Heaton Mersey Magic (U10s) High Peak League Summer Cup Match 4
So the unbeaten Mersey (3 from 3) faced up to the similarly unbeaten Romiley Warriors (4 from 4) for a place at the HPL summer finals day. Having deemed the pitch playable @Paul Benham led an excellent fielding warm up and we won the toss. Everything was going to plan as Captain Dan rightly chose to bat with bad light likely and a chance to build scoreboard pressure often the difference in junior cricket.
Isaac and Ben led us off, with the former playing some breathtaking strokes. We got to a net of 220 very quickly. Continuing at that rate would have been a winning total. Sadly it wasn't to be. Every pair had their moments but 16 wickets lost across 16 overs, with -4 for each of those, tells its own story. There were a few where we'll have some regrets, ie the old straight ball on middle stump and some run outs, but credit must fall to our opposition who audibly adapted to the pitch very quickly (I was earwigging). Previously we've always managed to stop clusters of wickets being lost, but their extra year of experience at U11s did for us. Credit to Tom at the end for being the one batter to not get out, building on what he showed against Cheadle in the T20.
Our smallest total of the year to defend meant we needed wickets, and lots of them, plus a helping hand from the gathering gloom. We got one of those, but amazingly we only picked up one wicket for George. Plenty of other near misses but again that extra summer and winter told, with Romiley keeping out those balls which did for us and avoiding run outs; albeit only just - a couple of direct hits from Charlie and George deserved wickets, but their batsmen were excellent at running their bats in. As much as I wanted to give them out, they were in. Zack had a fantastic 8 overs as keeper and Tom maintained the standard. Establishing 4 great wicketkeepers has been a highlight for us.
Although the final margin of victory was 59 runs, that was entirely consistent with their previous four wins in this competition. Nobody has got close to a team formed of U11S which remains largely unchanged from game to game. Tonight we scored as many runs as them but simply lost 15 more wickets which is -60 runs. I have no doubt that another winter with help on their batting will flip that outcome. The talent is there in spades, we were just a little too raw in games as U10s (and below ) in U11S leagues to win a trophy this year.
So it wasn't to be this year for Mersey, with just 1 defeat in both the main and summer HPL competitions keeping them from "finals day". Our 9 game HPL winning streak also ended.
Tonight I witnessed the most incredible spirit in the darkness. Despite the game having clearly gone, the smiles, encouragement, and spirit from our 8 heroes was a joy to behold. They played like a group of best mates who just happen to be great at cricket. The contrast with the lack of smiles and pleasure in our opposition was like black and white. It even got an old grump like me teary eyed. Thank you boys for tonight and the season (and helping make clear up in the dark such fun)!. Please pass on how wonderful they were.
Once again our patental support was the best there is, preparing, cheering, and scoring. Thank you for giving the boys the best possible chance of success. It can make all the difference. Let's not forget all the good you do and hopefully we can make that final step next year - the boys have the talent and it could not happen to a better bunch.
Good luck to our final 8 and @Louis Mundin at Marple on Thursday. Fingers crossed for one last win to cap a memorable season beyond what we could have hoped for.
