Lea and Roses hold commanding lead after beating Glapwell

Inclement skies greeted Glapwell II's as they arrived at Lea and Roses with the visitors looking to grab some points and the hosts looking to consolidate their position at the top of the division.

Glapwell won the toss and decided to bat first, with Truswell and Topham heading up the Glapwell batting and the former was quickly into his stride, striking boundaries with power through the on side.

Chances came when first Keightley just failed to hold on to a sharp chance at first slip, closely followed by an excellent attempt in the deep from Smith who compensated for his drop with a neat finish from close range with his head.

With the score on 27, Dewick who was struggling slightly with his footing, managed to nip one back, trapping the stubborn Topham in front for 4.

Bircumshaw joined Truswell and together they started to build a partnership, combining powerful shots and well taken singles.

Lea & Roses rang the changes in the bowling department, with Cooper and Lane taking over the reigns.

The visitors had progressed nicely to 53 when Cooper bent his back and got enough out of the pitch to get Truswell to play on, breaking a dangerous looking partnership.

However, if Lea & Roses thought they were in for calmer waters, they were wrong. Shore strode out and made his intentions clear early on, striking effortless shots into and over the rope.

With the score on 88, Dan Clay halted the momentum of the Glapwell innings when he returned the ball at pace as Bircumshaw scrambled for a single.

A direct hit saw the Glapwell number three heading for the hutch and another promising partnership was broken.

Orton replaced Cooper, and it wasn’t long before he was into the visitors, removing Land caught behind.

Spinner Lane accounted for the hard hitting Shore who was caught by Smith, and then did it all himself snafflling a caught and bowled at the expense of Chappell.

Weaver came and went, bowled by Orton, and the returning Dewick induced a simple chance to Needham, before trapping Pykett in front.

The innings was unraveling fast for the visitors and ground to a halt when Clay produced another quick return for Smith to run out the last man Pearson with the shutters coming down on 118 for the visitors.

The home side brought about their response with Needham and West heading out to the middle to chase a score, which felt inadequate given the depth of the home side’s batting.

This was to ring true fom the off, as the Lea & Roses openers capitalized on some lack lustre bowling from the Glapwell attack.

It quickly became apparent that the weather was far more dangerous to Lea & Roses ambitions than the opposing attack, with fast moving rain clouds scurrying across the ground.

Despite interruptions for rain, the opening pair managed to build a solid early platform, moving the score on to 58 before West, perhaps with the weather in mind, looked to put Pykett over the mid off boundary. For once he didn’t quite middle it and was well caught by Land running backwards.

Cooper emerged from the hut to join Needham but it was a short lived affair, the latter playing over the top of a straight one just three runs later.

From nowhere the visitors suddenly smelt a chance, and when Tittley missed a sweep across the line from Weaver just four balls later, their dander was firmly in the ascendancy.

Alas for the visitors, this was to be the last taste of success for the day. Smith arrived at the crease to support Cooper, who by now was moving into overdrive, and with a flurry of maximums and boundaries the pair saw the home side over the line with overs to spare.

The good win leaves Lea & Roses 40 points clear of third and 17 clear of second.