Copdock & Old Ipswichian captain Chris Swallow heaped praise on his side after they toppled high-flying Mildenhall on Saturday in the Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League.
Swallow wasn’t in attendance at Wamill Way (he was away), as the east Suffolk side beat a Mildenhall team who had made a great start to the season, by five runs in a thrilling finish.
But he was kept up to date on proceedings. He hopes the team will gain much from their victory.
“I was away in Dublin for the weekend, but I was refreshing my phone like crazy as the game went on,” he said.
“That’s a brilliant result for us, a really good result.
“We knew Mildenhall were up there, but we have belief in ourselves, even though we had a very young team out.”
Adam Ball made an impressive 73, while he and Jack Beaumont made a stand of 82 which was the bedrock of Copdock’s 200 for 8 in their 55 overs.
Murtaza Hussain was the star bowler for Mildenhall with 4 for 57.
In reply Mildenhall never really got going and were soon 54-4.
They were indebted to Nick Maiolo who was brilliant throughout scoring 113 runs, but Mildenhall crashed to 195 all out, falling just five runs short.
“We had a lot of young players in our team on Saturday, which was made the win more enjoyable,” added Swallow.
“I’ve got to pay tribute to Jack (Beaumont) who was captain on the day, he did a brilliant job.
“But we are under no illusions, the EAPL is a tough league, this result does show we have the ability to do well.”
With only the bottom side going down - and it is of course early days - Norwich, Vauxhall Mallards and Bury St Edmunds all find themselves at the bottom on 49 points.
“We can’t worry about the bottom of the table, especially at this stage of the season,” Swallow added.
“We’ve got two wins from six games and if we carry on with that ratio, we will be fine.
“Certainly when July gets here and we have more players to select from, that will make a difference.”
Copdock & Ipswichian entertain Cambridge Granta this Saturday, 11am start.
Cambridge themselves drew with Bury St Edmunds in a high-scoring game.
Led by a 300-run stand for the fourth wicket by Michael and Chris Pepper, the pair took the home side up from 52-3 to 357-3 in 52 overs.
Bury were set a revised target of 358 from 68 overs, and briefly threatened, but fell short in the end, making 259 for eight.
However, there was an excellent century from Murray Commins as Bury attempted to reach that Cambridge target.
Indeed when Commins and captain Sean Park were at the crease things looked good for the Suffolk side.
But when Park fell for the fourth wicket at 222, Bury’s hopes faded.
Sudbury’s dominating win over Great Witchingham at Walcis Park saw them jump to the top of the table.
Tom Huggins’ side crushed Witchingham by 170 runs.
And it was Huggins who led the way, falling just two runs short of a century. Adam Mansfield (44) and Darren Batch (74) providing ideal back-up at the top of the order.
Sudbury made 319 for eight and in reply Witchingham never looked likely to get close to the Suffolk team’s target. They were soon 78-5 and ended 149 all out, Dustin Melton taking four for 37.
Swardeston are hot on the heels of Sudbury at the top.
The Norfolk side did well to see off Burwell & Exning, chasing down a very respectable 271-7 (T Koen 100 not out), to take the 25 points by racing to 275 for four in just 41.5 overs – a terrific effort.
Batting was solid for Swardeston throughout, with Jason Reynolds, Joe Gatting and Peter Lambert all making half centuries.
Jaik Mickleburgh made 101 for Frinton-on-Sea, which included 13 fours, as they made 276-6 in 64 overs at Halvergate.
But they could only draw with Vauxhall Mallards who made 165 for seven in 59 overs.
Pulina Tharanga made a half-century to push Frinton up to their score, while Miguel Machado made a breezy 33.
A stand of 91 from Matthew Plater and Hudson De Lucchi for a while at least gave Mallards hope of chasing down Frinton’s score.
But as soon as De Lucchi went and Ben France was out for just 15, reaching the Essex side’s total never appeared realistic.
This weekend, leaders Sudbury entertain Vauxhall Mallards at Friars Street, while Swardeston travel to Frinton, Mildenhall are also on the road – at Burwell & Exning.
Bury St Edmunds entertain Norwich at The Victory Ground.
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