Great efforts were made to stage the fixture at the Lapwing Oval on Saturday, and for a time it looked as if the Purple Helmets would thank the groundstaff, by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. However, in spite of an unimpressive performance, this delayed start to the Seconds’ season eventually saw Kieviten take both points, under the stewardship of the dream team, Kerkhoven and Wharton.

The early morning omens were not good. Grey skies, forecast of rain, non appearance of one key player, and presence of hangovers in at least two of the starting XI, thanks to excess consumption of Eddie Gadd’s fine ale the previous evening. Whatever happened to moderation in everything, Nick and Mark? Nevertheless, matters improved when a large black taxi arrived at the steps of the pavilion, bearing the late Colin Wason beaming from ear to ear. The announcement of the first fine of the season did little to dampen his enthusiasm.

Eventually the rain stopped, allowing Jan Willem de Groot and Stuart Mitchell to coordinate the cleanup operation. After sterling efforts from all concerned, the wicket looked in fine condition. At which point, of course, it began chucking it down again! Mercifully, the downpour was shorter than expected, and the wicket was deemed fit for play. Tactics were discussed pre-toss, and it was agreed that if The Lapwings won, they would insert the opposition. Michiel strode confidently to the middle, and promptly dropped the coin! Not an auspicious start. Coin having been retrieved, it was tossed, and Kieviten lost. Surprisingly, Nieuwegein fancied a bat, so Coach Mitchell led the warm up for the home side.

All seemed well in the home camp, spirits were high as were expectations. These expectations appeared to be well-founded when the opening bowlers, Jack Jacobs and Mark Thomas, demolished the top order without any one of the first four batsmen getting into double figures. wicketkeeper Ben Wharton pouching the first three. When first change Roald Geleuken bowled the next two out, it seemed that an early finish was in prospect. Sadly, some sloppy fielding gave Nieuwegein the opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking over, and that old friend Mr Extras was also chipping in worryingly. Eventually, Dennis Swaan and Mark v.d. Schoor knocked over the Nieuwegein lower order, which brought a the diminutive and rather young number 10 to the crease. Somewhat understandably, this proved uncomfortable for the bowlers, and it was quite a while before the last wicket partnership was eventually undone by Alan McKenzie’s slower ball. This also gave Ben his fifth catch of the innings. As the Purple Helmets trooped off the pitch, they felt that they had given Niewegein 20 or 30 runs too many, due to sloppy fielding and bowling. However it took a glance at the scorebook to tell the full horror story. Nieuwegein totalled 107, 44 of which were extras.

The run chase began with Joop Haring, and Michiel Kerkhoven who was opening in a pinch hitting role. The experiment suffered an early setback, however, as Michiel was bowled without troubling the scorers. Mark v.d. Schoor marched to the wicket, intent it seemed on finishing the game quickly. Cow corner somewhat predictably saw his demise, which brought Roald Geleuken into action. The Lapwing Oval reverberated to the sound of Bang! Bang! Slap! Exit Roald, stage left. Colin Wason and Denis Swaan also came and went, complaining that the bowling was too easy. By this time, nerve ends were jangling, as Joop was still to get off the mark. Ben Wharton joined the Tavaresque opener, and eventually after 18.3 overs, Joop opened his account! All were sure that the fireworks would really start now, and expected Joop to cut and pull his way to victory in a blaze of glory! Joop hadn’t read the script, however, and proceeded to drop anchor again. Ben was scoring quite freely at the other end, until he was undone by a good length ball. Now the brown stuff was starting to get tangled up in the ventilation device, as the Purple Helmets were still 30 short. But cometh the hour, cometh the man, and Alan McKenzie bludgeoned the path to victory, with an unbeaten 24. Joop had charged his way to 11 not out, in a masterful display of flat track bullying.

The atmosphere afterwards was somewhat muted in spite of the victory, as reality dawned that the Lapwings would have to improve in all departments in order to challenge for honours this season.