Braintree's under 12's bounced back from a heavy defeat in their first outing with a thumping 8 wicket win away to Great Totham.

With Bertie Burnside and Henry Butler returning they fielded their strongest possible side and when skipper Lucas Hale won the toss he put the opposition in on what looked to be a dry track. It proved a sound decision as Totham were soon on the ropes. After the opening pair of Izzy Roots and Harry Metcalfe had negotiated Braintree's opening pair Corbyn MacLeod took the first scalp of the day to remove Metcalfe for 1 and then Zach Peacock breached the defences of the solid looking Roots for 3. Harry Barker soon followed for 1 as he chipped Will Gregory to Hale in the covers and Totham were struggling at 28-3 after 9 overs. However, Totham Skipper Jacob Day was joined by Ralph Dundas and they proceeded to build a defendable total with a mixture of aggression and watchful defence. Day finished on 38 and Dundas 22 as they took the total to 102 with an excellent partnership of 74. The Braintree fielding and bowling was, once again, exceptional but this week they would need to perform with the bat.

Having been disappointed with themselves after the previous game the opening pair of Will Sherry and Lucas Hale went out with a point to prove and, despite Sherry taking a blow to the helmet from the first ball, they were soon into their stride being aggressive with their running and Hale in particular looking to hit boundaries in his usual style. From the second over, bowled by Boorman, he played two lovely pull shots, the second of which sailed over the square leg boundary for 6. This would be the pattern for an opening stand of 89 which was only broken when Hale retired having reached his maiden half century. It came off of just 30 balls with 6 boundaries and a maximum. Sherry continued to manipulate the field at the other end, playing in his usual elegant manner, until he was the first to fall as he was bowled for 19 by the impressive Ralph Dundas who also picked up the wicket of Danny Orr in the same over. Will Gregory and Zach Peacock settled any nerves as they calmly saw the Dolphins home with 6 overs to spare. Gregory in particular looking very good and he made his way to 11 not out to seal victory

An impressive win for this young side who look forward to the trip to West Bergholt next week with some spring back in their step