Dereham's attempt on the Carter Cup on Sunday ended in defeat by Acle, but they left with pride after they gave their hosts a scare.

Dereham elected to field and Kristian Fletcher got off to a great start as Acle's Handley decided to slog at the ball, only to find skipper Duncan Hewitt's hands.

Unfortunately Fletcher, who was carrying an injury, was forced out the attack, leaving Hewitt's bowling attack in a bit of a pickle.

Acle's runs started to flow but Dereham's bowlers started to eat into the batting line-up.

Fifteen-year-old James Harbour was put into the bowling line-up. His hunger and desire were a joy to watch and the pressure cooker event did not faze him as he returned figures of 10-1-39-1. Acle finished on 288 for seven from the allotted 60 overs.

Dereham got off to a steady start until Hewitt chipped a bouncer into the hands of the Acle wicketkeeper.

From there Dereham were unable to command a decent partnership, and although Harbour also performed admirably with the bat he was eventually undone by Acle's accurate bowling.

Jake Anema topped off his great weekend with a top score of 36 as Dereham were all out for 170.