Batting first, nine-man Grendel suffered an early blow, as they lost a wicket to James Sackett, with just two runs on the board.
Mark Kenny and Paul Handoll then restored stability with a solid stand of 58, which held up the Methodists until the fifteenth over, when skipper, Stuart Green, eventually dismissed Kenny (32) with a rising delivery.
Handoll (35) carried on finding the boundary until he picked out the safe hands of Alex Nash to give the economical Josh Potter (2–11) the first of his two wickets, while Grendel Captain, Richard Birtwistle, followed in Potter’s next over after a nifty bit of keeping by the ever-alert Dave Sackett. The visitors’ lower order all chipped in with runs towards the end of the innings, but when James Green (3–11) eventually sent the last man back to the pavilion, the scoreboard showed a modest 115.
After tea, Grendel also struck an early blow – Peter Edwards exploiting the bouncy track and removing Mark Robinson in the third over. Mirroring earlier events, Martin Woolley and Craig Eyles then built a solid foundation of 57 before Woolley (24) was undone by Birtwistle, three balls after the drinks break. But this time around, Nash was on hand for the Methodists to accelerate the scoring with a rapid twenty, which dispelled any thoughts of an upset for the visitors.
Eyles was eventually dismissed by Steve Handoll (2–31) for an expansive 44 within sight of the finishing line, leaving James Green to complete a comfortable six-wicket win for the home team.
Daniel Shearn