Witley hauled themselves off the bottom of the I'Anson table with their first win of the season on Saturday.
They asked visitors Headley to bat first and Rob Dale struck an important early blow by bowling Ashley Cook in the second over. This set the tone of the innings and only three batsmen made over 20.
The innings was wrapped up quickly when Dale returned to the attack and took four wickets in nine balls to finish with impressive figures of 5 for 17 in 7.3 overs.
Witley were left 51 overs to score 110 and an opening stand of 49 between Mark White and Mark Barrow put them well on the way. Barrow completed the club's first half-century of the season, leaving skipper Kieran Ritchie and Jamie Taylor, who had earlier made two excellent stumpings, to see Witley home with 14 overs to spare. Downham bowled well for Headley.
Fernhurst now prop up the division after losing at Dogmersfield. On a slow, sticky wicket, Dogmersfield openers Martin Wood and Nic Hindle did well to put on 32. Wood's careful 34 was to prove vital in the context of the game. The middle order fell to Tremlett and Davis (four wickets apiece) and only Mark Cartwright, on his return to Dogmersfield cricket, made any impression on the tight bowling as the home side slipped to 123 all out in the 48th over.
Fernhurst never got going in reply. Skipper Len Smith did the initial damage with 5 for 20 and the late fireworks were provided by 17-year-old Eddie Smith who, after an opening spell of 1 for 12 from seven overs, returned with some of the fastest bowling seen at Dogmersfield for many a day. He dashed Fernhurst's hopes of saving the match by taking 3 for 0 in two overs.
Frensham, meanwhile, have opened up a sizeable lead in their championship defence, having reeled off five consecutive wins. Their latest victims were Lindford who, put in on a lively wicket, tried to bat positively against the menace of Coldicott and Falkiner. However, Maxwell did the most damage with his medium pace, taking 6 for 45, and although Henderson anchored the innings, the visitors were dismissed for 127. Harrison took an outstanding catch at short-leg.
Lindford bowled tightly in reply, but Harrison and Chuter dug in to put on 46 before the former 'fell on his sword' trying to increase the run-rate. The visitors took five more wickets before Maxwell saw his side home with three overs to spare.
Grayshott's slow wicket was again reluctant to yield runs. Gary Hunt was the mainstay against The Bourne, batting 34 overs for 22. At 42-4 after 30 overs, an acceleration was badly needed, and Osborn, Sampson, Ayling and Sobey added quick runs to take the score to 128-9 at 48 overs. Matt Crawley bowled with great control. Nine of his first 10 overs were maidens and he took 4 for 17 in 15.
The Bourne began badly and lost newcomer Fedee, a former St Lucia U/19 captain, to a Wheble inswinger for a duck. The visitors were in the driving seat while Eddleston (39) was there. But after his dismissal, Bourne settled for the draw.
Thursley had Puttenham 44-5 at one stage, but opener Travis Robinson rescued his side with a fine innings and had reached 75 when he was run out. The visitors immediately declared on 165-7, backing their bowlers to complete the job in 45 overs. For Thursley, John Heyworth finished with 4 for 72 from a marathon 22 overs.
De Cairies and Baiden set about the task with vigour and their opening partnership seemed to put Thursley in the driving seat. But they had to set their sights on a draw after losing quick wickets and the Puttenham bowlers very nearly pulled it off. The last pair of Heyworth and Rapley finally played out time amidst much appealing. Beagley took 4 for 48 from 23 overs.
Hamish Macdonald accelerated the run-rate and then Purdie took up the challenge with a quickfire 29. Wickets continued to tumble, however, and the innings closed on 127 in the 48th over. Cooper and Randall took three wickets apiece.
Kingsley set out their stall from the start, playing in their normal aggressive style....and it worked for a while. At 65-3 after 15 overs (and after a series of inexplicable dropped catches) they were strongly placed. However, with the introduction of Alistair Macdonald for his first bowl of the season and with the outcricket sharpening up, Tilford began to take the initiative.
Martyn at last received some reward for his endeavours, while Macdonald got amongst the wickets with tight wicket-to-wicket bowling. Only Cooper showed further resistance before Kingsley were dismissed for 102 with several overs remaining. Four straight wins for Tilford who go third in the table.