Horspath saw off competition from Cropredy and Banbury to win the Honey B Trophy on their home ground in a fantastic display of club cricket last Sunday.
The first semi-final saw Horspath beat Cropredy by 7 wickets to secure their spot in the final. Batting first, Cropredy got off to a slow start and fell to 32-2. Helpful runs from Lynch (32) and Dunlop (22) got their side to 101-6 from their 20 overs. Gibbs was the standout of the Horspath bowlers, returning figures of 2-15 from his allocated 4 overs. Horspath got their response under way quickly with both openers – C Turner with 23 off 13 balls and Hofen 34 off 24. Despite both losing their wickets the middle order chased down the remainder of the target, getting over the line in just 12.1 overs.
Semi-final 2 was between Cumnor and Banbury, with the former batting first. Losing early wickets, Cumnor re-built with W Laird (36), A Laird (21) and R Nicholson (20) helping their side to a defendable total of 138-7 from their 20 overs. Banbury did well to restrict Cumnor’s score, with Miller the pick of the bowlers with 3-14 from 4 overs. In response, Banbury were led by their captain, Short, who hit a match-winning 89 from just 52 balls – including 9 fours and 6 sixes. His side were victorious by 7 wickets and booked their place in the final to face off with Horspath for the trophy.
After a short break, the final got underway, with Banbury batting first. Short fell first ball of the innings, but his teammates did well to recover, with Scott (27) and Finlay (62) putting on 105 before the next wicket fell. From there Horspath’s Richardson took 4-28, limiting Banbury to 147-8 from their 20 overs – meaning Horspath needed 148 to win. C Turner got his side off to the best possible start, scoring 68 from 27 balls, and earning himself the Man of the Match trophy in the process. From there R Dogaar (20), Richardson (25) and S Dogaar (20) saw their side over the line and secured the Honey B Trophy.
The presentation of the trophy and medals was conducted by Joe Clapton (Finals Day Manager for the day) who thanked Horspath for hosting, the umpires, coaches, scorers and all the teams for a great day of cricket. Horspath’s captain Alfie Turner received the trophy with the presentations made by Morris Honey’s daughter, Claire.
Thank you to all clubs who competed in this year’s Competition, and we look forward to seeing more great cricket over the summer.
Congratulations again to Horspath who will hold the trophy until next year’s competition where no doubt other clubs will be vying to get their hands on the coveted prize.