Chris Booth in action on Saturday

A young Heywood Seconds side showed plenty of talent and potential as they easily beat Rochdale at Crimble on Saturday.

They bowled Rochdale out for just 106 after posting an excellent target total of 197-8 off their 50 overs.

Star of the show with the bat was Dom Fawcett, whose fine 53 was by a distance the most impressive effort of the day with the bat. The younger Fawcett brother made a difficult wicket look like a belter at times, standing tall to pull anything short from the visiting attack.

Matt Hood had given the innings some impetus, and then Phil Dawson dug in alongside Fawcett. Dawson grafted well, but Fawcett looked a class apart as he moved his feet well to get well forward, but was especially impressive against the short ball.

After Dawson had lobbed a catch while trying to get after Avery, Fawcett started to struggle a little as the wicket seemed to pop a bit and he edged behind for an excellent 53.

Wickets fell and the scoring stopped, but then the doughty Chris Booth and skipper Adam Fawcett showed their growing maturity when they put on 44 for the sixth wicket. Booth was the initial aggressor, scoring runs in the style that always suggests there is more to come from him, but when he went Fawcett upped it a gear.

He picked his length well, looking to hit over the offside, and struck some powerful yet orthodox blows to take his side to a very good total.

Dom Fawcett then struck the first blow, before James Mills came to the party. He picked up three excellent wickets, bowling full at a decent pace, including a brilliant slip catch from Blundell as he just missed out on a hat-trick.

Ben Thulborn, back in the team to the pleasure of a good home support thanks to the abandonment of the first team game at Redbrook, enjoyed a long spell with his off-spinners. He looked rusty at times, but when he got his rhythm he flighted it and turned it well to pick up 3-32.

Skipper Adam Fawcett capped a fine all-round day with bat, ball and captaincy by picking up two late wickets, but it was perhaps fitting that brother Dom finished with the final wicket to put the seal on a fine personal and excellent team performance.

HEYWOOD 2nds
M Hood c Duffy b Saville 19
P Dawson c Iqbal b W Avery 22
D Fawcett c Duffy b Malik 53
T Blundell lbw b Malik 5
B Thulborn c Maz Mohammed b Malik 3
C Booth c Ahmed b Maz Mohammed 22
A Fawcett b Saville 33
K Nugent b Maz Mohammed 0
J Mills not out 2
B Sutcliffe not out 1
Extras 37
Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 197
Fall of wickets: 34-1, 104-2, 117-3, 122-4, 125-5, 169-6, 169-7, 196-8
Bowling: Saville 11-0-58-2, Ul-Haq 4-0-17-0, W Avery 15-4-33-1, Malik 12-1-44-3, Duffy 4-0-22-0, Maz Mohammed 4-1-17-2
ROCHDALE 2nds
J Duffy c Blundell b Mills 17
W Avery b D Fawcett 6
K Ahmed b Mills 8
R Oldfield c Nugent b A Fawcett 15
H Iqbal lbw b Mills 0
F Fawad c P Dawson b A Fawcett 1
M Mohammed c Harding b Thulborn 13
J Pattison b Thulborn 4
A Saville b Thulborn 20
M Ul-Haq not out 4
M Malik b D Fawcett 1
Extras 17
Total (36.1 overs) 106
Fall of wickets: 13-1, 32-2, 38-3, 38-4, 41-5, 64-6, 77-7, 92-8, 105-9, 106-10
Bowling: D Fawcett 9.1-0-33-2, J Mills 7-2-16-3, A Fawcett 9-2-24-2, B Thulborn 11-0-32-3

[Show as slideshow]

123►

Runs for Ben Thulborn

HEYWOOD’S second team got back on the winning trail in emphatic style, after the setback of last week’s home defeat to Middleton, with a nine-wicket romp at Crompton.

Captain Adam Fawcett had, on winning the toss, no hesitation in inserting the home side of a soft wicket. And his decision was soon vindicated by the opening attack of John Keyworth and Rick Purser.

They proved too miserly for the Crompton top order, and Keyworth accounted for two of the early wickets followed by the run-out of experienced top-scorer Glenn Rigby.

And, as the innings progressed, each bowling change helped to turn the screw on attempts by the home batsmen to score more than a couple of runs per over.

Dominic Fawcett and the increasingly competitive Jack Morley frustrated the vastly more experienced Crompton players, with Morley in particular producing his best spell of the season.

He took the eye of several seasoned and knowledgeable observers with the length and pace of his bowling, totally belying his tender years.

Purser and Keyworth returned to wrap up the tail, and a well-below par score of 84 left the home side looking quite dejected.

When Phil Dawson and Roger Smethurst opened the batting for Heywood, things looked rosy when the former smashed a class boundary through cover from the third ball of the innings. Unfortunately, a hesitant waft at the next delivery saw him edge a catch behind.

What followed was an excellent partnership between Smethurst and 17-year-old Ben Thulborn – the latter enjoying a welcome return to form.

Both batsmen were watchful against anything straight and full, but took toll of short and wide deliveries, mixing things up with aggressive running between the wickets.

Runs came freely and Heywood reached their target in the 22nd over to pocket a welcome maximum five points.

CROMPTON 2nds
G Rigby run out 27
M Hall c Thulborn b Keyworth 3
M Sutton c Thulborn b Keyworth 8
S Smith lbw b Purser 5
J Punchard st Booth b Morley 16
J Allott c Blundell b D Fawcett 5
R Billing c A Fawcett b Morley 0
L Bradley b Keyworth 1
H Kershaw-Whittle c Blundell b Purser 1
D Clegg b Purser 1
S Webb not out 0
Extras 13
Total (38.5 overs) 84
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-34, 3-41, 4-54, 5-63, 6-66, 7-74, 8-74, 9-83, 10-84
Bowling: Keyworth 11-0-39-3, Purser 12.5-4-18-3, D Fawcett 7-2-17-1, Morley 8-2-9-2

HEYWOOD 2nds
P Dawson c Webb b Sutton 4
R Smethurst not out 35
B Thulborn not out 36
Extras 10
Total (for 1 wkt, 21.5 overs) 85
Fall of wickets: 1-4
Bowling: M Sutton 4-0-23-1, S Webb 5-1-14-0, J Punchard 6-1-10-0, J Allott 5.5-0-27-0, H Kershaw-Whittle 1-0-9-0