On the back of surprising defeat to Blaise, the Captain wanted to bat first, set a high target and defend this through tight bowling and fielding. Due to the absence of a few HOBs players at the stroke of 6pm (yours truly and Mr Trahar) the Captain's wish was granted (who says being late is a bad thing!).

Davies and JS Smith took to the wicket and we all relaxed at the boundary….Jon's first strike was lolled up nicely for the fielder who made no mistake and sent the batsman packing with a big golden duck...quack quack…we are all due one a year.. So enters Jo Smith…the murmur from the sidelines was that he looked confident and so this proved to be correct.

The on-looking middle and late order batsmen were provided with an excellent display of batting from SJ Smith and Davies with a beautiful array of shot selection and quick running. In return, the batsmen were provided with wholehearted support for their fellow HOBs with ripples of applause and fairly harsh shouts of "run 'em up".

After 4 wonderful boundaries and hard running, Davies finally succumbed to Burrell's bowling for an impressive 31. Smith continued to put up a resistance and was provided with 3 other "runners" after Davies' dismissal. Burrell, who was clearly the best of their bowlers took the scalps of Fillingham (3) and Brown (5 - one sweetly hit four) before Adams was run out last ball trying to extend the HOBs final tally. Burrell finished with a respectable 3-17.

Smith, who in the later stages of the game dispatched ball after ball across the boundary, dominated the HOBs batting performance with a stunning 69 (dude) from seven 4s and two agricultural 6s leaving the MOD to chase 121.

HOBs took to the field in high spirits and the bowling onslaught commenced. Joel and Jon led the attack but Cook and Oates stood firm until Jon bowled an unstoppable delivery which Cook could only palm onto his stumps with a cry of "oh nooooo".

Our star batsman soon demonstrated that he could also bowl and field taking 2 wickets, one courtesy of a difficult catch from Brown, and providing 2 run outs. Adams reliably took 2 wickets by dispatching their opening, slow scoring batsman and one of their three ducks.

With our bowlers 'on the money', our wicket keeper right up the crack of their batsman (excellent…Ash…excellent) and the field as tight as a Scotsman in a pub, we were feeling fairly confident that our score would not be surpassed. The Captain gave Ashford the opportunity to shine (with limited notice) and he kindly bowled a few down leg side to increase their tally. However, their run rate was low and upon the commencement of the final over the umpire informed the new batsman "right arm over…not enough to come!" Davies then wrapped it up with a wicket maiden over, providing a well-earned victory for HOBs.

An outstanding performance from man of the match Jo Smith and good team work boys.