On his first full game in charge, Darren 'Tempo' Tempany's quick-fire maiden century helped Pacific dole out a sound thrashing to the Chequers men.
That the game was played in the village of Canewdon – a place with not only a long-standing reputation for witchcraft but also said to have taken its name from King Canute, the monarch who tried to halt the tide – was perhaps apt for the home team. Chequers, like King Canute, attempted to stop the tide of runs, but, like their historical predecessor, were unable to defy the force of nature.
Australian Tempany is such a natural phenomena. 7 ft 2 in his stockinged feet, with arms as strong as gum tree, the leap of a kangaroo and a dingo-like hunger for runs, his century, which was also the club's first of the season, was plundered from just 67 balls (the joint third fastest in Pacific history) in 76 minutes including nine 4s & nine 6s. He went on to amass 114 before being caught by the keeper, but the home team were kicking themselves having dropped him twice in the deep and once behind.
Recently resigned captain Jon Webley also found form with the bat and was out, selflessly aiming to accelerate the score in the last three overs, just short of his own century. With the ball, opening pair of Jon Baglivi and James Gleadow kept it so tight that the rapier thrusts of first change pair Oli Haill and Pete Alexander gleaned three wickets apiece. With Jon Brown and Pete Hollman clearing up the last of the tail, the North Londoners finished off a comfortable victory, to avenge the previous season's loss.
XI:- Joe Bennett, Jon Brown, James Gleadow, Oli Haill, Peter Hollman, Darren Tempany*, Jon Webley, Justin Roy, Pete Alexander, John Baglivi & Frank Baglivi+
Reserves:- John Hill, Jig Ramji.
