With the Jesters 1^st ever game at Horsforth the Sunday lunch co-ordinator & his new deputy (Matt Hill) decided the adjacent Old Ball public house did serve food on a Sunday & so that would be our venue of choice. 8 team members & 1 (drinking) spectator gathered early & watched the rain fall steadily as a good lunch was consumed & the previous weeks tour to Blackpool was reminisced. It seemed as if the Jesters who had travelled up from Huddersfield & Barnsley might have made a wasted journey as the forecast was for more of the same! But right on cue at 1.30 the rain stopped & on inspection we found that the slopped Horsforth ground was fit for play.
With this correspondent having recently umpired 2 junior semi-finals at Horsforth my request to bat 1^st to the home skipper (& junior manager ) Shaun Hardhaker was met with a favourable response.
The “comedy” opening pair of Ivill & Dobson found going tough against the (1^st team) opening bowlers on a damp surface & the latter could not get off quick enough (stumped in the 4^th over & straight to the bar!) The top order was blown away & it was looking like an early finish but we were rescued by a 6^th wicket partnership between “Miami” vice captain Dale & the ever-improving Matt Brown. A late flourish from Dave Thompson got us up to a respectable score even though we did not bat the overs out (a missed opportunity for a not-out for Scottie). A good tea was spent watching rain fall again but it soon eased off enough for the skipper (with a bad back) to take the Jesters into the field in “light drizzle”, now watched by numerous Jesters, past & future with nothing else to do who had made the short journey from Rawdon.
After a wicket each in excellent spells from the Jesters opening bowlers Thompson & Brown, good batting & a wet ball saw Horsforth to victory in the 38^th over although we though it was closer as the scoreboard said it was the last over.
The Jesters would like to thank Simon Jackson & the Horsforth club for hosting the fixture in poor conditions.

Catching competition update:- RL=5, D.Bell=4, Ives=3, The Hills=2, Scottie=0