HORSPATH bowed out of the Bernard Tollett Oxfordshire Cup with a five-run defeat at home to Thame Town in the first round on Thursday night.
With the game switched to the Recreation Ground due to a wet outfield at Thame, the visitors posted 156-6 from their 20 overs. Captain Michael Higgs (43) and Will Sutcliffe (26) got Thame off to a good start, before James Adams (27) and former Horspath player Ed Barnett (24no) provided the final flourish. Left-arm spinner Lloyd Belcher, with 1-19 from his four overs, was the pick of the home attack.
Horspath lost openers Harrison Ward and Rameez Raja early on, but Pat Foster (44) and Adam Price (34) kept the hosts in contention. However, wickets fell at regular intervals, and despite a swashbuckling unbeaten 29 off 12 balls by Stephen Green, Horspath fell short on 151-8. Matt MacDonald (3-45) was Thame's leading wicket-taker, while there were economical spells from Higgs (2-20), Adam Phippen (1-16) and Chris Jeffcock (1-20).
Posted by: Russ