Agony for Thornham in two Cup thrillers

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Sunday saw defeats for Thornham’s First and Second teams in the Walkden Cup and Hulme Trophy respectively, in two nerve shredding matches against their Stand counterparts.

In the Walkden Cup, the First Eleven battled to 176 from their 50 overs, Mo Tayyab impressing on his first team debut with 70. Given that Stand beat them a fortnight earlier by nine wickets, many people would have written off a Thornham win as Stand began their run chase. However, the league leaders were pushed right to the end by a fantastic effort in the field. The wickets were shared out, with Amjad Hussain and Zaf Iqbal the pick, and Stand found themselves staring at defeat at 164-9. However, the final pair held their nerve to see Stand over the line by a single wicket. So near and yet so far for Thornham.

This news soon filtered back to Thornham where the Second Eleven had just lost an even closer match. The game had to be decided on the fewer wickets lost as both teams ended up tied on 237. Stand batted first and reached their total for 8 wickets, helped by a century from opener McGladdery. Ian Heywood (3-41) and Paddy McMahon (3-49) were the pick of the Thornham bowlers as they battled back from a difficult start. The Thornham reply began badly and they were reduced to 50-3.However, Tom Lawler pulled them back into the game with a quickfire half-century. Lawler, who is based with the Royal Signals in Bath and will complete a tour of duty in Afghanistan this summer, batted superbly before being caught and bowled.

Other contributions from Darren Grant (48) and Liam Tomlinson (21) got Thornham closer to their target. However, despite the valiant efforts of Dave Towler and Arron Wild, Thornham required 2 to win off the final ball. Wild was run out going for the second, allowing cup-holders Stand to progress.

On Saturday, there were defeats for the First and Third Elevens, while the Seconds maintained their unbeaten home record in the league. At Dukinfield, the Firsts were heavily beaten. Dukinfield scored 265 off their 50 overs, Mark Stringer finishing on 81. No-one from Thornham got going and they were bowled out for 153. At Thornham the Second’s bowled Dukinfield out for 134, Amjad Hussain finishing with 4-43. They won by 4 wickets with time to spare, Matt Mansfield falling 4 short off a first senior 50 and Hussain contributing 39. The Third Eleven were well beaten by Littleborough Lakesiders, bowled out for 92. The Lakesiders won the game by eight wickets.

Teams for weekend:
Thornham 1st XI Home v Cheetham Hill Sat 29 May, meet at 11.45am.

A McClure(c), S Grey, T Grey, M Hampson, C Heywood, Z Iqbal, A Micklethwaite, M Micklethwaite, M Tayyab, D Towler, J Willman.

For Sun 30 May Home v Woodbank M Sagar replaces C Heywood.