Lullington Park lift Silver Link Trophy

The Derbyshire Building Society Silver Link Trophy Final 2002 played at Denby CC on Sunday

Lullington Park 114 beat Spondon 66 by 48 runs

Spondon set off in confident mood having played Lullington the previous day when they gained a clear advantage from a winning draw. They won the toss and elected to field, and as the first innings progressed it looked to be a good decision as Lullington slumped to 19-4.

There was a partial recovery with two performances which turned out to be of crucial importance. Andrew Goodwin, batting at number 4, made 24, and John Shales, batting at number 6, scored 31, and the total of 114 looked more formidable when Spondon went in to bat.The bowling by Spondon had been tight, with good stints from Paul Cook (2-12), Lee Fox (3-22) and Steve Dash (2-30).

Spondon’s confidence soon disappeared as their wickets began to fall at regular intervals. Opening bowlers David Mudd and Matt Holmes made the ball lift and seam, and in a short time five wickets had fallen for 14 runs. Matt Jones batted long enough to score 21 and displayed some staying power but nobody else stayed long enough to make an impression. The spinners were as effective as the seamers and the wickets continued to tumble until they were finally all out in 42.1 overs.

Spondon missed Dave Thomas, who had been forced to withdraw from the side because of a serious injury to his daughter, but they will be the first to admit that they didn’t adapt well to the conditions. Credit must be given to Lullington’s bowlers and fielders who maintained their concentration, and in particular to bowlers David Mudd (3-20), Matt Holmes (3-4), Andrew Goodwin (2-20) and George Chapman (2-8)

The Silver Link Trophy and individual trophies were presented by Mr Neil Gilliver, a member of the League’s Executive Committee.