Iain Holmes was tossing and turning in bed ahead of his first run out of the season as manager of his under 11 side. Once again it was the old enemy, Kettering, Iain could not help thinking about the 178 run defeat just a year ago…

In the room next door his son and newly crowned captain Thomas was already dressed in his whites and was relishing the challenge. He had already hit his first fifty in his head before the knock at the door came. It was time to go!

Roger had prepared an immaculate wicket, the bar was open and that sweet smell of bacon wafted over the ground from the Village Kitchen. The moment had arrived and Weldon were put into bat. Kettering had obviously heard about the superior pre season training at Weldon and could only find 7 players up for the challenge. Weldon - in a great show of sportsmanship - offered star player Archie to the outnumbered foe

Ava and Luca got us off to a steady start before Toby and Weldon debutant Elizabeth Howes really set the game alight. Elizabeth got her first run for Weldon early on before Toby, fuelled by his dads staff discounted Weetabix breakfast, hit a majestic 19 off 12 balls.

Next up Henry and Cohen had the Kettering fielders running all over the ground with a strong partnership. Kettering were rattled and we still had Tommy and Nathan ready to do battle…

Tommy struck a steady 5 against some strong bowling before Nathan excelled in his first game with a spirited 15 off 12 balls. We headed for the break with a competitive 253 after a strong batting outing. This one was going to be close!

Kettering strolled out to the field against a confident Weldon side, freshly trained in the art of sledging by new U11 Coach Gordon. As “send the bails to Wales” “wicket Ball” and even "you’ve got more blocks than lego" rang through the field, Kettering lost three wickets in the first pairing. Weldon were on top!

Cries of 'we might do this' were heard all over the arena, but the next pairing of 45 brought this back to a close encounter…

All of Weldon excelled in the field. Nathan put his body on the line and just missed what would have been a catch of the season. As he lay injured on the pitch the pavilion stood silent and the red kites circled sensing an early lunch. Thankfully after a prep talk from dad he returned to the field of battle. Elizabeth superbly stopped a boundary with centimetres to spare as we restricted the next pairing to 2 runs.

Kettering started to pull ahead but 2 run-outs from Luca added to previous wickets from Toby, Nathan, Ava, Henry and Tommy kept this one alive until the end.

Alas it turned out, it was a bridge too far with Kettering ending up victorious. However, parents and coaches could not have been prouder of these Weldon warriors who are destined for great things this year.

Weldon 78/5 (net score 253)
Kettering 124/7 (net score 289)