05/09/2026
Match Report
29th August 2026
Witton le Wear Vs Eryholme
What a day. So today is the last day that those flaming rabbit holes needed filling in for 2026, unless of course Mr Humberstones family fun day comes off!! Because today was the W’s final home game of the season. Once again the ground staff had done a fabulous job getting the Riverside ground in tip top condition. We’d had some moisture again in the lead up to the game freshening the outfield up a bit and there was more than a tinge of green in the wicket.
News from the toss and get this George lost one!!! But he still got the outcome he was after when the W’s were invited to have a bat. In the absence of Spud this week the Man of Kent stepped and opened with Nelson. It was a much more restrained start than we have become accustomed to in recent weeks as Cocker and Ad looked to play themselves in a bit. Nelson got the boundary count going in the 3rd over slapping Sharp through long on. Andy found the going a bit tougher though with the shots he did time going to the fielders, keeping him pinned down. Andy worked one off his legs fifth ball of the sixth over this time it left the fielder with a bit of work to do, this seemed to result in some indecision from Andy and Ad, with some yes, no maybe as they looked to attempt a single. Sadly, the upshot was Cocker being run out for just 3. Peter Brown was the new man in and he looked to be back to his best as he unfurled some very pleasing drives through the offside in front and behind point, there were also some well struck pulls to leg, Nelson complementing Pete with his extra power at the other end. The scoreboard was ticking over nicely but just as the pair brought up the 50 partnership, Pete miss timed an attempt to clear mid off who claimed the catch cutting Brown Snr off in his prime for 19. Batting at four was Tim, who despite flashes of from this season hasn’t reproduced his run scoring contributions of 2025, he had to really graft today and but of a non signalled leg bye he would have been on for another 20 ball spell to get off the mark!! Nelson on the other hand was flying now!! He brought up his fifty when he splattered Russell over square leg for four. Tim looked to be getting to grips with things as well and he too unfurled two nice pulls behind square of his own and the Ws were off again. The Witton score had progressed to 146 when Tim was on the pull again, this time though he picked out the man at deep mid wicket who saved his team six runs and sent Tim on his way for 29 pouching the catch on the rope. With 10 overs of the innings remaining, Nelson flaying the ball to all parts and wickets in hand the Ws were looking good for a decent total. Ad had moved his score to 88 when Tim was dismissed and in the very next over he was lifting his bat to acknowledge the applause from the pavilion as he completed his second century of the season. Six, over the trees towards the river, four through extra cover, six back towards the river. This had the as yet unnamed Jug-O-Naught salivating on the side lines as he now knew another jug of b**r would be delivered courtesy of Ad post-match. A brilliant knock and he wasn’t done yet. In all it was a truly wonderful innings that eventually ended when a very tiered man was clean bowled by Porter having made 113 runs, off just 96 balls, he had hit 17 fours along with 3 sixes, not bad for a fella with only “one shot” ha ha ha. After Ad’s innings there were contributions from Matty, Holly (before she was needlessly run out by a chairman clearly protecting his own batting average), Simon Raine and Nicky. There was no contribution from the Skipper who took the brave decision to move himself up the order and drop Holly down a spot!!! George obviously fearing the Higginson backlash tried to turn a full toss to leg only to find the edge of his bat offering a looping catch that wicket keeper Sowerby made good ground to take the catch. Not only a first ball duck, but I’m also pretty sure that is sealed the fate of who’s mantle piece this years duck cup will be displayed on.
Witton closed on 198 for 7. The weather forecast for the day was not great, and I mean in terms of what it promised to deliver, but you could also translate the sentence of “the weather forecast for the day was not great” as what was forecast didn’t materialise. George and his gammy weather updates promised downpours from as early as 1400hrs, but here we were at 1600hrs in the second innings of the game.
I have done, pressure! Drama! Tension! Reports before, I’m going to try and not string this out too much again here, but what followed was…… Well for the moment we’ll say an entertaining game of cricket (there was a tiny smattering of rain, and it did get darkish towards the close, but the weather didn’t really intervene).
