Hanley Castle and Upton travelled to Halesowen to play Coombs Wood in the tranquil but faded setting of the old British Steel ground. With a superb track on offer, Hanley skipper Charles Robinson had no hesitation in electing to bat.

With the first ball of the second over, Smith - Coombs Wood's accurate off spinner - struck, by bowling Pete Wright. This brought the prolific Grant Mathews to the crease and he was not to disappoint his team-mates as he began to compile runs with well-timed shots all around the wicket. Smith was not to let Mathews dominate and regularly dismissed the Hanley batsman making for slow progress. Indeed, Smith was to finish with season's best figures of 7-63 in 21 overs.

At 90-5, things were looking bleak but then Mathews was joined by two partners in Ewan Finlayson (13) and Richard Foley (12) who both guarded their wickets and sought to give the strike to the more experienced man. These two partnerships were to raise the score to 170 from 45 overs. It was now that Mathews started to play a string of lavish sixes and fours, striking the ball handsomely to all parts. Hanley finished on 223-9 with Mathews posting a career best 150 not out (six sixes and 18 fours).

In reply, the batsman quickly got on top scoring 75 off the first 10 overs. Saundry (59) and Butterworth (59) were looking in ominous form but with the introduction of the change bowlers, the run gathering slowed. Mark Scrivener (1-66) bowled particularly well but Coombs Wood were always ahead of the run rate and passed their required total with four overs to spare.