Ploughmans bowl first. The sky is dull, the strip is Astro, the outfield slow and the temperature much lower than advertised. Damon and Oscar open the bowling. It’s tight enough and Stoke Newington seem happy to play a waiting, patient game.

The first wicket falls in the 5th over, a run out. The score is 14.

Another run out, two beautiful bowled-top-of-off wickets from Oscar Sawyer, and Sai taking a catch in the covers off Aidan Chivers (always Tidy, he took one wicket for 9 runs from his 3 overs). That left Stoke Newington 71/5 at drinks. We were happy with that.

George Tunnacliffe took a vital wicket, 2 overs after the break. Lovely bowling from him, teasing, tempting spin, then he hustled one through to completely confound the batter. Clean bowled.

Maybe this was the bucket of cold water in the face that instigated a change in Stoke Newington? Batsmen six and seven digging in. They rode their luck with a couple of dropped chances but managed to stick around.

Saipavanreddy Sagam bowled economically all day and picked up a richly deserved wicket. He would bowl the final overs with Damon Greeney, but they plundered 21 runs off his last two overs, leaving them 159 for 8. How costly would those two overs be in the final tally?

Special mentions to Tom Lane who stepped in and stood up to keep wicket. His keeping was first rate and he showed great athleticism to execute a run out. Oscar Sawyer for his magnificent 2 for 20, pick of the bowlers. Dave Yates put his body on the line, taking a sickening body blow at short mid wicket to stop a ferocious drive.

So Ploughmans needed 160 to win in 40 overs. Exactly 4 an over.

It didn’t start well. At the end of three overs we were 9 runs for 3 wickets. Bowled. Bowled. Bowled.

Rehan knew a captain's innings was required and he knuckled down, concentration etched across his brow. Aidan looked good but only managed 5 runs before being caught. Itesham Aslam couldn’t add to the score and was bowled. Stoke Newington thought we were dead and buried at this point, and rather than padding up we should be packing up their table and chairs.

But George Tunnacliffe was next in. He’d already impressed in the field and with bowling figures of 1 for 23, now we were treated us to a fine batting display. He would eventually fall for 38 of 29 balls, but had made a noteworthy debut.

Rehan had been caught, out for 35 from 38 deliveries. A great innings, especially considering the situation when he came to the crease. Oscar was out for 5, he looked solid and confident and was clearly angry and frustrated at being bowled.

There was enough individual batting talent out there, and while we saw the buds of at least two match-changing partnerships, they never had the opportunity to blossom.

When George made the long walk back to the fold up chairs the score was 118 for 8. Ploughmans had only batted for 25 overs so pride was on the line too. Sai looked like he was running on empty but was determined to stay. He made a valiant 3 from 30 balls before being caught. Also vying for the loves to bat award was Giordy. He’d picked up 1 wicket for 19 in a great bowling spell of 5 overs, and boy, how his batting has improved this year. He was patient and composed, and finished the day 1 not out from 23 deliveries.

Sai and Giordy deserve special praise for their resilience. They carried us into the final ten overs, which deserves respect. Damon’s was the last wicket to fall, cleaned out for 6 by their opening bowler Ramzie, who finished his day on 3 wickets for 17 runs.

So a loss for Ploughmans by 33 runs. We gave away too many runs, but we played with heart and spirit and fought all the way. We ploughed on and gave Stoke Newington CC enough cause for concern that we might just pull off an unlikely victory.

Match report produced by Damon Greeney