ATF St Ouen Springfield have taken a giant leap towards the Belasko CI League final with an excellent victory over Farmers Caesareans on Saturday.
Farmers Field provided the stage, with both clubs harbouring ambitions of a place in the showpiece on 31 August.
Guernsey club, Norman Piette Cobo, have had a stranglehold on the league all campaign and have already booked their spot at Grainville in two weeks’ time.
Sitting just behind them, in catching distance for both Farmers and SOS, is fellow Sarnian side, Canaccord Genuity Griffins.
The two Jersey sides followed, neck and neck in third and fourth.
On a traditionally excellent ground for batting, the hosts batted first, but their innings got off to the worst of starts.
Young wicket-keeper Jack Kemp was clean bowled with the second ball of the match by Adam Hayward.
Last week’s centurion, Josh Lawrenson, joined Stan Norman at the crease and the pair attempted to steady the ship.
But Norman too found himself on his way back early, this time Hayward turning catcher off the bowling of skipper Harrison Carlyon.
This brought Will Perchard to the crease and memories of his and Lawrenson’s mammoth partnership the previous week against RGA Walkovers threatened again.
However, as the partnership grew and both men moved into the twenties, a sharp piece of glove work from SOS keeper Tyler Burton had Perchard stumped off the bowling of leg-spinner Dom Blampied.
James Smith also looked bright for his 26, but he too could not go on as he was trapped in front, LBW by the excellent left-arm spin of Elliot Miles.
Rhys Palmer offered crucial support to Lawrenson to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Lawrenson would raise his bat yet again, but a miss-communication led to the big wicket as he was run out for a well made 54.
Palmer would add a valuable 28 not out, with some excellent lower order runs added by teenager Sol Bennett, 22, meaning Farmers ended their 45 overs on 192 for eight wickets.
The SOS reply started well, with the experienced international pairing of Carlyon and Patrick Gouge taking the visitors to a steady 42 for no loss after 10 overs.
The partnership was broken however, when Carlyon was well caught by Stan Norman off the bowling of Toby Britton for 19.
The experienced Jon Best joined Gouge at the crease and an excellent partnership of 101 followed, with both men raising their bat for fifty.
However, Britton was the man again to break the deadlock, trapping Gouge plumb in front for an excellent 56.
Best would continue on, but three quick wickets would follow as Dom Blampied, Hamish McKeon and Charley Webster all failed to reach double figures.
Keeper Tyler Burton proved a valuable partner, and when Best was eventually dismissed for a very well played 63, SOS needed just six more runs to win.
Burton would hit the winning runs, finishing 16 not out and earning his side a crucial two points.
SOS now move up to third in the league, knowing a win in their last game will secure them a place in the CI League final.
At the other end of the table, RGA Walkovers and Rathbones Old Victorians clashed at Grainville.
OVs skipper James Duckett won the toss and, on a tired wicket, elected to bat first.
This should have been the correct decision, if not for yours truly knicking off the second ball of the match and providing Walkovers keeper Sam Gott a nice low catch.
A far from ideal start, sorry chaps.
Things went from bad to worse, as Walkovers opening quick Ross Chadwick produced an outstanding new ball spell, ripping through skipper Duckett with a peach of a yorker, before having Charlie Brennan chipping a catch to cover, the boys in yellow reeling at 9/3.
Chadwick was expertly supported from the other end by Craig Rainford, who conceded just six runs from his seven over opening spell.
OVs found some stability in the reliable Ali Webster, but he struggled to find a partner.
Both Beau Gurner and Freddie Harben were undone in quick succession by Rainford, the former caught behind for five and the latter receiving a nasty spitting ball that clipped his elbow before hitting his stumps for a duck.
Theo Pullman looked determined to stay out there with his great mate Webster, but he too was dismissed – caught behind slightly controversially, the ball deemed to have come off bat, despite affirmations that the ball clipped his trouser leg.
