2
Pipped!
Normal service resumed against Reigate Priory with a nailbiter of a match that was credit to both sides. With echoes of our final last year that also went down to the wire, it was RP's turn to prevail in a game that could have swung both ways and with the result in doubt right up until the last ball - as has usually been the case between our two teams. We have gloried in our victories in the past so we should now be magnanimous in our congratulations to RP as they bounced back from an (uncharacteristic) pasting in our league fixture a week ago. They deserved the win with a much improved performance. They had their match heads on throughout. We didn't.
Losing the toss and batting first the Sutton batsmen struggled to dominate from the start and ultimately losing 8 wickets (having only lost 9 in 4 competitive matches prior to this) was the deciding factor. All pairs got decent starts but only the blonde bombshells Jamie and Patrick added meaningful runs with a partnership of 24, with Jamie again playing beautifully for a top score of 18 n/o including four 4s. The Reigate bowlers gave nothing away and extracted some inconsistent bounce from the pitch that troubled our batsmen throughout. That, coupled with some daft running and poor shot selection restricted the Sutton score to 243 - probably just below par on that pitch and fast outfield, but still defendable with Suttons bowling firepower to come.
The Reigate batsmen looked determined from the start with their opening pair adding a quickfire and chanceless 19 as our opening bowlers failed to extract the same inconsistent bounce seen earlier. Hopper, Blake, Jordan and then Fenwick then put the brakes on slowed the rate with tight spells to concede only 17 to the next 2 pairs but we still struggled to break through despite some fine attacking bowling as the tension mounted. The introduction of Sam Mannion swung the game back Suttons way, claiming 2 for 2 and leaving RP needing 5 to win from their last pair. No matter what Sutton threw at them in the final 4 overs, with Harry N-S, Josh and Owen bowling beautifully the Reigate pair held fast and added 7 to take the game by 3 runs. They deserve our admiration as it was the same 2 boys who suffered the heartbreak of defeat in the last over of the final. Well done lads.
So even though we had close calls for run-outs, dropped 2 or 3 catches and had a close lbw call in the last over (some of you will no doubt find this an alien concept but in the spirit of the game would we really have wanted to see that same lad "lose" the match in the same way?) our batting performance was not good enough to win this game. Having said that we should be proud of the way we made them fight all of the way. The boys never gave up and could walk off the pitch disappointed but with heads held high, all be they full of thoughts of how it might have been. We fight on in the league.
Bob
