Louth keep up the pressure at the top with win against Broughton
Third-placed Louth CC kept up the pressure at the top of the Lincolnshire County League Premier Division with a six wicket win over Broughton at London Road Pavilion.
Broughton won the toss and elected to bat.
Louth opening bowlers Pat Byrne and Tom Corden produced one of the opening spells of the season as relentless quality reduced Broughton to 21-7 inside 14 overs which started with a special sharp catch from debutant Harvey Lake, Corden ending with 5-23 and Byrne 2-23.
Broughton fought back late on with partnerships of 64 and 54 taking them to 139 before Louth finally took the last wickets after some smart catches from Loz Scott.
Louth set about their target of 140 patiently, all batsmen getting a start, with overseas player Barend Lourens top-scoring with 36.
But contributions from Corden (27), Scott (18) and debutant Lake (15 not out) all saw Louth home comfortably within 40 overs for the loss of four wickets.
Tom Corden was named player of the match for his 5-23 and 27 runs.
Louth travel to struggling Brocklesby Park this Saturday.
Louth seconds were beaten by 93 runs away at table-topping Alkborough in Division One.
Louth, desperate for points to stay away from the relegation zone, lost the toss and were asked to field, which surprised them due to the look of the pitch.
Koen and Billings started off well with the right lines, restricting them to single runs until Koen struck first.
Alkborough stayed on course to build a strong total against a Louth side with only 10 players in the field.
They only started to lose wickets towards the end of the innings to push the score to 252.
Louth came out to bat with positive starts by Koen on the attack for the first ball.
Struck by a good bouncer and surviving the open spells from the bowling attack, Koen fell just short of a well battled 50 and was bowled for 49.
Man of the match Brown contributed with the bat and made a well deserved 47.
However, Louth found it hard to keep the momentum going and were bowled out for 159.
The Louth captain praised everyone for their commitment in the field with some good fielding by P. Grayson, S. Duff, H. Hall and J. Brindle.
This week Louth will be on home soil in search of 20 points.