U9s enjoy Maghull tournament

Juniors win once match and lose two

Rainhill's under 9s participated in the Maghull tournament on Saturday and played very well, winning one of their games and performing creditably in the other two.

The tournament was a fundraiser for Zoe's Place Children's Hospice and had 8 teams participating, with four in each group. Rainhill were grouped with hosts Maghull, Sefton Park and Widnes.

Rainhill lost their first match against Widnes, but wickets from Heidi Page and Alice Ashcroft gave them something to cheer about. Rainhill's batting was solid but they couldn't score at the rate needed to match Widnes.

Rainhill's second match was against Sefton Park. Sefton Park got off to a flyer, with the opening batter hitting two sixes from the first two deliveries. However, Rainhill hauled themselves into the match, with two excellent run-outs and wickets from Heidi Page and Emily Ashcroft helping to limit their opponents to a net score of 249.

Rainhill batted steadily with everyone contributing something. With two overs remaining, Rainhill were on 225, requiring 25 to win. That became 30 when, with the first ball of the penultimate over, Joseph Saunders was bowled. However, from the last 11 deliveries Joseph (pictured, above) hit 28 (including 2 fours and 3 sixes) while Alice contributed four. Joseph hit the last ball of the match for six to give Rainhill the win on the final ball. It had been as close as that!

The final match, against Maghull was closer than the first had been but Rainhill were unable to find the runs they needed for a place in the final. All the same, everyone involved enjoyed the games and the occasion. The top run scorer was Joseph Saunders and the leading wicket-taker was Heidi Page (pictured, right). Rainhill's fielding is improving as evidenced by three run-outs - two from Lucy Gibson and one from Joseph Saunders.