DROITWICH captain Martyn Davies labelled Saturday’s win over Pedmore as ‘very important’ as his side bid to climb out of the Worcestershire County League Division One relegation zone.
After narrowly missing out on victory at Worcester, Davies’ side brought an end to their three-game losing streak with a much-needed nine-wicket victory over Pedmore at St Peter’s Field with the help of an impressive 95 not out from Ashley Fearnall.
Winning the toss and electing to field, Droitwich asserted their dominance from the get-go as Max Young (4-24) claimed Pedmore’s first four wickets before Davies (2-38) took the next two scalps.
Dan Jones added 24 runs for Pedmore before being caught out by Jay De Costa from the bowling of Jake Young.
Phil Thomas came into the attack to remove the final three wickets for 29 runs as Pedmore were bowled all out for 149 after 45 overs.
Pedmore captain James Burgoyne top scored with 34 while Danny McDonnell (17) and Matthew Porter (17 no) pushed the score along.
Despite Max Young (23) bowled leg-before early on, Fearnall (95 no) fired the home side towards victory with Jake Young adding 26 as Droitwich reached 150-1 in the 27th over.
“It was a very important victory for us and it’s given us a much-needed lift,” Davies said.
“After the poor display at Stourport, we showed a reaction at Worcester but we could not get the win however this time around we got our just rewards.
“Ash is a talented cricketer and I’m pleased with how he has come through but I’m not only delighted for him, but the rest of the team too.
“We can’t let the bowlers go without credit. They have been fantastic all season apart from when we came unstuck at Worcester.”
Droitwich will be looking to make it back-to-back league wins on Saturday as they make the trip to Hackman’s Gate to take on fourth-from-bottom Belbroughton.
Davies has a full strength squad to choose from and he’s confident Droitwich have what it takes to claim another 20 points which could lift them out of the drop zone.
“We have to show exactly the same attitude as we did against Pedmore to get a positive result at Belbroughton,” he said.
“If we can get another 20 points things will start looking up and a few wins will start moving us up the table.
“I’m not worried about going down as we’re always looking up and with a full strength squad, I’m looking to bounce back up the table.”