March Town put up a spirited showing against big-spending Ketton but lost by seven wickets in their Tucker Gardner league opener at The Avenue on Saturday.

The hosts batted first and were not daunted by a high calibre bowling attack. Matty Vail (52) hit a fluent half-century, with Tommy Howgego (28), David Hodson (24) and Toby Nulty (29) also contributing, as March finished on 198-8 from 48 overs.

In reply, Ketton’s openers did the bulk of the damage, putting on 114. Leg-spinner Nulty and Howgego combined after tea to snap up the three wickets to fall. The visitors clinched the win in the penultimate over.

March’s captain Jody Betts, who has replaced long-standing skipper Chris Ringham in the hotseat, said: “It was a really good, well contested game. We applied a lot of pressure to what must be considered to be one of the best teams in the league.

“It was really good fun to be back involved. The energy in the team was excellent.”

March’s first target this season is to stay up, Betts says.

He said: “There are some very good sides in this league. Our first goal is to cement our place in it.”

Next up for March is a home game with Nassington on Saturday.

Toby Nulty picked up his third man of the match awards in as many games as he steered the Sunday 1st XI to the club’s first victory of the season.

The stand-in skipper taking 4-18 and then scoring an unbeaten 40 as they beat Stewart and Lloyd at The Avenue by six wickets in Rutland League Division 2

The visitors were dismissed for 118, with Josh Fox and James Beresford each bagging two wickets. John Wallis top-scored with 41 in reply.