First victory of the summer boosts Mansfield Hosiery Mills hopes of staying up

Captain Adam Dobb said: “You could hear the excitement back in the lads' voices over the weekend.

“The morale has always been good but this has given us that extra little nudge to continue a bit of form for us.

“It's a good start to the back end of the season, which we wanted. “The boys are now playing that with a bit of confidence and we will take that into the weekend.

“We have been working really hard to make sure we bat for 50 overs. Then we feel like we have got enough in our bowling attack attack to restrict to a decent score if we've batted the 50.

“It has all come together but it's just a start. We have a big nine games coming up.

“We will hopefully win as many of those as we can and see where we get to by the end of the year.”

Electing to bat, the Millers lost Stephen Gooding with eight runs on the board but ended on 198-9 with Patrick Delahunty (76) and Daniel Harris (30) combining for a crucial 78-run fifth wicket partnership.

In reply, Donald Butchart (35), Ross Forrester (29) and Kiel Van Vollenhoven (36) ticked over the scoreboard, but they wobbled at 154-9.

Then last pair Connor Veitch (20) and Alistair Walters (20 not out) proved stubborn as they added 30 before being all out for 184 with eight balls left to bowl.

“Pat Delahunty played a superb innings again,” said Dobb.

“He has just started to get into a bit of form. He was really frustrated he didn't push onto three figures but it's back-to-back 50s for him which is a good sign.

“Jake Miller played an important role at three, buying some time and supporting Patrick. He wasn't able to convert his start but did what he needed to do.

“Then Dan Harris played a really nice cameo for his 30 and everyone else chipped in to get us up near 200.

“We bowled consistently and took wickets and kept the pressure on.

“Their last pair proved difficult to move. Alistair Walters is a good player and potentially shouldn't be batting that low.

“So credit to them, they put up a fight. But it was nice to see Dan Harris get some reward and get that final wicket.”

With eight points for a win, Mills are 16 points adrift of 10th placed Attenborough and head there on Saturday for a massive showdown before a rearranged home game with Radcliffe-on-Trent on Sunday in a potentially crucial weekend.

“Saturday is a huge game,” admitted Dobb.

“We have been looking at the table and if a few results go your way and we get onto a bit of a streak it's really looking possible to get out of that bottom two.

“It starts again this weekend. Saturday's win doesn't mean much if we go and lose to Attenborough. Winning there would be massive.”