Darrell Dimond’s first 11 put on an impressive show against Whiteparish yesterday, putting the woes of last weekend behind them and start to move up the table.
The Oaks bowled first with Tommy Holbrook and Jimmy Bright putting on an excellent display of fast bowling that had the Whiteparish openers under severe pressure to get the scoreboard moving.
As the pressure increased, wickets began to fall, with everyone chipping in, including Tommy (4) Dan Sumner (2) Clive Welsman (2) and Gerry Dique (1) as Whiteparish collapsed to 164-9.
Oakley have failed to chase small targets on two occasions already this season, so they could have been forgiven for early nerves, but the experience of Gerry Dique (74) and emerging talent of Dan Sumner (53) blossomed, and a partnership of 120 effectively won the game.
Opening Flourish : Dan Sumner and Gerry Dique were in fine form
There were a few nervous flutters as Paddy Saines and Neil Warner went cheaply but Tom Holbrook and Chris Morris saw the Oaks comfortably home to a fine victory.
Darrell will now be hoping for some more consistency from what is a strong side and Clive Welsman, hurtling around the field and being incredibly unlucky to be denied a wicket from a flying catch in the slips, epitomised a team performance that the Oaks need to produce week on week.
Up the Oaks!