First home game of the season results in a narrow loss

We'd had to wait a while for our first home game of the season, but at long last, we lined up on pitch 3 against Coleshill.
The opposition could only muster a team of six, so hopes were high among the Smash boys. Put into bat first, Zac and Marcus opened to try to see off their best bowlers, and got off to a very good start with some particularly aggressive shots from Zac putting us well on the way.
Unfortunately, 2 late wickets in the opening spell tagged us back, and with some very accurate bowling only conceding 2 extras in the first 5, Beaconsfield were only on 205 when the second pair - Angus and Arthur - came in.
A shaky start saw another 2 wickets fall in the opening 2 overs, but the boys battled back with some excellent calling and running, picking up lots of quick singles, to lift us back to 218.
Any hopes of pushing on to a competitive target took a blow when the final pair of Josh and Spencer again lost early wickets; but when all seemed lost they rallied to add 14 in the last 3 overs to claw Smash back to a final total of 222.
After the tea interval - where it was reported that one boy actually ate a piece of fruit - Zac and Arthur opened the bowling against their two strongest players. Zac grew into the task, and by the end of his spell was getting some serious pace, picking up a wicket along the way.
The end of their 5 overs, however, saw the Coleshill duo already push ahead of our posted total, at 229 - and a crushing defeat looked likely...
But; cometh the hour, cometh the 9 year old.
Up stepped Marcus, who with some pinpoint accuracy, took 3 wickets for only 11 runs from his 3 overs. He was ably assisted by Josh, who - despite carrying a nasty injury from that morning's football tournament - delivered by far and away his best bowling of the year to only concede 8 runs, meaning the Coleshill pair had only added 1 to their total.
Spencer and Angus paired up for the final five, and kept the bowling tight - Angus taking 2 wickets and Spencer one, with the final pair only adding 5 runs to the total. Coleshill ending on a final score of 235, for a winning margin of 13.
Despite the defeat, there were many positives to take. Beaconsfield outscored Coleshill off the bat - 40 runs to 26 - and in the last 10 overs of the Coleshill innings only conceded a net of 6 runs! The boys held catches, backed up the wickets when fielding and were much improved in their running between the wickets - and their team spirit and bowling performance left a very proud coach.
If we can just start to reduce the wide count, I'm certain a victory is just around the corner!