Everything went Spalding Town’s way on Saturday as they took a huge step towards winning the South Lincs and Border League Premier Division crown.
While they were securing a 26-run victory over Woodhall Spa 2nd at Seas End Hall, leaders Skegness capitulated to a shocking 57-run loss against Market Deeping 2nd in their final game of the season.
That leaves Town needing just seven points from their final game of the season, a home game against Grantham 2nd at Seas End Hall on Saturday (noon), to be sure of winning the championship.
Had Skegness won their game with maximum points, Spalding’s 17-point haul against Woodhall Spa at the weekend would have left them unable to overhaul the long-term leaders.
After being put into bat by the visitors, Spalding were only able to post a below-par 144-9.
Openers Jon Manton (21) and Ollie Dring (38) started well, but after that Jay White’s score of ten was the best the rest of the top order could muster.
However, late cameos from Harry DeCamps (20 not out), Matt Gill (19) and Ben Smith (11) helped make the Town total at least a little more competitive.
Will Sharpe (5-21) put in a fine show with the ball for Spa, who were slight favourites at the changeover.
The Spalding bowlers had other ideas, however, as they set about bowling the visitors out for 118 in reply. With only Alex King (26) and opener Oliver Caswell (25) making scores of note, their reply was over in exactly 37 overs.
DeCamps, who starred with the bat, led the charge with figures of 4-44, while Brandon Andrews (3-21), Will Naylor (2-36) and Nilantha Atapattu (1-14) also took wickets to secure a vital victory.
Elsewhere in the top tier, Moulton Harrox ended any lingering relegation fears by winning their final game of the season against Sleaford 2nd by one wicket.
Hosts Sleaford opted to bat first after winning the toss and posted a steady 169-8. Opener and skipper Gavin Hutson starred with 56, while number three Neill Henderson added 44 and Ben Glendinning managed 21.
It was a team effort from Harrox with the ball, with Harry Lovell (2-33), Stephen Coles (2-22), Max Cusack (2-34) and Matt Rose (1-22) all chipping in.
In reply, Moulton edged over the line with 173-9 in 43.5 overs. The top order did most of the heavy lifting, with Rose (65), Henry Lavery (28), Clive Bayston (26) and Mike Kearns Snr (18) making key contributions before Coles (8 not out) and Cusack (4 not out) got them home.
The victory sees them finish ninth, three points clear of the bottom two.
Also concluding their campaign in the Premier Division were Long Sutton, who suffered a 32-run loss at Grantham 2nd to finish in seventh.
Sutton would have been relatively happy to have bowled out their hosts for 161 after losing the toss.
Despite a 50 from Jared Hackney, fine bowling from Rob Simpson (3-40), Jake Burton (2-28), Charlie Crisp (2-41) and Barry Stanway (2-33) Sutton would have been relatively happy to have bowled out their hosts in 44.4 overs after losing the toss.
In reply, Sutton were all out for 129 in 35.4 overs with only Adam Wright (38) and Stanway (20) making decent scores.
Down in Division One, Spalding 2nd’s final game of the season against Ancaster was cancelled, with both sides taking eight points.
That leaves Town, who will play in the second tier again next year, with an eighth-placed finish.
In Division Two, Spalding 3rd (92) lost to Heckington (269-7) by 177 runs on Sunday despite Ollie Dring’s 41. They finish in seventh place.
Meanwhile, Long Sutton 2nd (161) lost by four wickets against Billingborough 2nd (162-6) and finish second-from-bottom of the table.
