DROITWICH Spa put in a valiant effort but it was not enough to prevent another Worcestershire County League Division One defeat as opponents Redditch secured a five-wicket success.
Under the guidance of new skipper Ian Cottrill, Spa did well to recover from 19-4 to score 191-9, with Max Young (88 not out) sharing decent partnerships of 61 and 57 respectively with Paul Bryan (24) and Adam Shaw (22).
Redditch slipped to 21-2 in their response before a captain’s innings of 75 from Russell Southwick took the game away from Droitwich as his side reached their target in the 46th over.
The Seconds moved to the summit of the Division Two Second XI table following their five-wicket win over Netherton.
A disappointing fielding display meant it might not have been the most convincing of victories but the capture of maximum points was all that mattered as Spa leapfrogged Belbroughton following their defeat to Bromsgrove.
After Ollie Sankey took a wicket in the first over, Spa spilled a host of catches which enabled Netherton to post 215-9 – probably 60 runs more than they would have got if the chances had been held.
Martin Woodward and Carl Thomson claimed three wickets apiece as their side toiled.
The Droitwich reply did not get off to the best of starts when James King was caught in the first over, but thankfully a third-wicket partnership of 110 between Ash Walton (73) and Kieran Wilkins (53) wrestled the game in favour of the hosts.
When the former was dismissed, the match could still have gone either way before an unbeaten 34 not out from all-rounder Thomson settled any nerves to secure the valuable win.
The Thirds battled bravely before going down by 11 runs in their Division Five clash at Old Hill where they just failed to chase down 250.
Nick Sankey hit 69 and Tom Goss finished 61 not out after Jordan Lewis and Paul Foster had earlier each collected four wickets.
After bowling well to restrict Old Hill to 152, the Fourths were shot out for just 83 to lose by 69 runs in their Division Five Second XI fixture.
On Saturday, the Firsts begin a run of three successive home matches as they welcome Stourport-on-Severn to St Peter’s Fields.
The Seconds will be hoping to cement their top spot at Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social, who also provide the opposition for the Thirds and Fourths.
