Claverham CC 1^st XI are once again pleased to be sponsored by Bristol recruitment firm WB Employment.

Claverham made it 4 wins on the bounce as they won a nailbiter with local rivals Congresbury in front of the biggest crowd of the season so far at Henley Lane.

On a lovely sunny day with a lightening fast outfield the toss is always vital, and visiting skipper Nick Clifton didn’t hesitate in batting first when his call came down heads up.

Having elected to bat Congresbury needed a big score against the highly confident Clav side but they were soon in trouble at 30 for 3 as Chris Peyper (3 for 35) and Nigel Cheeseright (4-41) made early inroads. Crucially for ‘bury Mike Fisher and skipper Clifton began to repair the damage and moved the score along steadily without taking too many risks. With 13 overs to go both batsman had pssed 50 and a score of somewhere near 250 looked likely, but crucially Chris Peyper (Clifton) and off spinner Mat Gendle (Fisher) broke the partnership and so began the fightback. With Cheeseright mopping up the innings which closed for a competitive 227 for 9.

Rich Horton and Paul Bird strode out purposefully for the response but found the pacey Burton and nagging Brooks a tidy challenge and for the first 10 overs we virtually had stalemate as the home side made sure they had a platform and the visitors bottom of the league desperately searched for a breakthrough.

It came in the 12^th over when Brookes had Horton caught and then quickly removed Birdy 2 overs later with the score on 32.

Claverham needed to start again and with Chris Peyper and Roger Jack together they had the perfect foil and the two slowly began to recover ground. As the beer flowed, the home fans sensed another potential classic was brewing and with 90 needed from 12 overs and 8 wickets in hand the game was evenly balanced. Yet, just as things seemed to be going Claverham’s way they lost Peyper for a solid 57 and then saw Roger Jack run out for 74 which introduced 2 new batsman to the crease. With 68 needed from 48 balls Phil Gillott is just the man you want marching to the wicket. In what can only be described as an assault, he proceeded to take the game away from Congresbury hitting the unfortunate Justin Andrews for 3 6’s in 4 balls and racing to 24 from 11 deliveries. With 9 needed from the final over it was his partner Andy Copeland who took centre stage and 3 balls later as his second boundary of the over sailed over Henley Lane into the cow field it all over ! Claverham had produced another breathtaking finish and the who’s who of Clav v Cong past were left to deliberate proceedings over a few more good natured beers !