Kinsey stars for Montgomery

A man-of-the-match performance from all-rounder Rob Kinsey wasn’t enough to secure all the points for Montgomery who picked up six points for their winning draw with Forton in the Shropshire Division One.

Put into bat, Kinsey cracked a steady 63 to steer Montgomery to 164-4 in their 45 overs on a day when runs were hard to come by. Phil Betts weighed in with 31. Forton started well but Kinsey came on as second change to take 4-47 with Keith Griffiths claiming 2-19 to restrict Forton to 149-7.

Welshpool found runs tough to find after being set a target of 178-3 by Condover. In reply, Dale Evans’s side could only muster 150-4 for a losing draw.

It was a last-ball drama for Welshpool II in Division Five who lost by the tightest of margins to Ludlow and South Shropshire III. Needing four to win, Dave Proctor smashed a massive six to deny the hosts. Batting first, Welshpool had earlier made 124-9 off their 35 overs with Dan Chodeki (20), Liam Monk (28) and Rob Anderson (22) the main contributors.

It was tight throughout the reply as Tom Anderson (2-26) and stalwart Steve Monk (2-30) kept Welshpool in touch before the last ball heartbreak inflicted by the impressive Proctor (78).

Guilsfield’s promotion charge took a knock when Forton II inflicted a six-wicket defeat on them. The villagers were whittled out for 134 with Dan Brown cracking 48 and Aled Lloyd making a neat 29. But Guilsfield couldn’t make regular breakthroughs as Forton came home with wickets and time to spare. There was a pair apiece for Brown and Matt Jones.