The 1st XI travelled to Bretton Gate to take on Peterborough Town CC. After being asked to bat first, Horton made a positive start before losing both openers in quick succession. Thad Tucker (82) and Amitesh Nagarkar (48) came together and batted with outstanding intent, awareness and skill to put on 120 for the 3rd wicket. With the innings set up, old heads Will Knibbs (37) and Will Smith (22) astutely put on 54 for the 5th wicket setting up Finley Moffat to slap a quick 22, adding the coup de grace and taking the score to 253-7 - sealing maximum batting points.

Starting off, Knibbs (1-37) and Smith (1-38) took an opener each with them but struggled to find their lengths and Town were soon cruising at 112-2. The introduction of Finley Moffat (14-0-66-4) and veteran Steve Finch (14-4-31-3), re-called after eight years outside the 1s, turned the game in an unbroken 28 over spell of spin in match winning performances. However, Thad Tucker took Man of the Match adding 5 dismissals to his runs, 4 of them stumpings. With one wicket left to get, Dev Chandracant came into the attack with his leg spin. He delivered a four-card-trick and the Peterborough eleven didn’t spot the googly. Horton won with 2.2 overs to spare, in a first victory at Bretton Gate in memory. This week the 1s play Loddington & Mawsley CC at home.

The was another thriller on Saturday, with the 2s claiming the win against Finedon Dolben 3rd XI. Horton batted first and were in trouble after losing both the openers early, wickets continued to fall throughout the middle order and it was only when Zed Mirza (37) and Asim Rahman (13) came together that the board started to move. A couple of late boundaries from James Dadge brought the end of the innings as Horton were dismissed for 98.

A fired-up Ben Meachem (3-19) didn’t take this lying down and ripped out two openers in his opening salvo. Ben found support from Finn Herrington (4-18) who took out the rest of the top six as Finedon were reeling from the early blows. The introduction of young off-spinner Mitch Boffin (6-1-9-3) saw the lower order collapse in another match changing spell. Meachem returned to take the final wicket and seal an unlikely, fighting victory for Horton. This weekend the 2s travel away to Spencer Bruene CC.

Our 3rd XI travelled away to Braunston Paddox. Batting first, Horton started well with Kev Taylor (21) and Rohit Kutemate (40) forming a solid opening partnership. The dependable Mike Macdonnell then added his usual class to proceedings with a well-constructed 45. However, the rest of the order would not find much success and Horton were eventually dismissed for 126 from 39.5 overs.

The Braunston batsmen were in no mood to hang around. Thanush Devadasan (5-0-12-1) had some early success but the rest of the bowlers could not find their rhythm. Young Niam Haroon (1-26) added to the wicket tally but couldn’t stop Braunston racing to 129-2 off 23.2 overs. This weekend the 3s take on Wollaston CC.

Our 4th team travelled away to Haddon CC and once again fielded a number of our youngest senior players. Haddon CC elected to bat first and negotiated the opening spells without losing a wicket. The introduction of young off-spinner Tom Hodgkinson (2-39) brought the breakthrough, removing the dangerous opening batsman. Ben Parker (1-16) kept the wickets flowing before the introduction of Bethany Scott changed the game. Scott showed her promise claiming 4-12 from her 5 over spell, pegging back Haddon who finished on 161-7 from 40 overs.

The Horton reply got off to a decent start with Rick Falkner (20) finding some timing. Some experienced bowling from Haddon then took out the middle order before James Martin (24) and Vincent Keadell (15) came together and made a win look possible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be as Haddon would find the final four wickets to bowl Horton out for 110. This weekend the 4s take on Thrapston.