The newly formed U12 girls’ team, under the expert tutelage of Sam Fletcher, played their first official softball matches. Despite defeats in their opening two games against Hornchurch Athletic and Upminster, there have been many positives and hopes are high for the forthcoming fixtures. A big thank you to Sam and Tommy for their efforts with training, and to all the parents for their continued support.

The Under-11s opened their Havering League campaign with a 14-run win over Rainham. Some excellent fielding, including four run-outs, saw them successfully defend their total as they got their season off to the perfect start. Next up for the U11s is a home game against Writtle in the Central Cup.

The U12s played out a thrilling contest against Leyton Wicketz in their opening Brian Taylor Cup tie, edging home by three wickets.

After sending the visitors in, there were braces for Harry, Thomas, Caleb and Jack as we limited Leyton to 148/8 from their allotted overs — a total we were happy to chase despite their quick start.

With the bat, Harry got us off to a flyer and was ably supported by six of the next seven batters, all of whom reached double figures. However, with the game in the balance, Shazaman and Jack batted superbly to take us close to victory before Daisy hit the winning runs in the penultimate over. It was a thrilling win over a very talented side. We now travel to Chingford for our next game in the competition.

The U13s began their Central League campaign with an even more exciting match against Great Baddow, with the game ending in a tie.

Aaditya (2-10) and Charlie (2-11) led the way with the ball as the visitors scored 140/7 from their 20 overs. Charlie (30 off 20) started the chase well and, alongside Harry (17 off 8), we looked well set. However, some disciplined bowling saw Great Baddow begin to turn the screw before Albert’s blistering 31 from just 16 balls swung the pendulum back in our favour.

With the game going down to the final ball and us needing a single to win, the Great Baddow bowler held his nerve, taking a wicket to see the game end in dramatic fashion.

The U13s’ next game was not as close as they fell to a heavy defeat against a very talented Upminster side. The hosts racked up 184/1 from their 20 overs, with four batters retiring. Losing a wicket from the first ball of our reply was far from ideal and we never recovered, eventually being bowled out for 65, with only two batters reaching double figures.

They bounced back in their next game with a 7-wicket win at Gidea Park & Romford in the Central Cup.

After winning the toss, the home side elected to bat but found themselves 19-4 after 4 overs; Albert (2-8) and Charlie ( 2-20) with the early damage. 19-4 soon became 47-8 as Matthew took 3 wickets on his way to figures of 3-1-3-3. Some late innings resistance saw the home side reach 86 all out.

Sonny and Matthew started off well with the bat and with Charlie’s 17 and Albert’s unbeaten 14 saw us to victory in the 15th over. It was a pleasing, all-round team performance and we now await the winners of Maldon and Galleywood at home in the quarter finals.

Finally, the U15s booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Central Cup with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Shenfield.

Having won the toss, we reduced the visitors to 38/6 with some excellent bowling. Aaryan S returned figures of 4-2-8-3 and was well supported by Ezaan (3-28). The away side staged a mini recovery to reach 90 from their 20 overs.

Skipper Stan and debutant Aryan P made light work of the chase with an outstanding 83-run opening partnership. Stan’s 40 from 33 balls included two sixes and we looked set to chase the target down inside 10 overs. Although both batters fell within three balls of each other, we still cantered home with almost eight overs to spare.

The opening weeks of the youth season have already provided plenty of excitement, and we look forward to the next few weeks with games galore still to come.