LAST season Colwall did the double over Lydney, this season they made it three wins in row in a high-scoring league game at Lydney recreation ground.

LYDNEY v COLWALL

For the first time this season a flat, dry wicket beckoned. The outfield was close-cropped and after the first few overs it was clear that a high score was likely.

Tom Wolfendale won the toss and had no hesitation in asking his side, crammed full of batsmen, to take first innings. Colwall made a flying start with Wolfendale looking in imperious form until over-confidence led to the loss of his wicket for 19 runs in just the fourth over.

Called to the wicket earlier than he would have liked, Matt Fortnum looked in even finer form as he unveiled a series of searing drives through the off-side. Scoring comfortably at five an over, Colwall had reached the 70s when Light came on to bowl his leg spin. With his first ball he induced a rare slack shot from David Powell who was caught at mid off. Fortnum fell in the next over to a shot he would rather forget, leaving new batsmen Tom MacNamara and Pete Butler to rebuild the innings.

The pair added 40 in ten overs before Butler miscued to mid-on trying to accelerate the score. Tim Riley joined MacNamara and was soon hustling the fielders with aggressive running between the wickets. Complacency in the home team fielding was exploited and a spate of boundaries from MacNamara saw the run rate rising and a score approaching 300 attainable. Eighty runs were added in 12 overs with MacNamara passing 50 in the process.

With ten overs of the innings remaining Riley fell for 30 allowing Steve Ferguson to take up the supporting role in the MacNamara onslaught. He reached his 100 in the 47th over before being run out for an excellent 102. Jonathon Prince shepherded Ferguson through the final overs in a flurry of singles as Colwall closed on 264 with maximum bonus points, a welcome change from the low score of the previous week.

After tea MacNamara and Wheeler took the new ball. For four overs it looked to be a poor decision as the Australian bowled a wayward line and the young Herefordshire player Wheeler bowled six no balls in a row. The grins on the Lydney players faces were soon reversed when Wheeler got on top of his run-up and began to cause the batsmen problems. In his third, fourth and fifth overs, he took wickets, two by hitting the stumps and one a tremendous one-handed catch by Wolfendale at mid- off.

Lydney were in a worse state when Ferguson took a startling leg-side stumping off MacNamara's bowling. Despite the wickets falling Lydney, thanks to the generosity of Colwall, who bowled far too many wides and no balls in this innings, had kept up with the run rate.

The fifth wicket pair of Stone and Light began to take control, the wicket remained good and the outfield fast and for a period of ten overs Lydney looked the most likely winners.

It was the return of Wheeler that earned the vital breakthrough as he found a way past Light's defence. Stone continued to press for the win but ran out of partners, thanks the Prince tidying up the tail, with 30 runs still needed.