LORDSWOOD had a nightmare start to the new cricket season as they were comfortably beaten away at Beckenham.
The visitors opted to bat first after winning the toss but they were in trouble almost immediately against a fired-up Beckenham bowling attack.
Alan Pattenden looked confident early on, twice hitting the new ball to the boundary but just as the opener looked well set he was dismissed by Brent Arnel.
The bowler struck again soon afterwards to remove Peter Stock and when Lyndon Lockhart was dismissed for just 12 Lordswood were in trouble on 43-3.
Craig Ervine and Efren Cruz briefly steadied the ship, but their stand of 33 was not enough to change the balance of the match.
The lower middle order and tail all went cheaply as Lordswood were all out for 91, with more than 11 overs remaining.
In reply James Iles picked up a wicket with only one run on the board, but Beckenham showed it was a decent batting pitch as they knocked off the runs with ease.
They reached the meagre target with a massive 23 overs still in hand.
The Lords will hope for a vast improvement when they host Bromley this Saturday.
POSTED: 14/05/2008 11:57:24