HUNTLEY Cricket Club likes to give younger players an opportunity to gain confidence on the pitch and that’s what they did with the inclusion of 14-year-old bowler Beth Powell for the Cheltenham, Gloucester and Forest League game against Lydney III.

Following on from their opening win away at Ruardean last week but with an understrength side, Huntley’s first XI was hoping for a second victory to open their account at home.

Losing the toss, Huntley were put into bat first with openers Rich Bowman & Jon Green getting off to a solid start, putting 30 on the scoreboard after five overs and finding the boundary on a number of occasions.

Three tight overs followed before Jon Green fell in the 9th over on 11.

A steady few overs then followed, with neither side gaining an advantage, before Rich Bowman was bowled in the 18th over for 41, with the score on 81-2.

Josh Cooper then joined Steve Powell in the middle, with the pair adding another 51 runs to the score before Steve was run out on 38.

Colin Reeves was then bowled in the following over, Steve Wood the over after and Tom Mann three overs later to leave Huntley on 146-6 in the 38th over.

Josh Cooper had an innings to remember, reaching a career high score of 42 not out, with the most dramatic final over.

With Huntley on 173, they needed two runs from the last ball to for an extra batting bonus point.

Playing a short tap to mid-wicket it looked like only a single was coming, but a fielding error led to an overthrow reaching the boundary, plus another run scored to add six to the total, giving Huntley the bonus point and a 1st innings score of 179.

In reply, Lydney lost an early wicket, in the fourth over, bowled by Colin Reeves but the visitors kept pace with the run rate and by the 10th over were pulling in front.

Another wicket to Reeves, caught behind by Josh Cooper kept them in check but it wasn’t until the 26th over that the next breakthrough came, by which time Lydney had reached 129-3 and were coasting towards a win.

Bowling from Steve Wood and Beth Powell at tage started to help put the brakes on the run rate before captain Jon Green struck in his first over, caught by Tom Mann.

Steve Powell then joined the attack, taking wickets in the 36th and 38th overs.

The visitors were on 173-6, needing five runs to win from the last two overs.

Jon Green stepped up with a maiden in the penultimate over and pile the pressure on the visitors.

The final over fell to Steve Powell who got two wickets, for the loss of just three runs, bringing the home team home a three-wicket victory.

Huntley’s Women’s XI made it a weekend of victories with a win over Corse and Staunton in the Women’s League North.

With Corse winning the toss and deciding to bat, Captain Becki Albrighton set her field at The Gillman’s Oval, selecting Katie Foot and Lynne McAlpine to open the bowling attack.

It was clear from the off that the C&S batters were going to go big, swinging at every ball, but Foot managed to secure a maiden with her first over to frustrate the openers.

In McAlpine’s first over the swashbuckling style undid batter Rebekah Rice as she was caught superbly on the boundary by Kay Moore – a cracking start for Huntley and quite possibly the most significant wicket of the day.

The run rate then slowed but it wasn’t until the 11th over that the next wicket fell, this time off Emily Kibble’s bowling, caught by Allbright. Another wicket followed in the next over, bowled by Katie, Corse were now on 57-3.

Further wickets for Allbright in the 16th McAlpine in the 17th and a catch behind in the 18th by Fran Cinderey off the bowling of McAlpine, had the visitors on 79-6 but a late flurry of runs gave them a total of 102.

Huntley openers Emily Kibble and Kirsty McAlpine set about their task reaching 72 at the halfway stage, just 31 short of the target, helped by an early dropped catch.

Another 14 runs were added before Kibble was bowled lbw. McAlpine was dismissed with the next ball which set up a partnership between Albrighton and Foot, needing 17 runs from seven overs.

Albrighton made light of the task, hitting four boundaries and posting the winning total with five overs to spare.