After all four teams won their league games on Saturday, followed by an evening of celebrations, it was difficult to imagine the weekend getting any better, but how wrong we were!

On Sunday, the 2nd XI played in the Heywood-Williams Trophy Finals Day at Rothwell Sports Club.

Semi Final v Pollington 2nd XI

Pollington’s 2nd XI were invited to bat first and managed just 127 all out from their allotted 20 overs. Our bowlers built constant pressure - Gus Boyle claimed 2-31, Michael Barnes grabbed 2-13, and Rob Heald chipped in with 1-19.

Chasing 128, we stumbled early to 37-3 but a pivotal 62-run stand between Jacob Miller (38 off 46) and Liam Williamson (49* off 40) swung momentum decisively. Jacob's assured strokeplay and Liam's boundaries silenced the Pollington attack. When Jacob fell at 99-4, Rishabh Tiwari’s calm 9 not out helped guide us, finishing on 133-4 in 19.1 overs. The six-wicket win saw us advance to the final against hosts Rothwell.

Final v Rothwell 2nd XI

We completed a dominant Heywood-Williams Trophy Finals Day with victory over Rothwell's 2nd XI, skittling the hosts for just 55 in 19.4 overs. Jeewan Geeganage’s miserly (Man of the Match winning) spell of 4-3-1-1 strangled Rothwell’s top order, while Matthew Peacock grabbed 3-9 and Robert Heald chipped in again with 2-17. Will Griffiths (2-21), Michael Barnes (1-4), and Angus Boyle (1-3) shared the remaining wickets as Rothwell succumbed to constant pressure. A special mention for Harry Howarth's outstanding one-handed catch on the boundary to see the division's leading run scorer add only 1 to his season's tally of 725 runs.

Chasing a nominal 56, we raced to 57-2 in just 6.3 overs. Harry Howarth’s blistering 19 off 11 balls set the tone, Jacob Miller anchored the reply with an unbeaten 15, and Will Griffiths finished it off with a rapid 9 not out. The result was never in doubt as we sealed an emphatic eight-wicket triumph and lifted the Heywood-Williams Trophy.

The performance demonstrated the strength in depth that has defined this season, and nobody can argue that we didn’t deserve to win.

Thank you to everyone who came along to support the team, and to Rothwell CC for hosting the Finals Day.

What a fantastic day of cricket (and as usual, celebrations)!