For the second time the Willows made the trip down the road to Diana and John Gardner’s place, home of the Flaxton Wanderers, as proud holders of the Diana Trophy. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row the Willows made the return trip without it!!
In a close struggle in which neither side seemed able to grab the initiative, it came down to the last ball where a flick over midwicket by our nemesis, Roger Sowden, off the Willows’ most outstanding bowler, Adrian McFedries, finally settled the issue.
On a blustery day, after a quick look at what appeared to be a flat wicket, the Willows captain, with his usual lack of ability, called incorrectly. Along with Hamish Anderson he soon found himself facing former Canterbury medium pacer Chris Flanagan using a two piece ball on a windy day. Along with fellow opening bowler Tim Andrews, it would be fair to say they had a very high level of misfortune as they completed 10 overs for 20 runs. At this point Anderson told the skipper that due to our spectacular lack of success he was going to ‘have a go’ or words to that effect. With an innings of 59 containing seven fours and four sixes it could be said that he succeeded. However, apart from contributions of 35 by Michael Hawke and 23 by Peter Devlin, the batsmen struggled against some tight bowling by Flanagan, Andrews, Bob Masefield and Roger Sowden.
One hundred and eighty for seven seemed a little light in 40 overs but in an amazing repeat of last year’s game Flaxton were reduced to 8I3 and 44/5 . An impressive Adrian McFedries had grabbed four wickets for two runs, including a hat trick, and with Phil Harris and Peter Fulton bowling miserly spells, “The Willows” had a hand on the trophy. But when Chris Flanagan was out for a brisk 28, Bob Masefield came to the crease to join his brother John and from this point on the game began to stick stubbornly to last year’s plot. Bob’s 39 took the score to 117 and despite more good bowling from Andrew Nuttall and Mike Hawke, John Masefield carried on unconcerned. When he was joined by Roger Sowden, batting at ten due to a split finger, Flaxton required 23 runs from 27 balls. With Hawke’s next over yielding only four runs and McFedries bowling a maiden, 19 were still needed off two overs, and when Hawke caught and bowled Masefield for a superb 72 with only two further runs added the captain had packed the trophy in his gear bag! However, the new batsman, our host John Gardner, cunningly worked a single off his first ball and then watched a belligerent Sowden take 15 runs off the next eight balls, including a six into the carpark, before striking that final boundary.
A distraught and inconsolable Willows captain was left to thank the hosts for once again providing superb facilities and catering, before vowing to return to try and get his hands on the Diana Trophy next year.