The rain that threatened at lunch finally came at 3.15pm to prevent a certain Willows victory. We were merely one hit away from claiming back the Macfarlane Trophy to redress our dismal win/loss ratio against the northern mafioso.

Hawkswood, with their most youthful side yet, struggled with the bat. Only Tom Dickson, Peter Rayner, Connor Bettsworth and Fergus Sidey had scores in the twenties whilst the rest added next to nothing. All Willows bowlers were tight and economical with the best return coming from Matt Parr. Chasing a low score we were tracking well until the rain. A sixth wicket stand of 45 between Matt and Adrian McFedries (nine fours and a six) should have been enough to give The Willows the rare win they deserved. Spare a thought also for the often vanquished skipper Sam Davis who was denied his winner’s speech.