Worksop meet Killamarsh in Mallen final
by Paul Barker, 22nd August 2005

A tremendous performance by Worksop completely turned around Saturday’s league defeat as they beat Thoresby Colliery in the Mallen Trophy semi-final at Fourth Avenue .

However their was even more controversy as the other semi-final saw Killamarsh gain a bye to the final with Farnsfield pulling out because they were unable to raise a side. Killamarsh have only played one match to reach the final and something must be done to revive this competition because it is absolutely disgraceful the way it is being treated by clubs at present.

As I have stated before, Jim Mallen was one of the finest chairmen that the League has ever had and it is so sad to see club’s tarnishing his memory in the way they are doing at the moment.

My criticism is not aimed purely at Farnsfield but at all the other sides that have performed in such a disgraceful manner this season. The Thoresby Colliery v Pilsley match was played on a week day evening as a 20/20 match and was a huge success and it must be worth a try as many individuals have endorsed the idea on this website’s message board.

Anything that gives this competition the status it deserves instead of the derisory tordid way it is treated at the minute is worth a try. It can’t be worse than this. Killamarsh were also rightly annoyed by the cancellation as they had spent a lot of good money buying teas for the match only to find that it wasn’t necessary. Frankly it isn’t good enough, and if the clubs are honest, they will say the same.

In the match played Worksop batted with much more conviction than the previous day and skipper Steve Bentley (56), Glenn Pym (61), and Ramesh Sanjay (38) helped them reach a pretty potent scoreline of 220 for 6 when the overs ran out. Richard Hope 3 for 45 was the pick of the Thoresby attack which struggled throughout.

In reply Thoresby simply folded and Steve Bentley completed a fine all round match performance taking 4 for 22 as they were bowled out for just 107 losing by 113 runs.

It is to be hoped that both teams turn up for the final because that would be the final insult if it didn’t take place. I may be sounding super critical on this one, but I make no apologies whatsoever, it is simply disgusting what has happened.