SENIOR and junior players at Droitwich Spa can be satisfied with their summer’s work with mid-table finishes for its main Saturday sides and a host of youth trophies won.
Following relegation from the Worcestershire County League’s top flight last season and the loss of several regular players, the First XI recovered from a poor start to finish strongly in fifth place in Division Two – a position which skipper Ian Cottrill said he would have taken back in April.
After failing to win any of their first six games, the returns of Stuart Bryan and Max Young against fellow strugglers Wormelow in June proved pivotal as Spa went on to win their next five games and climb into the top half of the table.
During the six-match winning streak, Cottrill identified the home victory against a strong Coombs Wood side as the performance of the season as his side chased down 258 to win a thrilling game in the final over by three wickets.
On the playing front, all-rounders Young and Martyn Davies led the way with a string of impressive returns.
Young was leading run scorer with 506, which included two centuries and he also chipped in with 25 wickets.
Davies scored more 300 runs and took 28 wickets, which included scoring 100 and taking a five-fer against Bromyard.
Although Carl Thomson’s in-swing bowling led the team’s wicket takers with 29 and the dependable Phil Thomas took 24 wickets at an economy rate of just over three runs per over, Cottrill reserved special praise for 15-year-old Matthew Gurr whose return of 25 wickets he described as ‘outstanding’.
“We had our wobbles over the course of the season and, whilst the lack of consistency in the batting and too many top order collapses was frustrating, the general level of performance was still much improved,” he said.
“The commitment from the lads has been brilliant and I consistently got a positive reaction from them when I asked for one so it’s been an encouraging season overall.”
With nine wins, the Seconds finished a creditable seventh following their promotion to Division One Second XI.
As for the future, it certainly looks very bright for Droitwich with league wins for their U10 and U12 Boys as well as the U11 and U13 Girls.
