Stacey and Holmes star in Horspath 3rd's win

James Stacey hit 61 not out

JAMES Stacey blasted his first half-century for Horspath 3rd and Ceri Holmes claimed five wickets in a 94-run win at home to Didcot 2nd in Cherwell League Division 5.

Stacey smashed six sixes and three fours in an unbeaten 61 to take Horspath to 253-9 dec after they had been put in to bat. Opener Nigel Coltman (48) and Chris Jones (47) provided the platform for his late onslaught, while Kieran Beesley (4-61) and Taylor Harrison (3-52) did the bulk of the Didcot bowling.

Holmes then took centre stage with 5-60 as Didcot were bowled out for 159, with Ed Oakley (3-37) providing good support. Jacob Knight made 28 and Beesley 43, before they fell to skipper Robin Pykett and Adrian Manger respectively with the victory seeing Horspath storm up to second place.

Horspath 2nd slumped to a seven-wicket defeat at home to third-placed Wolverton Town in Division 2.

The hosts were bowled out for 139 after being put in to bat, with only opener Tom Beresford (40) and stand-in skipper Mark Skelton (31) showing any form as Idrees Butt (3-17), Atif Akhlaq (3-24), Sean Potter (2-41) and Haroon Malik (2-51) shared the wickets.

Wolverton made short work of chasing down the runs with opener Chris King hitting an unbeaten 51 from 76 balls with eight fours. Luke Heritage (2-34) bowled a tidy spell to take the wickets of Potter (26) and David De Abreu (22), while Skelton claimed the only other victim.

Opener Mike Naylor made it back-to-back half-centuries as Horspath 4th eased to an eight-wicket win at Bicester & North Oxford 2nd to remain second in Division 7.

Naylor followed up his 68 against Wolverton 2nd last week with 57 to steer Horspath to victory at 158-2 after they had put the hosts in to bat and bowled them out for 155. He shared an opening stand of 81 with skipper Carl Thompson (37), before youngsters Charlie Turner (27no) and Josh Richardson (14no) saw Horspath home.

Earlier, Horspath's bowlers had kept a tight grip on the Bicester batsmen with Steve Richardson (3-28), Hayden Moon (3-32) and Greg Handley (3-41) doing the damage, before Turner (1-23) wrapped up the innings. Tailender Shahin Ali (32no) top-scored for the hosts after Nick Moorman and Oscar Phillips had both made 25.

Posted by: Russ