The Ring Road El Classico has produced some fine games in the recent past, but more often than not with the valiant NL players on the wrong end of a metaphorical punch to the nose. With the game moved to a bleary 9am meet up, there was a tangible frisson in the air as the NL parents assembled clutching mugs of hot beverages (presumably, although I have no proof that they weren’t nerve-settling snifters smuggled in the Costa cups). Not a cloud besmirched the sky as we were welcomed with handshakes by our hosts.

The boys from the right side of the A6120 quickly looked to dominate, with Viv and Harry organising a very professional looking warm up drill, after Andrew had muscled his way into the nets to steal all the stumps. The Adel-based boys drifted in and could only look on in awe as catch after catch was taken from balls pumped high into the air by Viv. Confidence, already high from recent wins for the U15s and U18s, was further boosted by counting the NRCC boys and finding them to be just 91% quorate (although, worryingly for those taking GCSEs soon enough, it took them a couple of goes to make sure).

NRCC offered us the chance to bat first, on the basis that we looked to have the stronger, or at the very least 9 percentage point larger, team. Skipper Harry saw straight through this clear subterfuge, concluding that this was a mere trick to get us to bat on the dewy pitch, leaving them clear to use the road that the sun was apt to produce. A toss was had, generating the first win of the day for NLCC. New Rover were put in to set a total.

For all their meekness and numerical inferiority, the two NRCC openers had CAG and Regional pedigrees. Viv took the shiny new nut and with Alfie at the other end shared a couple of cagey overs. It was in the third over that the breakthrough came with the NR number one nicking off; a genuine cricket wicket featuring a tidy catch by Master Barron behind the sticks. NR reeling at 4-1. More cat and mouse stuff followed until CAG veteran Harri Hayre relieved some of the pressure, cracking a boundary on the last ball of Viv’s spell. Not to be outshone by his curly-topped counterpart Alfie got in on the wickets action splattering the stumps of their number three who had only managed to scamper for three runs from his 12 balls. 13-2 from six overs but the dangerous Harri was still at the crease.

Lucas replaced Viv and suffered from Harri deciding that the pedal needed to get to the metal; he punched 10 from the over including a couple of boundaries. Dan at the other end initially struggled for rhythm but got into his stride towards the back end of the over. Lucas followed up, tying down the two batters, frustrating them to such an extent that they attempted a crazy run from the last ball of the over - praise the Lord, Harri was run out for a creditable 19 from 26. A recovery of sorts for the denizens of the Richmond Oval; 39-3 after 9 overs.

Skipper Harry decided that now was the time for his brand of mystery spin, shrugging off the pressure of representing the generations of Alldred’s who had performed miracles for North Leeds before him, he sent down a near perfect over, prising out their number five with his fourth ball. Rohan Blakeman, brought on at the scoreboard end, took out the NR wicket-keeper in the next over. 48-5 after 12 overs. The 13th over delivered Harry his second wicket; 53-6. We were squarely into the tail now with rabbits scurrying in and out of the hutch. A quiet couple of overs followed as NR adjusted to the situation. Then with five overs to go they obviously decided they needed to have a bit of a hit. Swinging wildly and scampering singles they managed eight from each of the next two overs bowled by Daniyal and Arthur. Andrew FW calmed proceedings down in the 19th which featured just 3 runs and a run out of the NR number 8. 84-7, good progress from 53-6. One over to go. Rohan Blakeman back at the death with his wicket to wicket outswingers. The over only lasted four balls with another wicket to Rohan and a run-out seeing the end of the NR innings.

All out for 90. More competitive than it had looked like it might be. Great knock from Extras again; top scoring with 20 including 17 wides - that could be an issue against a stronger team.

Chasing maybe 20 more than we should have been, Viv and Harry strode confidently to the crease. Sensible batting and good communication, from them both, saw good early progress with 17 from the first three overs. The fourth however saw a tiny chink of light open up for New Rover as Viv fell caught for seven. This wicket brought Mr North Leeds himself, Alfie Edwards, to the middle. Alfie cracked a boundary and ran a couple before looking on in dismay as Harry fell at the other end. 23-2 in the fifth, maybe the target wasn’t quite as straightforward as it appeared? Would NLCC come to rue the wides they conceded?

Dan Chappell joined the fray, a chap generally here for a good time rather than a long time, and so it proved to be the case this time. Running well with Alfie, Dan managed an IPLesque strike rate of 150 for his 12 runs, before missing a shot which would surely have landed the ball in the middle of Waterloo Lake if it had connected. 41-3, not quite halfway to the target and three of our better batters back on the bench.

After closing out the bowling could Rohan, in at five, close out the batting? 12 overs left, 50 needed, the pressure was not coming from the run rate, there was no rush. No-one seemed to have told Rohan and Alfie that however as they spanked 20 from the next three overs, reducing the run rate, as maths-fan Rohan was apt to calculate, to 3.333333333333333333.

From there it was all over bar the shouting with Alfie seemingly limiting himself to one boundary an over, with lots of singles and twos run in between times. Rohan finished on an alarm-free 17*, with Alfie a very creditable 42* at 108. Delight from the North Leeds Ultras as we won with four overs to spare. The pyrotechnics were saved for another day however as half the team raced off to the Homestead to play for the 2s.

Two wins from two, nine games still to go, dare we to dream?