On the day Santa arrived at the Willows was a day that all the presents went to Andrew Nuttall as he dominated the day not for the Willows as we have seen before, but this time for Hawkswood.

Willows lost the toss and were asked to field, which they were quite happy with, as in the early stages the ball moved around a little off the seam, but Steven Moorhead and PhiI Dickson batted very well putting on 74 for the first wicket and Robbie Deans followed up with 38. By lunch the Willows were looking as if they were going to be chasing over 300 but they came back into the game after lunch with Simon Harding collecting three wicket for just 22 off 10 overs, stopping Hawkswood Wanderers at 222. Without Andrew Nuttall’s 21 and Steve Dickson’s 34 it may have been less.

The Willows started the chase very well with Darin Cusack (26) and Tim Foley (46) scoring at will up until the total was 74 when the wheels fell off. At 111/6 we were behind the ‘eight ball’ as Andrew Nuttall seemed to take over as he bowled his left arm slows. Snaring seven wickets for just 23 runs from 10 avers, a record at the Willows. Only resistance from the wily young looking Richard Bromley ( 1 8) and some excellent hitting from Josh Coli (46) and Doug McMillan (28) managed to get the Willows to within 15 runs of a victory but the damage had been done earlier.

Once again it was a fiercely competitive game enjoyed by all on a glorious day. Next time Santa how about throwing the winning recipe to the Willows !

Well bowled Nutts.

On behalf of all the children I thank Santa for all the great presents they received and the kind people who made them available.