With the OVs reeling at 31 for six, the lower order needed to step up.
Joining Webster at the crease was the apparent all-rounder and man for the big occasion, Scott Simpson.
Perfectly demonstrating the old saying “it’s not how many you get, it’s when you get them that matters”, Simpson fought bravely on a tough pitch to grind out a score for his team and drag them well back into the match.
Webster would go for a well made 29, leaving the big-hitting Ed Giles to come to the crease.
In his traditional style of hitting anything white and round a minimum of 100 metres from ball one, Giles took the unfortunate Tiaan Kruger for 28 off an over, including three consecutive sixes, one leaving a hefty dent in the roof of the Bowls Club.
A quick-fire 28 off 14 balls gave the innings some much required energy, and when he was dismissed by Walkovers skipper Joe Bevis with a clever slower ball, Chris Thompson came in and picked up the mantle.
Thompson and Simpson carried the remainder of the innings, finishing on 34 and 43 respectively to help OVs somehow post a more than decent score of 181 all out, a remarkable effort from the lower order to dig them out of trouble.
Credit must go where it is due however, as the three pace men of Chadwick, Rainford and Corey Heath returned outstanding figures.
In reply, some swing with the new ball from Simpson and Giles offered a bit of hope, but it quickly became clear wickets would be tough to come by.
Walkovers lost opener Jack Gott for just three, an absolute jaffer from Simpson swinging late and clipping his off stump.
Tiaan Kruger, who smashed a brutal 66 last weekend, showed intent again but he was gone for just six, skying a well caught catch to Ali Webster off Giles’ bowling.
Usually seen opening the bowling, OVs skipper Duckett held himself back on this occasion, but was straight into his work when coming on.
In an unusual incident, he successfully trapped the solid opening bat Chadwick in front, after a brave attempt at a sweep shot.
Despite myself and the rest of the fielder’s thinking he had edged the ball onto his pad and caught by Simpson at slip, Chadwick was certain he had not made contact, however the ball was pretty dead straight for the LBW regardless.
Duckett then had another stroke of good fortune, when Robin Carnegie rocked forwards to a ball that pitched right in a horrible divot on a length courtesy of Simpson’s walkabouts when batting.
The ball completely rolled along the floor to disturb his stumps for just seven, a genuinely unlucky dismissal.
Michael Ahier was the next man in and he too fell victim to Duckett, also attempting to sweep the reigning Jersey Cricketer of the Year and not hanging around to see the inevitable raising of the finger.
With the run rate slow but the game still very much alive, Sam Gott and Kadeem Caddle set about getting the boys in blue back on track.
Both men batted sensibly, pushing the ball around and making the tired OVs fielder’s work hard in the sun.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man, and it was Simpson again who stepped up to break the partnership with a clever slower ball that Gott top-edged for a simple catch behind the stumps.
This was the breakthrough the OVs needed and the momentum of the game well and truly swung back to the visitors.
New man in Corey Heath showed intent, but he was unwise to challenge the cannon arm of young Freddie Harben, comfortably run out for just eight.
Caddle was eventually removed for an excellent 40, gone LBW trying to swing Theo Pullman through mid-wicket.
Pullman then turned catcher to remove Walkovers captain Bevis on the boundary, again off Simpson’s bowling.
And the Jersey left-arm paceman again would have the final say as last man in Harry Brooks could only find Ed Giles in the covers, giving him his fourth wicket and a 28 run win for the OVs.
Simpson would finish with the superb figures of 4-34 from his nine overs, with Duckett also outstanding for his spell of 3-14 from also from nine overs and both were expertly supported by both Giles and Pullman’s one wicket apiece.
Next week sees the final round of fixtures for this season’s Premier campaign before the final at Grainville on August 31.
OVs travel to Farmers for their season finale, both sides looking to finish as strong as possible, while SOS know a win against Walkovers will give them the chance of ending the season with silverware.
