NORTHOP 215-9

DENBIGH 123

AS easy as 123 it may have been, but it was a disappointing North Wales Cricket League Premier Division weekend for Denbigh.

The Ystrad Road side headed east to Northop for their latest contest and it was the Flintshire hosts who were the happier of the two teams at the end courtesy of their comfortable 92-run success.

Nothing went in the visitors' favour on the day, including the fact that skipper Harrison Jones lost the pre-match toss.

The message from Northop captain Mark Poynton back to the changing room was for the opening batsmen to don their pads.

While no Northop partnerships topped 50, there were enough stands in the 30s and 40s to ensure that their 50 overs yielded a decent enough 215-9.

Opener Harry Lewis (52), Darren Williams (56) and Bart Ryan-Beswick (22) were the main contributors to this competitive tally.

The majority of Denbigh's five-man attack claimed wickets, spearheaded by Stuart Griffiths (3-43) and Sam Lewis (3-60).

There was also joy for Gerallt Lyall (2-32) and Jack Griffiths (1-45).

Denbigh never recovered after suffering a poor start to their innings.

Openers Gerallt Lyall and Andy Thomas both departed before the team tally had reached 10.

Sam Lewis was in excellent form with the bat, top scoring with an unbeaten knock of 73, but Stuart Griffiths (12) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as Denbigh were bowled out for 123 in the 35th over.

Mohammad Khan (4-16) and Andy Poynton (3-28) were the pick of the bowlers as Northop claimed 14 of the 15 points on offer.