PUTTING aside the turmoil that saw him exit his former club of last week, Adrian Axtill starred for L&D Cricket Club as they accounted for the Phantoms by 55 runs at Mark Taylor Oval on Saturday.

Axtill contributed a half century with the bat and three wickets ball as L&D continued its resurgence in the A grade competition.

Having won the toss Phantoms elected to bowl and the early breakthrough by Adam Hopkins (2-37), removing Maguire second ball without scoring hinted at the correct decision.

Having said that, dropping Jamie O'Connell in the same over may have been a portent of things to come.

However, Axtill (53) combined with former clubmate O'Connell (20) to put on a 49-run partnership.

Richard Keith (2-25) removed O'Connell before completing his double by having Axtill removed thanks to a sharp catch at midwicket by Steven Weckert.

Returning from injury, Weckert proved his value with the ball by removing the middle order on his way to 2-22.

The Phantoms were on top at 6-89 until Ben Elwin and Antony Tocin came together and proceeded to put on a 40-run stand.

With the Phantoms sharing the wickets around, Dave Haskins (2-19) removed Elwin for 26 and Matt Dedini (2-12) chimed in to remove Tocin (10) and the tail added only three runs to finish with a total of 130.

The chase did not start well for the Phantoms with the loss of four wickets for only 13 runs with Ryan Thurgood, Weckert and Simon Wallace all failing to trouble the scorers.

Tight bowling combined with falling wickets meant runs were hard to find.

Dedini was unfazed by the destruction at the other end on his way to compiling a resilient 34 alongside Keith (10), John Gray (6) and then Charlie Reneker (17).

However, the partnerships were too small to worry the Ferrets.

Reece Maguire (4-19) atoned for his failure with bat by spinning his way to four wickets and was ably supported by Matt Robertson with two from his two overs as the Phantoms were bowled out for 75 in 30 overs.

In an ominous sign for many top orders, Axtill backed up his effort with the bat with three wickets in combination with new-ball partner Elwin's miserly four maidens from five overs.