A chance to win two on the bounce was ultimately squandered by Bridgnorth on Saturday as they were left to rue a missed opportunity on the road at Cound.

The Cricket Meadow men seemingly had the upper hand on a number of occasions with the bat chasing 237 to win, after a particularly positive start from the top order had put them ahead of the rate. However, the required match-winning partnership never materialised, and despite further fireworks from Peter Scott, they were bowled out with fifteen overs remaining.

Earlier, Cound’s openers had put together a well-constructed 145-run stand, led by home skipper Connor Glendinning (81). But with a dominant total seemingly on the cards, Bridgnorth’s bowlers fought back well through Scott (3-44) and an excellent death overs spell from Ian Gregory (2-37).

The reply was marked by clear intent, as Bridgnorth’s batters sought to attack a modest boundary and get on top of the rate. Whilst that was achieved, the hosts chipped away courtesy of a number of well-taken catches as the visitors appeared to get themselves ahead of the game, before being pegged back. With the scoreboard reading 80-2, 110-3 and 145-4, on each occasion Cound struck a key blow.

When a further wicket fell, five sixes in eleven balls from Scott seemingly had the Cricket Meadow men finally landing and knockout punches, but two further clutch catches on the boundary all but confirmed the win for the home side.

Dismissed with fifteen overs remaining, Bridgnorth will look to make amends as they return to Cricket Meadow this weekend to take on league leaders Oswestry.

Bridgnorth (220-6) beat Bomere Heath (216-7) by four runs

After a tough start to the season, the second team held their nerve to claim a vital first win of their Division Four campaign.

An unbeaten 88 from Peter Thompson, alongside 53 from Lez Evans, were the key factors in a first innings total of 220 off 40 overs having been invited to bat first. A tight start with the ball then followed, as Guy Black (3-28) found success, whilst youngsters Ethan Osborne-Welch and Izzy Crann showed admirable maturity with miserly spells in support.

With Isaac Lunn also picking up 2-55, Bridgnorth also missed big chances in the field to finish the game, and Ben Cox’s unbeaten century threatened to consign the hosts to a further defeat. But needing 13 runs from the final over, Marcus Thompson stood up and held his nerve under pressure, conceding just eight in a final ball thriller.

Bridgnorth III (158) beat Whitchurch (129) by 29 runs

A maiden senior five-wicket haul from Ethan Osborne-Welch proved the key difference in a close-fought, low-scoring game at home on Sunday, as the third team bounced back from defeat last week.

After being asked to bat first, Bridgnorth struggled to gain momentum against an accurate visiting bowling attack, before wickets fell as they attempted to break the shackles. A quickfire 21 from Dan Garbett was followed by a watchful stand between Rich Ealey (40) and Shashi Cherukuri (27), before Ollie Shinebaum (19) again looked good under pressure in the latter overs.

Needing a strong start with the ball, Osborne-Welch started in the best way possible, taking four wickets in an excellent opening spell, whilst Will Buxton (1-11) delivered a miserly burst from the other end. Fellow seamers Shinebaum and Alex Thomas (2-25) continued to chip away, but with the visitors eight wickets down and 70 runs still needed, a counter-attacking effort from Gabe Challenor (65) threatened an unlikely comeback.

Osborne-Welch (5-37) then returned to complete his much-deserved bag of five, before Shinebaum (2-18) delivered the match-winning ball to hit the middle stump with 12 balls of the game remaining.