Mullion march on

Mullion 1s produced another excellent all round performance to beat Chacewater 1s by eight wickets in the Division 5 top-of-the-table clash at Garro Lane and secure promotion for The Gulls. Skipper Jim Pearson won the toss and put the visitors in to bat on a slow Mullion wicket.

The opening pair of Widdison and Burson was soon broken when Mark Johnson jnr produced a jaffa to bowl Burson for 2. At the other end Jeff Charleston again bowled well and removed Armstrong (11) courtesy of a catch by Kevin Bosustow at cover to leave the visitors 36 for 2.

Tony Matthews was introduced to the attack and had the visiting batsmen in all sorts of trouble with his skiddy pace and he soon removed Rob Lawrence (7) leg before. This brought Mugford to the crease and together with Widdison they began to rebuild the Chacewater innings.

They put on 50 for the fourth wicket but needed to up the run rate to set Mullion a challenging target. Skipper Jim Pearson rested Tony Matthews after an excellent nine-over spell that went for only 13 runs and brought the flying doctors son Matthew Cuff and slow bowler Bosustow into the attack.

The bowling change soon paid dividends as Bosustow removed Mugford (19) and Widdison (30) in consecutive balls to reduce the visitors to 95 for 5 after 35 overs. Matt Cuff then bowled Mailling (10) and Bosustow held onto a return catch to remove the dangerous Berridge (10). Carr came and went run out going for a suicide run that even the girly throwing Keith Warbis couldn't miss and at 121 for 8, Mullion were looking for maximum bowling points.

They couldn't however get past the stout defence of Claydon (11no) and Richards (16no) who saw the innings through to the close to finish on 152 for 8. The target of 153 was always going to be within the reaches of Mullion's powerful batting line up, and the opening pair of Trevor Lee and Bosustow got Mullion of to a flyer with Lee again in impressive form punishing the loose bowling of the Chacewater attack, reaching his half century in only 47 balls.

The pair reached the 100 mark after only 21 overs and put on 132 for the first wicket when Lee was beaten by a good ball for a hard hit 82 in 75 balls that included 16 fours. Bosustow soon followed lbw for 26, leaving skipper Pearson (14no) and 'Shreds' Wheatley (7no) to score the remaining14 runs required for victory.

Chacewater 1s 152-8 in 48 ov (K Bosustow 3-26); Mullion 1s† 155-2 in 28.4 ov (T Lee 82). Mullion 1s beat Chacewater 1s by 10 wickets.

After securing maximum points over the bank holiday weekend it seems an almost certainty that the Division 5 West title will be won at Garro Lane on Saturday with Mullion 1s only requiring a further seven points from their final game of the season, where the hosts welcome Gulval. However, with indifferent weather forecasted for the weekend, and with Gulval being the only side to defeat Mullion this season, anything is still possible going into the last game.

After a comfortable eight wicket win over leaders Chacewater on Saturday, Mullion consolidated their 13-point advantage at the top visited and crushed Leedstown 2s by 10 wickets on Monday.

On a firm pitch Mullion skipper Jim Pearson opted to send his men into the field confident of skittling the opposition out early with an attack spear headed by Jeff 'Moby.' Charleston and Mark 'Mr Burns' Johnson. Although a tight opening spell entailed it was not until the eighth over that Charleston was able to remove local MP Andrew George, well caught behind the stumps from Pearson. Well placed at 38 for 1 that was as good as it got for the hosts as Tony 'Magners' Matthews entered the frame to support Charleston as the pair ripped through the Leedstown batsmen who offered little resistance in the form sensible cricket shots with Trevor Lee, Mark Johnson and Keith Warbis able to hold on to skyward catches to leave Leedstown on 48-4.

With Matthews able to remove the bails on a further three occasions and Charleston able to find the edge of batsman 7 and 9 to give Pearson two further catches, it was left to Matthew Cuff to wrap up the innings with Mark 'Hurt-Him' Haller holding on to a beauty in the gully, making up for his earlier dropped catch.

Set only 64 for victory anyone in Mullion's top-eight would have been delighted to take to the wicket and support the ever reliable Trevor Lee to record Mullion's 15th victory of the season. Some tight early bowling from the Leedstown captain only delayed the inevitable, when in the 18th over Trevor Lee (35 not out) guided his side to a triumphant victory, well supported by fellow opener Keith "Pretty Boy" Warbis (25 not out) giving Mullion victory by 10 wickets.

Leedstown 2s 63 in 20 ov (T Matthews 5-17, J Charleston 4-28); Mullion 1s† 67-0 in 18 ov (T Lee 35*, K Warbis 25*). Mullion 1s beat Leedstown 2s by 10 wickets.

At long last, Mullion 2's skipper Mark Johnson returned from his soirée around France and true to form called tails only to watch the coin go round in ever decreasing circles to end up on heads. St Ives fielded.

With regulars Joe Stutely not available (so no chance of him turning up late) and Dave Fowles out with a "side strain", Mullion did not have their strongest side to play one of the most important matches of the season to ensure that they still would stand a slim chance of promotion this year. But what a thriller it turned out to be.

Openers Barry Partridge and Mark Jennings were steady in the run progression and it was not until the 11th over that Jennings was bowled by Zane Brough but with the score on 24. This brought Bruce Jordan to the wicket and a 100-run partnership ended when Partridge was bowled by Aaron Rowe for 47.

Jordan held on to make a fine 68 before playing on to his wicket as the score reached 168. Mullion carried on with the vital aim of 200 runs always the target. Ian "Nursey" Mailes hit a very ugly 15 but as was pointed out from the crowd. "Both ugly and pretty runs go in the score book". As the 48th over concluded Mullion had notched up 202 for 7.

After tea, St Ives set off with some very impressive fast singles that had Mullion skipper Johnson wondering what field to set as he and Bhudda Laity opened the bowling. Both of them bowled well but without the sought after wicket. And it was not until the 16th over that Gary Tremayne bowled a full toss that Richard Goodman could not resist only to see it go straight to Mark Johnson's waiting hands.

However St Ives sensibly stayed focused and once again proved stubborn as they steadily progressed towards the target of 203. Then their wheels really fell off. Slow bowler Barry Partridge proved to be St Ives worst nightmare. If he bowled a bad ball, it was hit hard but straight to Ben Tremayne at long on. But there were not to be many bad balls as Barry went on to take seven St Ives wickets for 32. With Chris Lonsdale snapping up a couple St Ives were all out for 127 before 40 overs had been bowled.

So it is now all hanging on the final matches of the season next Saturday. Can Mullion firsts become Division 5 West champions, can Mullion second beat Division 7 West champions Newquay. All will be revealed next week

Mullion 2s 202-7 in 48 ov (B Jordan 68, A Lowe 4-38); St Ives 3s† 127 in 37.2ov (B Partridge 7-32). Mullion 2s win by 75 runs.