IN their latest Leadon Vale Youth League fixture Eastnor U15s entertained Newent on a cold, damp evening.

Batting first, most of Newent's early order batsmen got into double figures without quite scoring quickly enough. In difficult weather conditions the Eastnor bowlers kept things tight picking up regular wickets, with Toby Davies claiming excellent figures of three wickets for eight runs. Newent totalled 98 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, the good form of Eastnor's early batsmen continued. Sam Beale and Tom Watkins reached their retirement figure of 20 runs rapidly. Jamie Onions played a measured innings and reached his 20no. This left it to James Febery (12no) and Toby Davies to reach the required total without losing a wicket, completing another fine all-round team performance.

EASTNOR U13s travelled to Ashleworth to play Woodpeckers in a pairs match on Sunday.

Batting first, Woodpeckers scored an excellent 283 in their 16 overs with T Morris (21), T Bradburn (17) and G Phelps (17) being their top scorers. Despite the onslaught, the young Eastnor bowlers stuck to their task well with Elliot Parsons, Ben Davis and Jack Vernall all picking up one wicket each.

In reply, Eastnor managed to creep up to a score of 224 with Tom Jackson on 10 being top scorer. There was two run-outs in the Eastnor innings and running between the wickets must improve, otherwise a commendable performance against older opposition. The team was well captained by Richard Watkins.

BARNARDS Green U12s travelled to Rushwick for their first ever 11-a-side match.

Although losing to their more experienced counterparts much was learnt from the match. Winning the toss skipper John Howie elected to bat. The batters found the accurate, fast bowling of Parker, Turner and Goodwin difficult to score off and only John Pykett with 11 runs made an impression. Chris Bridges and James Herd hung around but both fell when trying to up the rate. The remaining batters had little answer to the bowling and thanks to 'extras' Rushwick needed 42 for victory.

The Green got off to great start when Freeman bowled Schofield in the first over. Some tight bowling and excellent fielding kept Rushwick in check but Turner (14) started to find the boundary until he was run out by a Freeman direct hit. Howie used many bowlers but no further wickets fell as Parker, with 16 runs ,ensured his side cruised to victory by eight wickets.

COLWALL U11s maintained their winning start in the Bishop Trophy with a convincing 99-run victory over Nomads.

Nomads, batting first on the Ghost Meadow, got off to a bad start losing a wicket to the third ball of the match. Stevie Wilson, one of the three U10s playing for Colwall, then took two more wickets on his debut for the team.

Nomads fought back with some impressive boundaries. However, with more wickets falling to Joe Crichard (2), Bar Bartlett (2) and one each to Neil Green and Chris Harwood, the visitors were pinned back to 235.

When Colwall batted, openers Green and Jack Cooney were keen to make a good start. Runs did come freely but Nomads struck back with three wickets.

However when Bartlett and Wilson came to the crease, the match swung in Colwall's favour, thanks to eight boundaries from Bartlett.

Henry Coleman followed, and ably supported by Harwood, was able to continue the fine scoring; Coleman hitting five boundaries including an excellent six. Nomads understandably were a little disheartened but continued to play their part in a good natured game. This was despite encountering a confident last pair of Crichard and Arthur Jones. Crichard, batting with a lot of aggression, made a remarkable 52 in just four overs, including 10 boundaries.