Formby U13A travelled to Carr Lane on Thursday night hoping to put the disappointment of Tuesday’s cup exit behind them.

Captain Daniel McCann won the toss and put Tarleton into bat, hoping to put pressure on the home side from the start.

Matthew Black opened the bowling with a maiden, followed by a wicket for Luke Warden in the second over from a fantastic one-handed diving catch by Lewis Hill. Matthew and Luke bowled accurately and with a lot of pace and the field were close in, making runs hard to find for Tarleton. Black bowled Saunders in the 5th over, which ended with Tarleton on 5 for 2.

Jackson Cockbain and Alex Powell were the first change in the bowling and Jackson’s first over was a maiden. Alex conceded just 2 runs off his first over and then Jackson struck twice to dismiss Hill (caught Gallen) and G Dear (caught Rimmer). Alex claimed the wicket of Johnson in the 12th over, caught LBW after a number of near misses.

After 12 overs Tarleton were on 22 for 5 but Dobson was now at the crease. He had scored 24 in Tarleton’s win over Formby U13B on Tuesday including 3 4’s and a 6 so posed a big threat to the Formby attack.

Another change of bowlers brought in Joe Gallen and Matthew Linford, Joe starting with a maiden. Dobson took advantage of some wayward bowling in the 16th over to hit three boundaries, taking Tarleton to 40 for 5.

Sam Rimmer took over for the 18th over and took the wicket of Sergeant, caught by Joe Gallen. Liam Rooney bowled the 19th and Tarleton were now scoring well, taking 9 off that over. Lewis Hill bowled the last and took the wickets of Dobson (caught Warden) and Chicken (caught Mulhall).

Tarleton finished on a score of 64 for 8, a fantastic recovery considering that they were on just 9 after 8 overs. Formby bowled and fielded better than they had done for some time, especially in the first half of the innings, and the reduction in extras to just 12 with just one leg bye was particularly welcome. Only one bowler went for double figures and Black, Warden, Cockbain and Gallen went for just 2 an over or less.

Daniel McCann and Lewis Hill opened the batting for Formby well aware that the target of 65 had been a struggle for the team in a number of previous games and also aware that Tarleton had some very useful bowlers.

Daniel started the scoring in the first over with a single before Lewis hit two 4’s in the second over. Both batsmen then started scoring steadily, taking singles when they could and hitting some powerful shots to take boundaries, Dan missing out on a six by just a couple of feet.

Tarleton bowled and fielded well but just couldn’t find the breakthrough they needed. Daniel and Lewis played some very mature cricket, taking few unnecessary risks while keeping the scoreboard moving. Both played some great shots. Daniel hit a four in the 12th over to take Formby to the target and his score to 31*, Lewis on 28* with just 6 extras.

It was a great game of cricket played by two good sides at a fantastic venue. There were some great performances from both teams.

Formby’s bowling at the start of the match and the great batting by Daniel and Lewis was the difference between the teams. Dobson played very well for Tarleton with 34.