2009

BORDEAUX v. EYMET

Sunday 3rd May 2009 Report by Nigel Jones

And Eymet completed a comprehensive win over arch-rivals Bordeaux.....dream on !!
A week of heavy rain deprived Eymet of their fixture against St.Aulaye and any meaningful mid-week practice. Bordeaux meanwhile enjoyed a good run-out against Angouleme. Consequently, a hard task faced Eymet as they rocked up at a sun-kissed Chateau Giscours. Well, most of the Eymet team. The captain's chauffeur-driven vehicle arrived somewhat behind schedule. Captain Horlock laid the blame on Marcus Swift and his motorway toll smart card, but it’s more likely that he was striving to maintain his pristine record for erratic time-keeping.

Bordeaux sent in Clinton Ferreira and Hugo Pinsent first in the absence of one or two players. Mostly they played watchfully as Alan 'The Cobra' Coombe and Nigel Jones hit the right places. The outfield was heavy with grass cuttings, and runs were hard to come by. After 10 overs they barely had 30 on the board. By 20 overs this had increased to 80 for only the loss of Hugo who was bamboozled and offered no shot to a hugely impressive Colin Stacey. The hard yards had been done and from an Eymet point of view, the last 20 makes painful reading. To begin with, we lost poor Sam Farrell who, standing up to Vince Morgan, took a flyer right in the middle of his forehead. He played no further part in the game (Mike Stratford's wife, Linda, fielded the last few overs for us, having resuscitated Sam !) .Clinton began to open his shoulders and was well supported by Neil Vasey. Furthermore, all the Bordeaux batters ran really well, stealing singles and turning ones into twos. Only the Cobra provided any resistance, bowling a tight second spell and returning figures of 0 for 27 off 8. The innings closed with Bordeaux on 213 for the loss of only 3 wickets.

Eymet's reply appeared battle-weary. The Bordeaux attack was consistent but nothing extraordinary. However John Reeves tempted Simon Palmer and Nigel into soft dismissals. Gamely supported by his driver Marcus, David Horlock was soon left carrying the flag. The highlight of his knock was an exquisitely-timed six over cover. Then Marcus holed out and when David went for 48 the writing was on the wall. Bill Rhodes, Tim Smith and Colin all showed some resistance with Bill, in particular, demonstrating an aggressive streak. When they departed the innings fizzled out at 108 off only 32 overs. Oh dear! I hope we've got our bad game out of the way for this season.

RESULT:
Lost by 105 runs. BORDEAUX 213 for 3 off 40 (C. Ferreira 91*, H. Pinsent 58)
EYMET 108 for 9 (innings closed) off 32.3 (D. Horlock 48,
J. Reeves 3 for 26, Hurst 3 for 25)