Sponsored by Lincolnshire Pallets, it was a proud occasion for them and they duly marked it with a maximum points victory, despite making heavy weather of a straightforward seeming run chase.


Having won the toss, skipper Mick Devereux decided to bowl first on a green and soft wicket that proved as difficult to score on as he expected, though it was still a great credit to Horncastle's bowling attack that they restricted the home side to just 100 all out, taking the final wicket in the 47th over of the 50 available in this higher league standard.


There were four wickets for Pete Jackson and three for Pubbs Chandrasekara as these two bowled unchanged for the second half of the innings after Luke Smith had opened up with the first two victims earlier, with Steve Carr grabbing the other.


At one stage in their run chase Horncastle were cruising at 60 for no wicket with Nick Paige (32) and Harry Smith (20) seemingly coasting towards victory, but with the dismissal of Paige the game turned dramatically and Alford began a tremendous fightback that saw the visitors lose 6 wickets, for only 9 runs, in quick succession and really put the outcome in the balance.


Then Julian Loveley (26 not out) gradually chipped away at the total and with support from Dixon and Jackson his experience saw his side home by just 2 wickets in the 37th over, sealing 20 points in the process.


An exciting game to start with then and Horncastle now look to build on a successful start when they entertain Hartsholme on Saturday at Coronation Walk, the game starting at 1pm.


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