Having inserted the home side, Marehay saw them reach 55 for 1 when a flurry of wickets left Nutbrook reeling at 106 for 7 thanks to bowlers Dean Mills, Rich Wood, Martin Camm, James Kyte and Neil Sparham.

From then on progress was slow as they regrouped and the innings closed on 161 for 9 from the 50 overs with Mills (3-42) and Kyte (2-13) being the leading wicket takers for Marehay.

In reply openers Camm and Watson gave the visitors a good platform before Aussie Watson was out for 27 with the score on 41, this progressed to 78 before they lost the next wicket but Camm with 61 and Dave Buckley with a quickfire 20 not out saw Marehay safely home for the loss of 4 wickets in the 36th over.

This gave Marehay their third win in succession following victories over Staveley and Swarkestone to move them futher up the table but the division is so tight that they are just 30 points off third place but only 41 points above the bottom club, still plenty of work to do!

2nds

At the Maryfield the seconds welcomed Darley Abbey looking to build on the previous week’s encouraging performance at Ilkeston and they didn't disappoint as they racked up a maximum 27-point victory.

Batting first most of the Marehay batsmen got a start with four of them getting into the twenties but youngsters Jonno Bradder with 46 and Matt Bailey with 33 were the only ones to progress further as they finished on a respectable final total of 219 for 7 from the 46 overs, Eddie Hodgson with 4 for 45 being the pick of Darley bowlers.

However, the visitors did not find runs easy to come by in their innings and lost wickets regularly as they slumped to 87 for 9 and only a spirited last wicket stand of 48 by Graham Tree and Dave Winfield saw them reach 135 when Winfield was last man out in the 39th over.

All the Marehay bowlers performed well with three wickets each for Craig Robinson and Chris Bradder, two for Ryan Parsons plus the ‘elder statesman’ John Longdon returning figures of 13 overs 9 maidens 1 wicket for 10 runs.

3rds

Having been defeated for only the second time this season the previous week, the thirds bounced back with an easy win at Wirksworth to keep them in third place just eight points behind second placed Belper Amateurs.

Asking the young home side to bat first Marehay soon had them reeling thanks to Jamie Bromley (4-12), Mick Buckley (3-11) and John Edwards (2-13) with only numbers 9 and 10 batsmen reaching double figures as Wirksworth were all out for 83 despite using all 46 overs.

Marehay had little trouble in reply only losing two wickets as in-form Andy Bromley with 49 not out and Terry Tinsley with 24 saw them home in just 24 overs for another 22-point victory.

4ths

The closest game of the weekend came at the Maryfield on Sunday in a Mansfield Sunday League game as the fourth team took on Riddings with both sides containing many youngsters.