IT was a case of the one that go away for Willoughby as the first local derby encounter of the season against Dunchurch & Bilton went the way of the visitors at The Green in the South Northants League.
Having looked on course for victory, a lower order batting collapse saw the hosts snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as Dunchurch and Bilton recorded a narrow ten run victory.
With the recent deluge of rain affecting the square and as a result no matches possible during midweek at The Green, both sides were greeted with a soft pitch with low bounce which proved problematic for bowlers and batsmen alike across both innings.
However at tea confidence was high in the home camp that they could record a second win on the bounce by chasing down Dunchurch and Bilton’s total of 118 all out. Ashley Rayner with 5 for 35 and Nick Crane 2 for 17 were the pick of the WCC attack as Shaun Harnett made 30 and Connor Bowcutt 21 top scored for the visitors.
In reply, Willoughby looked on course at 84 for 4, owever the loss of skipper Ian Hughes for 20 just before the mid-innings drink break then saw a catastrophic loss of regular wickets. The home side contrived to lose their last six wickets for just 26 runs, in doing so handing the visitors victory by 10 runs.
Stuart Hall applied himself well to finish on 27 not out for the hosts in an otherwise frustrating batting performance from the hosts, as Tom Hourigan took 3 for 17 and Bowcutt 3 for 21.
Elsewhere in the Warwickshire Premier Division, Rugby lost out at Hampton & Solihull on Saturday by nine wickets.
The visitors were put in to bat first and were bowled all out for 174 from 43 overs with Steve Ward top scoring with 39 runs.
The home side made easy work in their reply as Giles Clements hit 60 not out and third batsmen Chris Hughes top scored with 68 to take Hampton & Solihull to 175 for 3 from just 35 overs.
