THERE were no smiles from New Farnley’s players on Saturday after they lost the Yorkshire Premier Leagues’ play-off final, which was well-staged by Castleford CC at Savile Park.
It wasn’t just that North Yorkshire & South Durham League champions Richmondshire had beaten them by four wickets with an over to spare in an enthralling contest.
It was that Bradford Premier League champions New Farnley felt that they were on the wrong end of some umpiring decisions.
Umpiring can be a lonely and challenging existence, but if there were errors made by either Tony Tennant or Matt Tyers, they affected both sides.
New Farnley were so incensed that none of their players wanted to be interviewed afterwards, with skipper Alex Lilley admitting: “I might say something that I later regret.”
However, Richmondshire skipper Rob Carr was up for a chat in a contest that was delayed by half an hour until 11am due to a wet outfield and dew and reduced to 46 overs per side.
He said: “We had always intended to bowl, but there was that much dew around at half 10 that the decision became a bit tricky.
“But in that half an hour it dried up so we decided to bowl and chase a score, having had a look at the pitch.”
New Farnley were given a fine start by Aidan Langley, who scored a careful 50 off 90 balls, only hitting two fours.
The first wicket didn’t fall until 72 was on the board, though Langley’s fellow opener Steve Bullen had retired not out with a quad injury when the score was 10-0 after five overs, Lilley replacing him.
Adam Ahmed gave the innings a late boost by hitting 44 off 42 balls, including five fours and the only six of the match on a ground where the boundaries square of the wicket were very big.
New Farnley finished on 179-9, with spinners Shafiqullah Ghafari (3-62) and Caleb Bradford (4-31) getting among the wickets, with the latter dismissing Bullen, who came back in at 153-6.
Carr said: “We thought their score was about par after we had them in a bit of trouble.
“Adam batted really well and chasing 180 we thought that both teams were in the game.
“Alex blew my pad off early and then got Shaf out with a contentious decision (he was given caught behind after the ball apparently flicked a stump but did not dislodge a bail).
“They were strong favourites when we were 89-6 after 23 overs, but we then had a brilliant partnership.”
Michael Layfield was out for 34, but former Durham player Gary Pratt (59 not out) and Sam Wood (46no) then combined in an unbroken partnership of 94 to see Richmondshire home.
Lilley, bowling for the first time since August 4 after Achilles and tendonitis issues, swung the ball throughout his two spells to take a superb 4-29 in 14 overs.
Carr added: “I told Gary at the tea interval to just try and bat with everyone else.
“I have seen it so many times where he controls a run chase and knows what to do.
“We just needed someone to bat with him, and Sam is capable of a knock like that even though he comes in at No.8.
“We said before the game that no team from the NYSD had won this competition before, and this pretty much completes the set for us, apart from the ECB National T20.
“To beat a side like New Farnley is even better, but the umpiring decisions evened themselves out.
“Shaf was given out caught behind, while (former New Farnley man) Dan Hodgson’s lbw looked like it has pitched outside leg stump.
“On the other hand, they had a couple of caught behinds that were not given, but it is not easy getting every decision right.”
As for what is next for this excellent Richmondshire side, Carr said: “We won our league by a country mile and we would love to keep this side together.
“Shaf is pretty much signed on for next season and we would love to have a real pop at the ECB National Club Championship again, having lost in the second round this year.
“It is nice to go into a winter not thinking about who you need to bring in.
“Shaf was going to come over here last year but the Afghanistan Board blocked him coming because he was going to get called up for Afghanistan A, which fell through.
“He is in a different situation now as he has nothing to go home for (cricket-wise), so he is keen to stay here with us.
“It has been nice to have him here in late September too, when other clubs don’t have their overseas player.”
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