Still uphill battle for Holson’s men

ROYSTON went down by 96 runs to mid-table Barrington.

After missing the chance to catch relegation battlers Fulbourn last week because of rain, Royston desperately needed to pick up points.

Skipper Craig Holson lost the toss and was put into the field by Barrington.

And Royston were buoyed in the second over when Hopwood was caught behind off Paul Harris (8-0-54-4) and again six overs later when Harris dismissed Ferrer for 18.

Barrington's Douglas was next to go when he was caught by Chris Hootton from Matt Gillham's bowling for 28, and that brought Davies to the crease to partner Jarman.

This partnership took Barrington to 159 with Jarman reaching 63 before he went with Harris taking the catch at backward point from David Sladen's bowling.

In the final period of the Barrington innings, the score crept away from Royston slightly as Davies reached 93.

When Davies finally fell, Royston begun to clear through the Barrington tail end, with Hootton and Harris both taking further wickets, Harris getting his fourth.

But by this stage the damage was already done, and Royston had to chase a total of 261.

With such a large total Royston skipper Holson came out all guns blazing, while Matt Graham was unlucky to middle his first attacking shot straight to Jarman after 10 overs.

On the whole the Royston batsmen failed to get into gear, with the only bright spark being Holson, although Paul Miller and Gilham made solid starts before they were dismissed by S Douglas (8.4-3-30-3) who took three wickets.

Barrington's Smith (12-1-34-3) also caused problems and took three wickets of his own as Royston crumbled.

A 25-run partnership between father and son saw the Hootton's take the total to 165 and ensure the bonus point, but it was not enough to stop Royston slumping to defeat and still searching for their first victory.