Downham Stow suffer first defeat against league favourites

Spiritied Downham Stow saw their unbeaten start to the season come to an end with a nail-biting defeat at league favourites Copdock and Old Ipswichian.Downham Stow had arrived in Suffolk in a confident mood after winning their opening four games of the campaign.With skipper Pat Yates missing the game due to the birth of his second child, vice-captain Ben Wilcox took the reins and lost the toss with the hosts asking Downham Stow to bat on what looked like a gorgeous batting track.Fin Wilcox fell early, dismissed leg-before-wicket to Suffolk spinner Tom Harper.The returning Will Denny and captain Wilcox made a steady partnership to solidify the innings before Wilcox was caught behind for 20.Freddie Fairy soon followed again, caught-behind, to leave he game evenly poised with Downham Stow on 72-3.A magnificent 130 partnership by Denny and the free-flowing Arthur Wilcox followed. Both rotated the strike very skilfully, mixed in with class strokeplay, where both seemed to find the boundary almost a will. With Downham Stow well placed at 200-3 with 10 overs to go, a huge score looked on the cards until Dennyfell caught-behind for a superbly made 104, his maiden EAPL hundred and, on this evidence, not his last.After Arthur Wilcox was caught on the long-on boundary for a classy 78, the innings stalled somewhat and Downham Stow finished their 50 overs with a still very competitive 262-8, although they would have hoped for at least another 30 or 40 more. The Copdock innings started off with a wicket in the second over, as Arthur Wilcox had Fergus Atkins leg-before-wicket, followed by a big caught behind shout on Dhruv Rakesh first ball, which was unsuccessful.Rakesh then scored a quickfire 30 before being caught at cover off Arthur Wilcox. Two more quick wickets fell, one to the impressive Owen Stacey and one a run-out to leave Copdock on 100-4.Unfortunately for Downham Stow, at the other end was arguably the best batsman in the league, in Sam Arthurton who, after a couple of close leg-before-wicket shouts and a very strong caught-behind appeal on 40, scored his third league hundred in succession. In partnership with Harper, the pair put on 120 to put the home side on the brink of victory before the ever-reliable Stolworthy had Arthurton caught at mid-wicket, Cameron Strudwick caught-behind and then Colombage bowled Harper to leave Copdock on 235-7 with six overs to go and a tight finish in the offing.The experienced Chris Swallow took 16 off the 48th over and then Rajan Singh hit a couple of lusty blows, leaving Copdock needing two of the last over.When Swallow drove the first ball through the covers, it meant Downham Stow suffered their first defeat of the season.MoM: Will Denny.