Papplewick & LInby lose to title rivals Cavaliers & Carrington but stay in the hunt

“We couldn't quite get over the line though we gave it a good shake,” he said.

“We were well within grasp of a victory for most of the day really.

“But I don't think that game will define our season. Wherever we finish, I don't think we will look back and see this as the one that got away.

“We were short on players again. Two of our pros – Toby Pettman and Scott Steel - have only played one game each due to county commitments, and we also miss Freddie McCann, who is at school. So we should be proud of where we are at.

“We played Cavs, arguably the best team in the league, missing all those players and should have won so there are massive positives to take.

Cavaliers batted first and made 253-6 off their 50 overs, Imran Butt their star turn with 118 not out, Sunny Patel adding 39 and Shivsinh Thaker chipping in with 29.

With Brent Williams and Callum Mckenzie gone and Papplewick 41-2, skipper Ben Trevor-Jones dug in with 108 not out and waited for someone to give him serious backing.

But, aside of Louis Bhabra (25) Papplewick were always behind the rate and ended up on 235-9 with Farhan Ahmed (3-32 off 19 overs) and Rehan Ahmed (3-52 off nine) doing most of the damage.

“When we were bowling I felt like we had them under control the whole time,” said Trevor-Jones.

“It was a really short boundary to one side and the wicket was used but still in good nick. So I thought keeping them to about 250 it would be very chaseable.

“We did keep them to 250 though they scored a lot of runs late and it was a good, structured innings from them.

“But if we'd taken one or two of the chances we had we could have had them all out for 220-230 and that chase then turns into a very achievable one.

“We did have our chances in the run chase as well. If we had just put together one good partnership through the middle it would have been the difference.”

He added: “It was nice to be able to contribute with a century in a game like that. Others have done a fantastic job recently so I felt it was my time.

“I was trying to make sure we managed to ensure the two points as I thought that would be good in the context of the game.

“But I left myself a few too many runs to get in the last couple. We nearly got there.

“I think we needed about 35-40 off the last three. But in the second to last over we lost two wickets and only scored five runs.

“The two points we came away with are still something to be happy about.”

Papplewick will now look to get back to winning ways at home to Plumtree on Saturday.

“After losing to Hucknall we bounced back and beat two good sides to push us straight back up. So Hucknall now feels like a bit of a blip,” said Trevor-Jones.

“This weekend feels similar and eight points will keep us going and keep us locked in that top three.

“But we know Plumtree have some very good players, particularly a very strong top order batting line-up.

“We will still not be at full strength so we know we have a big challenge ahead of us. It is a huge game.”