A autumnal mist descended on Denton Road, where Wollaston won the toss and elected to field. The visitors struck early, with the in-form Fin Moffat caught in the gully on the second ball of the game. This brought together Brayden Hill and Karan Parmar. These two would put on 159 for the second wicket, before Karan was lbw for 70. Brayden would continue his masterclass, batting with clarity and game awareness to pass over the line for his 4th century of the season. Hill was finally out for 114. The Horton innings stuttered a little, despite good knocks from Adhikari (34) and Knibbs (18*), the innings would close on 268/7. Alfie Richardson hitting his first ball in 1st XI for four in the final over!

The Wollaston reply started slowly, with Anvit Arkanath (9-2-27-0) and Will Knibbs (10-0-43-1) being thrifty with the new rock. At 52-2, the Wollaston chase looked in doubt. When Karan Parmar (4-43) got into his work, the game looked dead at 99-6. However Wollaston would rally, and some big shots combined with some awful fielding from Horton, including 3 dropped catches in an over. Despite some breakthroughs, Wollaston finish an excellent chase with 2 wickets and 2.3 overs left. Horton were left ruing a diabolical fielding outing.

2nd XI vs. Mears Ashby CC 1st XI

Horton 2nd XI Fall Short Against Promotion Contenders Mears Ashby 1st XI

Horton 2nd XI faced a tough challenge away against promotion hopefuls Mears Ashby 1st XI. Despite a slightly foggy start, Horton’s skipper opted to bat first on a dry, dusty wicket, aiming to set a competitive total.

Unfortunately, the Horton openers were dismissed cheaply at the very start of the innings, putting the visitors on the back foot. This brought Vignesh Sudhakar (14) and Amos Awaghade (111) to the crease against a buoyant Mears Ashby side. Vignesh showed promise with two well-timed boundaries but was soon caught off a mistimed shot, leaving Horton struggling at 33/3. Naitik Kakkar (37) joined Amos and the pair mounted a solid recovery, adding 83 runs together. Both batsmen looked in fine form, finding the boundary frequently and sending a few balls sailing over for sixes. However, Naitik, after striking a few boundaries in the same over, attempted one big shot too many and was caught at mid-on. Another wicket fell in quick succession, leaving Horton precariously placed at 117/5 after 20 overs.

With a long tail ahead, the arrival of skipper James Hawksworth (24) at the crease meant that the 6th wicket partnership needed to be a significant one. After drinks, Amos continued his aggressive approach, playing with ease and dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground. He brought up his century in style, reaching the milestone in 85 balls with a towering six over long-on. Amos was eventually dismissed with the score at 204/6, ending a crucial 87-run partnership for the 6th wicket. With 12 overs remaining, Horton looked set for a big total, but the incoming batsmen struggled to adapt to the conditions. The last four wickets tumbled for just 15 runs, and Horton was bowled out for 219, leaving 7 overs unused.

Mears Ashby came out intent on chasing down the target aggressively, hitting several boundaries in the opening overs. Alex Hearn (1-62) managed to hold his nerve and took a high catch off his own bowling to dismiss one of the openers. However, that would be the only breakthrough for Horton as Mears Ashby continued to dominate. The Horton bowlers were put under pressure throughout, with only Naitik Kakkar (0-49) managing to keep his economy rate below six runs an over. Mears Ashby comfortably chased down the target, losing just one wicket and with 6 overs to spare.

3rd XI vs. St Crispins and Harlestone CC

Saturday was the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrating Ganesha as the Remover of Obstacles. The obstacle to 20 points and promotion for the 3s on Saturday was a strong St.Crispins and Harlestone side who were put into bat on an overcast day at the Bozeadrome. The murky conditions, however, didn’t seem to bring much movement to the ball and the C&H openers weathered the opening spells of Kev and Elliot H well; they certainly did better than Elliot’s cricket boots, which fell apart in his fourth over, to be replaced by his football boots. Unorthodox. It was then over to another seamer whose boots never seem to tire or fall apart, as Paul Wolstenholme came up the hill and claimed the first wicket. Kev then chipped in to bowl the other opener. Paul then took great delight in bowling an ex-Horton player, and then another victim to end with 3-27 off 10 overs. A great effort and well-deserving of the cake he received later. Spin then took over, with Ian adding two more wickets to his tally for the season and Elliot C bowling some tight lines from the bottom end. Though Horton were unable to bowl them out, the accurate bowling and sharp fielding put a squeeze on C&H to leave them 166-6 in the first innings.

After a very enjoyable mini-tea (thanks to Chef and the skipper’s wife) Horton took to the crease to chase down the total. The C&H opener Piper had taken a 7fer the week before and he soon produced a quality delivery to dismiss Fred; when the skipper was stumped (a rarity) we were 46-2. Graham then decided that the 80 he had scored against C&H in the away game needed to be bettered and set about driving and pulling with aplomb. BJ and Ryan assisted Graham with small partnerships, before Alan came to the wicket at 5 down and 33 still required. The skipper had visions of a calamitous collapse, but the experienced pair steadied things and when Graham reached his 100 the win was almost assured. However, it was left to Alan to score the winning runs, thus removing the final obstacle to promotion to division 10. A game played in a great spirit and another all-round team performance to be proud of.

4th XI vs. Northampton Saints CC 4th XI

The Legends went back to their old home of Boughton this weekend. It was lovely to see our old friends of Dick and Cherry Steff and our favourite coffee cake!! With cake and winning the toss, it looked like winning the toss and putting the Saints into bat was a good one as Harry Farbone combined with Paul “Fingernail” Das to remove their opener. Alex Monk removed the opener from the other end and soon it looked like we had Saints on the ropes. However, their middle-order started to rebuild and it look the father-son combo of Gary and Oscar Herbert to remove them. Not bad for a 12-year old taking 2 wickets and a run-out in his first senior game – that is Oscar not Gary!!

With Saints putting on 188 for 7 and with the outfield speeding up the Horton House Legends were in with a shout.

Coffee cake consumed and sugar-levels at an optimum level, Paul Das and Jeremy Jesu opened the innings. As it has been this season, we started losing wickets quickly and when Gary Herbert (22) got out and we were looking down the barrel. Thankfully the Das and Monk combo of Alex (11) and Steve (17) gave us a 70 run partnership but it was in the end not enough.

As they say every cloud and with John Jesu and Alfie Richardson playing in the 1s at Denton Road, it was great to get back to HQ and to also hear that Graham Harris and Amos Awaghade (ex-legends) had tonned-up in the 2s and 3s. One House, It is Our House!!!