Lodway 1st XI had to settle for a third-place finish in Division 1 as results elsewhere went against them and they themselves fell to a hard-fought 15-run defeat at home to Lansdown 2nd XI.

Having chosen to bat first, Lansdown were quick to punish any poor bowling, but, with both wantaway Tobias Rice (1-32) and Caolan Pearce 2-46) striking in-between the boundaries, Lansdown found themselves 24-3 with visiting skipper Veal and left-hander Athay at the crease. As they did at Lansdown, the middle-order pair put Lodway to the sword, with the home fielders unable to make the most of the rare chances offered, with only home captain Crutchley J (0-12 from 8 overs) being spared from a glut of boundaries. With both Veal and Athay reaching their half-centuries, maximum bowling points looked a long way off, with the partnership reaching 137 before Rendell had Athay caught behind for 59 for Edmonds’ 13th catch of the season. Although Crutchley M (1-28) and Rendell (2-61) were able to strike at the other end, Veal determinedly drove towards his century, taking his team past 200 before being run out by Edmonds for 85 in the last over, with Lansdown closing on 215-7.

In reply, Lodway’s top order found run-scoring much harder against the accurate Lansdown opening bowlers, with Harris and Norval falling in the first ten overs with less than 30 on the board. Lodway then had their own revitalising stand, as Rice and Stitfall combined for a century partnership, Stitfall reaching his half-century ahead of Rice, even as the run-rate required continued to increase. Shortly after reaching his 50, Rice was unable to clear deep midwicket to fall for 54, and with Stubbs failing to trouble the scorer, it was left to Pearce and Stitfall to win the game for Lodway in the last ten overs. Unfortunately, the ask proved too much for Stitfall, who was stumped for an impressive and attacking 72, containing 3 6s, and, when Rowsell and Rendell both fell with the score on 154 in the 34th over, all hope seemed lost. Cousins Pearce and Matty Crutchley put on 25 in less than 3 overs before Crutchley was run out for a 7-ball 12, and Pearce then combined with his other cousin Joe Crutchley before Pearce was well caught by Bowery in front of the rambunctious home crowd for 24. The task left to last pair Crutchley J and Edmonds was 24 from 14 balls, and, although scampered singles and a streaky boundary took them to 200, Crutchley was unable to take his team any closer to the target when he was run out by the wicket-keeper’s direct hit at the bowler’s end to leave Lodway 15 short.

With news filtering through of Portishead’s victory, a win for Lodway would anyway have been academic, but third place with eleven victories across the 2024 season is a proud achievement for this competitive team.