Grace and favour

Goresbrook U9's won again on Sunday morning against a pretty young and inexperienced Buckhurst Hill side.
The visitors arrived with 14 players so a 12 a side match was played.
Hill won the toss and chose to bat.Disappointingly for coach Owen Elsom the huge majority of the visitors total came from wides and no balls without which the final total would have been considerably less. There were wickets for skipper Grace Wood, Ben Atkins, Archie Dias, Bella Boland and a run out and a catch for Ben Atkins but the pick of the bowlers was Harry Ivory who bowled a maiden and a wicket maiden in his two overs.
Hill totalled 275-7 from 24 overs for a net terriers score of 240.
Brooks were always well ahead of the target score with six not out innings coming from Bobby Gilder, Harry Ivory,Liam Elsom,Ollie Fredericks,Albert Sleight and debutant Bobby Veares. However Grace Wood and her partner Ben Atkins revelled in knowing they were 18 runs ahead and played without fear. Wood hit two boundaries in her innings of 13 although she was bowled twice by deliveries that kept low.
Brooks totalled 298-7 from their 24 overs for a net score of 263 to give a victory margin of 23 runs.
Coach Owen Elsom was pleased with the application shown by all the players but explained in his debrief that so many wides could cost them a victory in a more tightly contested game.
Next up is a Friday evening visit to North Stifford for a second game against Belhus.