Hadfield sparkles as Barnsley chop down Woodlands

Barnsley celebrate their 2009 Crowther Cup final win

Barnsley made it back to back Crowther Cup wins with an ultimately comfortable six wicket success with over 12 overs to spare in a disappointing final at Hanging Heaton on Monday.

Skipper Simon Potter called correctly and put Woodlands in to bat. It looked a good toss to win with overnight rain and so it proved with miserly bowling restricted the Bradford League side to just 39 runs in the first 25 overs, a position they could never recover from, failing to make any advantage of the fielders in the circle in the first 15 overs.

Opening bowlers Tom Whittaker and Gary Nuttall giving nothing away with excellent tight figures. Only Greig Godfrey with a patient 56 and Adam Wood with a breezy 30 gave Woodlands any impetus and despite a huge six from Rob Medcalf looking to push things along, perishing soon after trying the same shot, the Woodlands total of 160 looked nowhere near enough against a renowned strong batting line up.

Greig Godfrey took a superb slip catch off Scott Richardson to dismiss opener Andrew Wakefield, but it was the only thing to cheer Woodlands fans early on as Pete Hadfield made hay with a man of the match performance.

Hadfield hit 76 off just 94 balls with 11 boundaries and a six as the South Yorkshiremen took the game away from Woodlands.

The gulf in class showed as Barnsley whos second team play in a first team league against the likes of Steve Foster and Scott Cunningham cantered to victory. Jamie Green bludgeoned an unbeaten 35 as the skies darkened and he fittingly finished the game with a big six.

Greig Godfrey with two for 10 enjoyed a good day personally, the pick of the Woodlands bowlers and players but it was Barnsley’s day and few would bet on them not completing a hat-trick of wins in 2010!