Rampant Roffey thump Haywards Heath to go second

Luke Barnard finished with bowling figures of 5-22 in Roffey CC's convincing win over Haywards Heath CC. Picture by Steve Robards

The visitors were unable to pose any real threat in the face of an outstanding bowling display by Luke Barnard after George Fleming had inflicted early damage.

Heath inserted Roffey and Max Barson dismissed both openers, but from 40-2 the hosts prospered, firstly with 32 from Josh Fleming, then through 82 from Rohit Jagota – including four sixes – and then an unbeaten 72 from ever-reliable skipper Matt Davies.

Roffey felt sufficiently confident to declare with five overs unused, and the positive move soon saw the visitors slip to 43-3 thanks to a trio of scalps from George Fleming.

Barnard then bowled top scorer Shelton Forbes for 32, following which Harnoop Kalsi chipped in with two wickets, between and after which Barnard ended with 5-22 from just 7.1 overs, Heath slipping remorselessly to 121 all out, with only a breezy 15 ball 25 not out from tailender Tim Upchurch giving Heath the slightest comfort before they departed without even a solitary point.

A full scorecard from the game can be found here.

Davies told the County Times: “It was a good performance and after losing at Preston Nomads and then being rained off last week we needed it, and it was nice to win in a thumping manner.

"The wicket wasn’t easy to bat on - they bowled well up front, and previously we’d been losing wickets in clusters, so we spoke about building partnerships and that’s what we managed to do.

"We felt confident that we’d set a demanding target, and then Barney (Barnard) bowled beautifully, he’d been working really hard at training, so it was pleasing for him to be rewarded and good for the rest of the team to see, giving us all a lift. If we can win again next week then we’ll be there or thereabouts at the mid point of the season – that’s our aim.”

Leaders Preston Nomads CC – now with 173 points - dismissed Brighton & Hove cc for a seemingly insufficient 133, only to lose by 13 runs after looking certain winners on 73-1, Stephen Rigg delivering killer blows with 8-32.

And, also good for Roffey, Three Bridges CC beat third in the table East Grinstead CC (156 points) by chasing down a 258 run target to win by six wickets with four balls to spare.

Roffey are now second, 13 shy of Nomads, and on Saturday travel to sixth-placed Brighton and Hove.