A MAGNIFICENT 80 from Tony King backed up by 6-12 from Mike Caulfield brought an emphatic 96-run victory for The Groves at home to Knutsford.

Skipper Mike Garvey chose to bat first in the Cheshire Alliance Division One clash and his side didn’t let him down.

Opener Mark Evans is finding form again and got Groves off to a great start with an unbeaten 62.

But it was King who stole the show, smashing 80 to sweep Groves to 195-4.

It was a defendable total, but Garvey’s bowling attack ripped through the visitors’ line-up.

Caulfield took the first four wickets before taking a break.

But Knutsford barely had time to breath a sigh of relief before Michael Piercy picked up where his bowling colleague had left off.

He took three wickets, two of them for ducks, before Caulfield returned to take two more victims.

Afterwards a happy Garvey said: “A job well done, it was good workout. We have struggled in this first half of the season as a unit.

“All the senior guys stood up and it was a good performance without setting the world alight.

“We are going in the right direction and we now need to push on and get some stability in selection.

“Hopefully the youngsters can emulate the old guard and play the right kind of cricket.”