Drinking Fellows Union Home Sunday 20th August
Oldbury 239-7. W.Pearce 102 ret. J.Russell 61 ret. N.Hopkins 57. Teal 3-41.
DFU 91 all out in 30 overs. Colin Johnson 4-19, Derek Garrett 3-14.
Oldbury won by 148 runs.
With 'brand new combine harvesters' still ringing in their ears, the worzels of Oldbury gave the Drinking Fellows Union a warmer reception than they'd expected following their drive down from Cheltenham.
There was no stopping Oldbury's openers Bill Pearce and Nigel Hopkins as boundary followed boundary. This was a real champagne performance as Bill Pearce achieved his maiden century, well supported by Nigel (57) and Jim Russell (61). With only three wickets down, over 200 on the board and overs to spare, a massive total looked on the cards, but good bowling and three cheap wickets by Teal contained the Oldbury attack, closing on a total of 239.
Any chance of a close response from the DFU was quickly stifled by excellent fast bowling by Derek Garrett, removing stumps, bails and nearly more of Bill Pearce's teeth with three quick wickets. Sighs of relief from the DFU batsmen at the end of Derek's spell (6-0-14-3) turned to further dismay as Colin Johnson stepped up armed with crusts at his fingertips. The pies were plums once again, with a real edge to the pastry. As the sun shone down, Colin 'baker' Johnson was clearly at home in the oven-like heat and ripped through the defences of the DFU middle order. For the fourth time this season, he claimed four wickets with figures of 8-1-19-4. (Does this mean Colin will be spending more time in the kitchen now wondered Victoria?).
In the style of their name, the DFU then decided submission meant an earlier visit to the Ship, and the innings closed at 91 - a resounding win for the home side.
So to the Ship it was - and what a night. Celebration jugs of bitter, lager and Guinness were followed by yards of the same and even cider. Even the skipper was seen to finish off a yard of Guinness in style. The final words, though, must go to Bill for his great century knock.