Goole Town like the rest of the country are struggling with self-isolation problems as over 10 of the players are having to self-isolate from school or work. The results from the weekend show that the future is in fact fairly rosy for Town as the players who were brought in gave their all and produced 2 exceptional displays for the 2nd and Academy XI's.

2s-

With their ranks once again decimated by COVID isolations and player unavailability, Goole 2nds welcomed lowly Saxton to Westfield, looking to return to winning ways. With scorching temperatures forecast all afternoon, stand-in skipper Steve Hicks won the toss and invited Saxton to have first use of the batting track. Short, sharp spells were the order of the day for the Goole bowlers, and after a steady start to the Saxton innings, they quickly got into their stride, taking wickets at regular intervals. Once Saxton skipper Hewer fell for a well-made 32, with the score on 73, the innings quickly subsided, and Saxton were bowled out for 102 in 34.3 overs. Stand out performers for Goole were Jason Greaves who took 4 for 20 in 7 overs, and Thomas Marritt, once again showing his pedigree taking 3 for 11 in 6 miserly overs. In truth, all of the Goole bowlers performed admirably in tough conditions, and coupled with another excellent fielding display, could be well pleased at halfway with their efforts.

After the break, Goole’s reply got off to the worst possible start with Callum Woodcock bowled first ball of the innings. With Jason Greaves dropping anchor at one end, Goole began to make steady progress towards their target, but continued to lose wickets at the other. When Greaves was caught at gully with the score on 48, Ollie Chappell joined Hicks in the middle, and the two shifted into counter-attack mode, to get Goole as close to their target as possible. Chappell was in particularly brutal mode taking one Saxton over for 16 runs, and when the 50 partnership came up at more than a run a ball, the stuffing had been knocked out of the Saxton attack. Although both fell close to the end, Louis Greaves and veteran Mark Hinchcliffe stood firm and saw Goole over the winning line. A magnificent all-round team performance saw Goole take the full 30 points from the encounter, and they’ll look to take that momentum to York next weekend, looking for a similar outcome. Special mention should go to Dave Woodcock and Jason Chappell, for stepping into the breach at the last moment, allowing Goole to field a full 11 players.

Academy –

Goole Academy travelled to Sutton on Sunday to take on the league leaders, who have set the pace in the league in 2021. Goole, as per Saturday were struggling for numbers due to covid enforced self-isolations, but the 11 on the field put up a fantastic fight against a very determined Sutton team. Goole skipper Thomas Franks won the toss on a blisteringly hot day and decided to back his batsmen and have first go on a good surface for batting. Callum Woodcock and Thomas Franks opened up and got Goole off to a good start with a stand of 42, but after Woodcock went for 12, Goole wobbled a little with 2 further wickets falling in quick succession. At 73-3 Leon Murphy joined not out Franks and took on the Sutton bowlers who were struggling a little in the heat. Franks and Murphy both drove majestically through the covers to increase the scoring rate and when Franks passed 50 with a well-run quick single to mid-off, Goole sensed that a big score could be in the offing. Unfortunately an injury to Murphy meant that he was limited in his running and when he was on 27 he pushed to mid off but was run out by a direct hit. Ollie Chappell threatened to repeat Saturday’s effort with the bat, but was bowled for 6, but Thomas Marritt joined Franks and smashed 31 from 20 balls to propel the score past 150. Franks was run out in the last over for a well-timed 66, which included seven fours and Goole ended the innings on a respectable 177-6 from 40 overs.

In reply Goole knew that wickets would be key and they had to take them regularly to give them a sniff of victory. Thomas Marritt and Josh Tooke gave Goole a perfect start by removing the first two wickets for 18 runs and when Ellis and Rillat were removed by Marritt and Thomas Franks, Sutton were reeling at 49-4. Number 3, Challis was key to the chase and both Goole and Sutton knew that his wicket would determine the game. He hit a well timed 52 to take Sutton to 94, but wickets continued to fall at the other end. Simon Franks caught Noble for 11 from Steele’s bowling and then Tooke had Peck well caught by Marritt as Sutton went past 120, with 6 wickets down. Tooke was in the action again, but this time in the field as Challis gave a chance at cover, but Tooke could not hold on. Goole thought all was lost, but 3 overs later with the score on 130, Tooke made up for the error by finding the edge of his bat, which was well caught low down by keeper Simon Franks. With still 48 runs to get and 3 wickets to fall it was going to be a nail biting end and Steeksma and Hopper both looked to finish things quickly. Hopper survived a close run thing when he hit a full toss from Sam Whittall to mid-wicket, which was well caught by Dave Woodcock. On review the umpires came to the right decision that it was a no-ball, however for a second or two Hopper was on his way looking very unhappy with the decision. After the restart a 45 run partnership got them close to the line, but a bowling change by Franks brought himself back into the attack and immediately he found the edge of Hopper that was caught by Simon Franks, standing up to the wicket. 175-8 meant 3 to win for Sutton or 2 wickets for Goole. Sutton, just had the advantage and after a close Lbw appeal from Franks was turned down by the umpire, the next ball was hit for 3 by Smithson to give Sutton the win by 2 wickets.

A wonderful days cricket was the best result of the day, played in excellent competitive conditions by two teams who were not that far apart. Goole’s team of under 18’s, bar 2, did themselves proud and they walked off the pitch holding their heads high knowing that they had pushed the league leaders all the way. Goole move on to another away trip to Gilberdyke on Sunday in a match where they will look to build on their successes from the season so far that leaves them in 7th place with 5 wins from 10 games.