Weekend of 01/09/2007 to 02/09/2007

Ashford 1st team won Division 3 of the Kent League on Saturday with a nail biting game against Downham & Bellingham. Right until the last ball of the game, the title was up for grabs and for the majority of the game, given results elsewhere, 3 teams were in contention for the 2 promotion spots.

Downham started the day 3 points above Ashford, with Holmesdale in 3rd place a further 16 points behind The Ants. If Holmesdale could secure a 20 point win (which they ultimately did!) and Ashford not gain any points, then Holmesdale would pip the town side to promotion. Alternatively, if Ashford could get the lions' share of the points from their game against Downham, they could take the title.

Downham won the toss and put Ashford into bat. The pitch, which had been severely waterlogged in the preceding weeks, looked good, but the dry top was only a thin covering over a very damp square.

Ashford made the worst possible start imaginable, losing their top 3 batsmen with only 1 leg bye on the board. Things didn't get much better, as the Downham bowlers bowled superbly in the conditions to completely strangle the Ashford batsmen. Stuart Paine (22) briefly held them at bay before he clipped a catch to square leg to give Nick Goddard amazing figures of 15 overs, 2 for 16. At this point, Ashford were 45 for 7 and in real danger of not securing any bonus points. With Holmesdale in perfect position at Rainham for a 20 pointer, the worst possible scenario was developing for The Ants.

Cometh the hour, cometh the men: Craig Buckham and Alex Watson, who have both not needed to show their batting skills much this season, stepped up to the challenge. The pair batted superbly, despite one of the Kent League's most renowned spinners, Chris Mendham, plying his trade, and started to push the total towards respectability. Buckham hit a superb 6 to take the score past 125 and within an over of each other, both batsmen scored their half centuries. The pair had put on a magnificent, chanceless 104 for the 8th wicket and when all was done in the 50th over, their massive contribution (Buckham 54 & Watson 50) ensured the The Ants would have a healthy 158 to defend. Mendham took 3 for 49, but it was Goddard and Barnes (3 for 18) who did the early damage. More importantly, the score meant 2 bonus points, which only left 2 to get to ensure promotion, but Ashford wanted to be Champions.

Si Taylor gave them the perfect start, having the dangerous Plowman caught behind for 2 in the first over, but Downham applied themselves to the task and reached 70 for 1 with 20 overs to go. Spinners Craig Buckham and Liam Tegg were bowling well to attacking fields and when Buckham got Powell for 42 and Tegg got Bailey for 30, Ashford's patience was starting to pay off. Buckham then took another two wickets in quick succession to secure the second bowling point and promotion, but both sides were now playing hard for the title.

Buckham (3 for 47) and Tegg (2 for 27) finished their spells and it fell to Taylor and Stuart Paine to bowl the final 8 overs. Chris Goddard was going well, but the pair bowled intelligently and with the fielding side backing them up, Downham never quite kept up with the required rate. They found themselves needing 16 runs off the last two overs, with 3 wickets in hand to win the game. This then reduced to 10 off the last over, which further reduced to 4 runs needed of the last ball.

With the field set and the tension high, Paine bowled to Barnes who smashed a low shot towards mid off, who was up in inner circle. 2 foot either side of the fielder, Watson, and it would have been game over, but the ball thumped straight into Watson, and only a single could be taken. The winning draw meant that The Ants hade secured the title with Downham also promoted as runners up. Chris Goddard finished on 41 not out.

It was a fitting end to a fantastic game of cricket, which was played in superb spirit all day, despite the tensions.

Both the first team and the seconds now look forward to playing at the next level in 2008, and further building on the last few seasons' efforts at the club.

A special thanks go to the umpires who have stood this season (Andy Johnson, Peter Rolfe, Mike Claughton and Graeme Burbridge), the tea ladies (Lynette Wood, Alison Halstead & Lauren Tegg) and to the first team's honorary Ant, scorer Julie Gill.

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Ashford 158 all out (49.5 overs) (C.Buckham 54, A.Watson 50, S.Paine 22)

Downham & Bellingham 156-7 (50 overs) (C.Buckham 3-47, L.Tegg 2-27, S.Taylor 2-51)

Winning Draw

Ashford 2nd's finished the season in style with a comprehensive victory over third placed Downham & Bellingham to consolidate their runners-up position and gain promotion to Division Two next season. They were one of only three teams in the entire League to go through the season unbeaten which is a tremendous achievement given that over half the team each week were aged eighteen or under.

With Skipper Darran Wood sadly absent through a knee injury sustained during the week, Neil Tegg took charge and opted to bat first and led from the front opening with James Anthony. These two reached 39 before Anthony was bowled for 26 and with Alistair Neale falling quickly Luke Harcourt then played some good attacking shots before being caught for 18 and with Tegg also departing for 25 consolidation was required from the middle order. Tony Rolfe entertained as always in his own unique style but when he fell for 22 the real momentum was lost and despite Chris Senior, Simon Berry and Charlie MacLeod all getting starts nobody really got to grips with the tight bowling of Alan Lucas and Ashford were bowled out for 153 in the 44th over.

The ever-reliable Ben Ealham who has done a fantastic job all season grabbed a wicket in his first over as did Mohsin Raza who was making a welcome return from several weeks in Pakistan. Raza soon grabbed a second to leave Downham at 34-3 and the introduction of spinner Alistair Neale then induced some very poor shots from the middle order with Neale soon grabbing a wicket. The main destroyer however was Ben Spencer who, not for the first time this season, bowled a great eight-over spell to take 4-16 and with Neale chipping in with three wickets Downham were bowled out for 92 to leave Ashford easy winners by 61 runs.

Afterwards Skipper Darran Wood said "I am absolutely delighted with the performance of all the players both on and off the field all season. It has been a real team effort and it is even more pleasing that several other clubs have commented to me on not just the ability but also the excellent sporting behaviour and attitude of all the Ashford players"

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Ashford 153 all out (43.3 overs) (J.Anthony 26, N.Tegg 25, A.Rolfe 22)

Downham & Bellingham 92 all out (36.2 overs) (B.Spencer 4-16, A.Neale 3-28, M.Raza 2-18)

Won by 61 runs

Match report not available.

Match report not available.

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