Church Stretton entertain Condover in a crucial derby match tomorrow with the confidence that comes from leading the Shropshire County League’s second division.
They romped to the number one spot on Saturday in style – by toppling the then leaders, Montgomery, by seven wickets with some 20 overs to spare.
By any yardstick, that’s a pretty convincing margin – but Stretton’s Brian Underhill strikes a note of caution. “Yes, that win over Montgomery did us the world of good, but games against Condover are a different thing entirely,” he says.
“This is a derby match in every sense; they are by far our nearest neighbours in the league and the players know each other pretty well.
“The rivalry this generates has always been very keen, irrespective of which club is having the better run of results at the time.
“And as the team trailing a bit in the table likes nothing better than to upset the form book, so this is a really key match for us.”
Good bowling and fielding – and the determination to stick with it when things were not going well – paved the way for the big win at Montgomery.
Early success put Stretton in the driving seat as the home side lost three wickets edging up to 30.
But then Rob Kinsey (43) and Rob Blaney (34) built a threatening partnership and the south Shropshire men needed all their determination to prevent the game getting away from them.
They eventually broke through and from there Ed Smith and Alan Crump began to get the rewards their bowling warranted.
Smith claimed 5-42 in a sustained spell of 18 overs while Crump’s 3-17 over a shorter spell provided the shock tactics Stretton needed to prevent Montgomery digging in.
Montgomery were not even able to use up all their overs, their final tally of 115 leaving Stretton with a comfortable 49 in which to get the runs.
But comfortable wasn’t quite what anchor man Peter Lee and his big hitting partners, Jake and Ben Nichols, had in mind.
Lee’s 45 not out was a lesson in holding an innings together – but 19 year-old Jake let rip for 27 and then Ben powered his way to an unbeaten 35, finishing it in the 29th over with a massive six.