The W’s had been quite a hard-working innings with only Adam able to break the shackles for a prolonged period of time and it looked as though Eryholme had decided that was the best from of chase to go with. Sharpe was first to go falling for a goose (a long duck) in the fifth over to a low catch by Alex off Matty’s bowling. There then followed a troublesome partnership between Warne and left hander Beaumont, and just as Warne looked to be starting to tick he played back to an absolute peach of a ball from the Skipper that crashed in to the top of the opening batsman’s off stump. We were now 16 overs into the reply with the visitors sitting at 55 for 2. Evans came and went for 4 as he pulled a short ball from the skipper round the corner straight into the, I was going to say waiting hands of Adam at shortish backward square leg, but his hands went up to the ball very late indeed!! Still no matter catch taken 65-3. We were now at the drinks break after 20 overs of the Eryholme innings, the equation was basically a run a ball for them from here. Witton’s most economical bowler the skipper had bowled out, and Eryholme had plenty of wickets in hand, so we were, as the Chairman likes to say, in a “game on” siduation.
Holly replaced George at the Clemmy Bank end and she had batter Porter in all sorts of trouble, plays and misses, LBW appeals, she was all over him. The pressure eventually paid off when Holly sent him on his way for 15 taking a catch off her own bowling in the 4th over after the interval, for Eryholme though they had kept up with that required rate of six runs an over, but it looked as though Beaumont might run out of partners, as when he was joined by Thompson the new man did not look comfortable at all. But!!! Become more comfortable he did!! Were we now beginning to see a match winning partnership unfold in front of our eyes??? Beaumont and Thompson seemed to be able to pick up at least a boundary an over, and on the odd over that didn’t happen they usually made it up in the following over. This was getting tight!! It was also getting dark!!! Then in the 34th over the Man of Kent managed to get Beaumont to miscue a shot towards a wide fine leg, where there was a man waiting to take the catch………. As long as he could see the ball!! What better man to have waiting under it than our 66 year old Chairman!! Who…. Took the catch no worries at all. The celebration from the fielder however resulted in a tweaked groin and a bit of yelping!! That 60 run partnership had moved the score along to 148 for 5, Thompson still striking the ball at will it seemed. Matty replaced the now running on empty Nelson for the Jeremy Askew pavilion end and nipped out Russell with a ripper 171-6. And then what should have felt like the big break through, the final nail in Eryholme coffin!! Cocker and Tim combined to remove Thompson in similar fashion to Beaumont but the ball wasn’t hit as cleanly (and Simon couldn’t run anymore), but Tim like the little whippet he is tore after the ball taking a diving catch. The score 188 for 8, Eryholme now only needed 11 runs to win. It was dark, and getting darker. Corker finished his over off conceding a further four runs. 11 runs to win off 12 balls, the collective heart rates of both teams by this point would have no doubt registered on the Richter Scale!! Matty would bowl the 39th over of the innings, and what an over it was……. For both teams!! Second ball was a single for Biglin, but it wasn’t just any single, this was a Marks and Spencer single! Biglin lofted a bit hit towards cow corner where Alex was positioned on the rope! He didn’t take the catch, it would have been amazing if he did but, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned or not, it was very, very dark. Ultimately, Alex saved 5 runs and gave Matty a ball at the number 9 batter. And it only took that one ball as Cocker claimed a looping catch at gully to dismiss young Symington (who by the way bowled exceptionally well in Witton’s innings!). 4th ball of the over another single…. Then, was this the moment??? Biglin smashed a four through long on just out of the reach of Skipper George, 193 with seven balls to go, just six runs needed for the win. Surely that game plan for Biglin would be to take a single off Mattys last ball, the field was set deep, there were plenty on offer, that would leave him on strike for the last over with only five required for the win. Biglin looked to force things a bit though and Matty beat his bat with the ball clattering into the batters stumps, Biglin had gone for 13 off just 9 balls. But still no one was over any sort of line yet!!!!
What better man to bowl a tight last over of a match than The Man of Kent!! The amount of times he has extoled the virtue of economical bowling to me in the past are immeasurable! “You had to be tight in the Kent league my son! You wouldn’t get another over if you were leaking runs w***y nilly!! If you got smacked about the skipper would think you were some kind of Mark Elham impersonator and take you straight off!!”.. And now here we were, tight over please Andy. He was good to his word! The first four balls of his over were dots, with the fifth going for 2 all results were still possible off the last ball, but it was never in doubt, there was a scrambled single from the final ball, and Witton had done it. It had taken every ball available in the contest, and we had a few of those early in the season which we came out on the wrong side off, but today we did it, and secured our eighth league win of the season in the process.
What a day!!
It was a truly nerve-wracking game in which the Eryholme team played a massive part so well played to them, but exceptionally well played to Witton. Some big performances but also a massive team effort. A decent haul for the fines pot and a band to watch back at the Vic.
The W’s are back on the road for the final two games of the season.
Next fixture away to table toping Raby Castle.
