Premier League status was secured for 2027 on the final weekend of the season after Denton West were beaten at Woodbank, meaning the 2pts picked up at Royton had little relevance, other than making Denton know they had to pick up 6 points to survive once the game at Royton was abandoned in play.
It’s been a tough season for Sam Dorsey’s men, where availability to field a steady XI, plus players leaving during the season, meant staying in the top flight with this young side is a real achievement; however, there is some work to be done over the winter if aspirations for next season are to be anything other than to finish outside the bottom 3.
The side at Royton featured 5 players that started the season in the 2nd XI, including Oscar Thorpe who was making his first XI debut at 14yrs old. I think that puts into context the availability challenges Sam has faced to get a competitive side on the field every Saturday.
On arrival at Royton, the term “ploughed field” came to mind, as a damp September morning, mud patches on the outfield and puddles on the square did not make playing cricket out there very appealing. As the rain passed over, the mop up began and a 28 over game got underway at 2.30pm with Clifton sent in to bat.
It took only one delivery for Bilawal Iqbal to pick up his 60th wicket of the season, cleaning up McManus with the first ball of the match. With Crossy missing, his big boots at No.3 were filled by Dan Jones, getting his first shot in the 1s top order.
5 overs of settling in later, a cover drive from Dan suggested he was “in”, but it was a pitch where nobody really looked “in”, with Dan (28) the only one to score any runs of note all day.
It was Donaldson (8) who was next to fall, caught mid off, before a golden for Sam Dorsey who nailed his first ball straight to midwicket. Joe Settle (10) tried to counter punch, but after a boundary and a maximum down the ground, played one shot too many and heard the death rattle behind him.
Ben Hamilton became the third player to get a duck when caught second ball, with Zach and Oli Sleight also failing to get off the mark. Losing half the team without scoring a run will always make life difficult.
Owen Hogben wasn’t going to give his wicket away cheaply, and dug in for a gritty 9 off 50 before being caught at mid on when trying to go over the top with 4 overs left to play.
Small contributions from Oscar (3) and Liam (5) helped post a paltry 79 all out.
Only 4 overs were bowled in the chase, with Sleight trapping Jack Fawcett in front for the only wicket, before the rain came down and the umpires pulled the stumps from the ground to signal the end of the season for Sam’s men.
With 2 points confirmed, all eyes then turned to events at Woodbank, where the 5th wicket falling for Denton secured Premier League status for another year.
Looking forward, a couple of experienced and quality additions to this young side for next season and we’ll hopefully be competing at the other end of the table come next August.