Championship battle goes to the wire
by Paul Barker, 3rd September 2006

With rain virtually wiping out the entire league programme with the exception of just four games, Cuckney managed to close the gap on Killamarsh to fourteen points with one game each left to play. Killamarsh virtually moved heaven and earth to get their game on covering practically the entire ground, but it was to no avail as everytime they began to remove the covers it started to rain even harder. At 4.00 p.m. they decided enough was enough and reluctantly called the game off.

They then waited anxiously to find out if Marshalls game against Cuckney who are there nearest challengers had taken place. Surprisingly it had with the weather in Gainsborough not being quite as bad as it was over this side.

Having said that a full game wasn’t achieved but Cuckney did manage to cut the deficit between themselves and Killamarsh to 14 points with just next Saturday’s fixtures to go. This will give Cuckney hope that they can still make it, but on paper it still looks one hell of a task. Killamarsh need just seven points to be sure and that is more than possible even if they only manage a losing draw.

By the same token, Cuckney have got to win their match against the relegated Edwinstowe who now know their fate and have nothing to worry about anymore. Furthermore they must take the full twenty points, anything less would certainly be disastrous.

The match at Marshalls saw Cuckney bat first and reach 164 for 9 declared on a strip which was wet and not the easiest to bat on there has ever been. Richard Stroh top scored with 46 and youngster Daniel Brown once again impressed with 31. Darren Andrews (3 for 28) and Andrew West (2 for 38) were the pick of the Marshalls attack which bowled well throughout.

In reply, Marshalls had made 69 for 3 when the match ended. Mark Whitlam was unbeaten on 37 whilst Richard Stroh took all three wickets to fall at a personal cost of just 20 runs.

So we arrive once again virtually at the end of another season and the title race has same as last year gone right down to the wire. Here’s hoping that next Saturday is a fine day and events can be decided properly rather than the weather settling things as it did in 2005.