Leominster hammered by Burghill’s in-form openers

The defeat was not abject - Leominster's Andy White (30), Nick Palmer (28) and Joel Clarke (27) all scored respectably in their side's total of 155 all out.

But Burghill's response was awesome and openers Alex Hedges (82 not out) and Kingsley Morris (55 not out) helped the village side reach their target without loss.

The defeat left Leomin-ster near the bottom of Division 1, but Bartestree & Lugwardine are dreaming of the title after a convincing home win against Talgarth.

Bartestree skittled out their opponents for 98, yet it looked ominous at first as the visitors reached 50 without loss before Ben Simpkin took the prize wicket of opener Ewan Cardwell (42).

From then on Talgarth offered little resistance, with eight of the remaining batsmen failing to make double figures.

Having bowled out Talgarth's main man, Simpkin (47) then performed with the bat along with Dean Smith (39 not out) to ease the home side to a convincing eight-wicket victory.

Rain put paid to the remaining matches in Division 1 and resulted in the cancellation of most fixtures further down the scale.

But it did not prevent the Division 3 top-of-the-table clash between Bosbury and Strollers which ended in the tightest of finishes.

Having been put into bat, Strollers lost five wickets in the first 10 overs, while only James Powell (16) posted double figures from the top five batsmen.

But Chris Arnold and Charles Crosland steadied the ship before the former fell on 27 following superb fielding from bowler Jon Owen.

Crosland, however, continued batting and, after marking his half-century with a six, he was finally bowled by Darren Woodhouse for 67 in a final score of 136 all out.

In reply, Bosbury often looked comfortable but an inspired spell of bowling from Arnold turned the match on its head. Arnold took three wickets to turn the match from 85-4 to 87-7, only for Owen and Mark Wadley to produce a 44-run eighth-wicket partnership.

Powell took the wickets of both Owen and Allen to leave the score 131-9, but Wadley struck a six to secure a stunning victory.

Hereford City beat the rain in Division 2 to strengthen their promotion bid with a crushing nine-wicket home success against Colwall 3rd.

The visitors struggled to 112 all out in the face of some accurate Hereford bowling and, with Nick Osborne (62) and Dave Scott (34 not out) in fine form with the bat, the home side had few problems in seeing off their inexperienced rivals.

In Division 4, Eastnor 3rd suffered a batting collapse to gift victory to Weobley.

Having been set a target of 131 to win, Eastnor looked set for victory following good knocks from Rav Moodley (17), S Beale (29) and J Febrey (17).

But the last six men fell for just 27 runs as Paul Williams (4-26) and Lee Davies (2-4) helped dismiss Eastnor for 106.

Dave Hamer was the top scorer for Weobley with 53.

Another side who endured a miserable afternoon were Hereford City 2nd, who produced just 77 runs in their innings against Lads Club.

Just three City players made double figures against the impressive bowling of Ashley Oliver (3-10) and Mike Olive (2-2).

Although Lads Club lost opener Bryan Caffelle for just three, skipper Chris Price (39 not out) provided the backbone as they eased to victory with six wickets remaining.

In Division 5, Nathan Byrne's efforts were not quite enough to prevent Abergavenny Beavers' defeat to Shirebulls.

The all-rounder scored a useful 42 in his side's 140 all out and then went to take seven wickets with the ball, only for his side to fall agonisingly short.

The last pair of Stephen Wannell and Iain Hutchinson hit the decisive runs for Shirebulls in a tense finish.

There was also victory for Brockhampton 3rd who eased to a 32-run win over Kington 4th.

Brockhampton's Adrian Hope fell one short of a half century in his side's total of 132-9 while Nigel Williams grabbed four wickets as Kington were dismissed for 100 in reply.

But the biggest performance of the day came from Bromyard 3rd's Paul Tomkins, who struck 22 boundaries in a colossal knock of 131 against Bartestree & Lugwardine St Mary's.

Tomkins' knock included 14 fours and eight sixes, and provided more than half of Bromyard's total of 222-8, while David Clegg offering the most support with an unbeaten 18.

Not to be outdone, Bartestree's opening batsman Richard Fisher scored an excellent 78, and was ably assisted by Greg Jones (32) but the target was always too much. Clegg (3-8) was the pick of Bromyard's bowlers while a further six wickets were shared between three men in a final total of 172.

Herefordians Bishop's registered their first success of the season when they cruised to a mammoth 188-run against Lads Club 2nd. Sam Morris (61) was top scorer for Bishop's.