LAST Sunday the Second XI played against Division B leaders Seaton in a T20 match in the Cockspur Cup at Creedy Park.

The regulations for this competition are relatively complex, and the problem for our Seconds is who is eligible to play, whereas our opponents could put out whoever they wished, as it was their first team. As such the team we put out represented a mixture of Second and Third team players due to availability, as well as meeting the required regulations.

As such a 22-run defeat was probably better than many would have expected against the leaders of the League above where our Seconds normally play.

Seaton won the toss and elected to bat first and rattled up a modest score of 163 for seven in their 20 overs with the majority of their runs coming from S Goodier 48, J Dormer 29 and T Doulton 20.

The young Sandford bowlers did their best to control the flow of runs with Jonnie Handley grabbing 2-24 from his four overs, and Tudor Morgan-Huggett making a very welcomed return with 3-31 from his four overs.

In reply, Andy Fry 19 (three fours) and skipper-for-the-day Tom Gidney 36 (six fours and a six), gave the visitors a bit of a scare with a second wicket stand of 62 in double-quick time before they both departed in the same over.

After their demises, only Tyler Morgan-Huggett 25 (three fours and a six) and 17-year-old Ollie Knight 33 (five fours) caused any real concern for the opposition, but as wickets fell so did the run rate, and in the end Sandford were 141 for nine after their obligatory 20 overs, and as such they ended up losing by 22 runs.

Best of luck to Seaton in the next round.

Phil Matten