Heywood Seconds suffer from withdrawals, but still plenty of cause for optimism

More runs at the top of the order for Mikey Grogan

Heywood's second team suffered the inevitable backlash of an extraordinary raft of unavailabilites and injuries at the weekend.

The double header against Rochdale and Werneth might have appeared, at the start of the season, like a chance to gather big points. Instead, it turned out to be a miserable one from 10.

And that the majority of the players missing were bowlers proved crucial.

First up were Rochdale at Redbrook, who got off to a flyer through teenage openers Aughey and Duffy.

While Rick Purser proved his usual parsimonious self at one end, the runs flowed at the other and it wasn’t until the 28th over that the breakthrough was made.

This should have happened much earlier as Duffy gave three relatively straightforward catches that went to ground. It was a theme that continued throughout the two matches, with a total of 10 catches going begging!

Only Purser returned figures worthy of note, although young Jack Morley continued to pick up wickets.

Heywood’s reply started reasonably enough, with Mikey Grogan compiling an excellent back-to-back half-century in his new role as opener.

However, a middle order collapse took away any realistic chance of chasing down the total and only a late hitting flurry from Rob Morley gave a sniff of a point

Unfortunately, even this was denied when Duffy took a stunning return catch off Purser to emphasise a key difference between the teams on the day.

Sunday’s game saw Werneth come to Crimble, the earlier fixture this season having gone Heywood’s way and the home team bolstered by the return of James Mills to the attack.

Hopes were high of repeating the feat, but the away team hit out from the off to rack up 70 runs without loss by the 15th over.

Cue the introduction of the experienced Chris Kaye, who proceeded to tease out of the opposition at regular intervals in an unchanged spell from the pavilion end which brought a six-wicket haul.

With some catches at last sticking – including a notable cracker on the boundary from Roger Smethurst – Heywood were reasonably happy with Werneth’s total of 178 at the halfway point.

The chase proved, however, to be a bit of a damp squib for too long, with the key feature being a seeming reluctance by the top order to show some urgency when it was required.

A mid-order injection of energy by captain Adam Fawcett, together with a late show of promise by Keelan Nugent, at least secured the weekend’s only point, but not before an abject umpiring decision had seen the end of Phil Dawson. At least the bowler could have had the good grace to catch the blatant bump-ball return one-handed.

Mention must be made, however, of two players from the weekend who did themselves credit. Young Michael Witts stepped up from the Under-13s and kept wicket for a total of 120 overs during the two days, while Rob Morley should take credit for stepping in at the last minute on Saturday and showing what a simple thing batting can be.

Rochdale 2nds v Heywood 2nds

Rochdale
K Aughey c P Dawson b Kaye 48
J Duffy c Grogan b Purser 34
K Ahmed c Grogan b A Fawcett 39
E Hayee b Morley 10
F Fawad c Smethurst b Kaye 27
R Jackson c and b Morley 6
N Hayee not out 16
M Mohammed not out 4
Extras 18
Total (for 6 wkts, 50 overs) 202
Fall of wickets: 1-88, 2-91, 3-115, 4-155, 5-172, 6-190
Bowling: A Fawcett 10-0-68-1, R Purser 15-1-27-1, C Kaye 15-1-53-2, J Morley 10-0-50-2

Heywood
R Smethurst c Fawad b Malik 10
M Grogan c Malik b W Avery 50
P Dawson c N Hayee b Malik 10
T Blundell c N Hayee b Malik 0
C Kaye c Mohammned b Duffy 0
M Witts b Duffy 0
A Fawcett c Mohammed b Duffy 1
J Morley c Malik b W Avery 5
K Nugent c Jackson b Duffy 15
R Morley not out 34
R Purser c and b Duffy 1
Extras 23
Total (40.4 overs) 149
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-46, 3-50, 4-51, 5-52, 6-60, 7-98, 8-98, 9-149, 10-149
Bowling: A Saville 7-0-19-0, M Malik 10-1-36-3, J Duffy 13.4-3-48-5, W Avery 10-1-44-2

Heywood 2nds v Werneth 2nds

Werneth
R Khan c Purser b Kaye 30
A Khan c Nugent b Kaye 45
H Wardag c Smethurst b A Fawcett 27
A Azaad lbw b Kaye 2
N Khan c Mills b Kaye 12
B Tariq c Smethurst b Kaye 12
Z Ahmed c A Fawcett b Kaye 0
B Khan run out 6
M Rafiq not out 25
I Ahmed b Mills 5
H Ali lbw b Morley 0
Extras 14
Total (48.3 overs) 178
Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-106, 3-115, 4-115, 5-137, 6-139, 7-141, 8-158, 9-177, 10-178
Bowling: R Purser 7-1-30-0, J Mills 9-0-40-1, C Kaye 15-2-58-6, A Fawcett 8-1-22-1, J Morley 9.3-2-21-1

Heywood
R Smethurst lbw b R Khan 6
J Morley c Wardag b B Khan 13
P Dawson c and b Rafiq 27
T Blundell c Ahmed b N Khan 0
C Kaye b N Khan 25
A Fawcett run out 25
M Witts c Wardag b Rafiq 2
R Morley b Wardag 2
K Nugent not out 16
J Mills b Rafiq 5
R Purser not out 9
Extras 21
Total (for 9 wickets, 50 overs) 151
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-40, 3-41, 4-84, 5-104, 6-110, 7-113, 8-121, 9-126
Bowling: R Khan 5-0-18-1, H Wardag 12-1-32-1, N Khan 15-2-38-2, B Khan 6-0-25-1, M Rafiq 11-2-27-3, B Tariq 1-0-4-0