PACEMAN Matt Metcalfe bravely battled through the pain barrier to bowl Lymington to a crushing victory over ECB Southern Electric Premier Division high-fliers Havant.

The former Dorset all-rounder claimed 8-27 as the five-time champions were routed for just 50 and beaten by nine wickets at Lymington Sports Ground.

And Metcalfe’s heroics came despite him nursing a nagging shoulder injury which has been troubling him all season.

Metcalfe, who claimed career-best Premier Division figures of 9-51 against South Wilts two years ago, ensured Havant would be bowled out before lunch.

The 29-year-old also doubled his wicket haul for the campaign, with Metcalfe having no fewer than five Havant batsmen caught in the slips.

Lymington made light work of the reply with Ben Rogers cracking two towering sixes as they romped home from just 10 overs – with the clash lasting just 180 minutes.

“Matt had been advised to bowl no more than six or seven overs,” said Lymington skipper Simon Beetham. “But he picked up a few wickets and carried on. Maybe getting a few wickets acted as a magic sponge!”

Metcalfe ripped through the visitors’ top order to leave them reeling at 15-4 before also having a hand in the dismissal of Richard Hindley, catching the Havant captain off the bowling of Beetham (1-16).

And after Hindley’s demise had left Havant on 30-5, Metcalfe continued the demolition job when he removed the next four batsmen before Ed Freeman (1-6) trapped Cameron Prentice in front to finish them off.

Beetham added: “It was overcast and a standard Lymington pitch. We won the toss and bowled and there was nothing wrong with the pitch.

“We put the ball in the right areas and held our catches for once. The scoreboard looks catastrophic for them but they just nicked it and we held it.

“Matt has been struggling with a shoulder problem but it all came good for him. He exploded into the game and was helped by some excellent catches.

“He is a good guy to have around and a quality player. He has been producing the goods for a long time but is still quite young. It happened for him in a big way and it was hugely beneficial for us. He was the main component as to why we won.”

Despite losing opener Dom Hand with the score on 15, Rogers (28) and Ryan Scott (12) both remained unbeaten as Lymington registered their fourth win of the season at 51-1.

Beetham, who has skippered Lymington to four wins and four defeats this season, said: “When we have won, we have won well and when we have lost, apart from against South Wilts, it has been quite close.

“We need to try to build a bit of momentum and, hopefully, this win will help. It should give us a lot of confidence beating a team like Havant and now we need to keep it going.”

It was Havant’s lowest-ever SPL score, since Portsmouth skittled them for 62 in 2005.