HOUGHTON Main captain Ernie Heseltine paid tribute to his players after they pulled off the best result in the club’s history. The Main men put Timsbury to the sword in the final of the National Village Knockout, in a once in a lifetime day out at Lord’s, the home of cricket. It was a cracking contest that swung both ways before the Barnsley-based side secured the spoils with eight balls to go. At one stage, the Main men looked odds on for defeat before sensible middle-order batting saw Houghton to a four-wicket success.

“It shows the character in the team to come back from what looked like defeat. The way they kept their heads in a final under so much pressure was fantastic. I was so proud of them, they have done themselves and the club proud. “The whole weekend is something we will never forget. The lads are already looking forward to next season, they want a taste of it again. “We were treat like professionals. Our hotel was the same one that David Gower, Nasser Hussain and David Atherton were staying in and the changing rooms at Lord’s were unreal. “We had the England dressing room and it’s four times bigger than anything we had experienced. It was so well furnished, there was sky TV, a drinks bank and of course the boards that had all the highest scorers and wicket takers on. “It was daunting just to look at the names. The view from the balcony was amazing, at times we had to pinch ourselves, it was just so unreal.” On Sunday, Heseltine won the toss and with grey clouds threatening above, he duly put their opponents in to bat.

They made an immediate breakthrough when Paul Wilkinson bowled opener Mark Smith with only 10 on the board. However, the Somerset team found a stand for the second wicket and put on 95, to move the score on to a much healthier 105 for two. Captain Mark Sage was the architect, blasting his way to an aggressive 72 from just 80 balls. That partnership came to an end when Wilkinson picked up his second victim, bowling Sage’s partner Dave Pippett (34). After this wicket fell, Houghton kept the Timsbury batsmen in check with some very tight bowling that helped give the Main men a competitive score to chase. Good bowling was also backed up by good fielding to prevent the batting side from reaching the 200 mark, which looked odds-on at one point. Fortunately, Sage was unable to find a partner and when he was bowled by Nick Bisby on 72 and with the score on 152 for four, it signalled the end of their innings. They were eventually restricted to 184 for six courtesy of good bowling from Wilkinson (two for 32), Rob Jones (one for 47) and Bisby, who bagged two for 41. In reply, Houghton were in disarray at 31 for four. Only Richard Jones (16) enjoyed any success with the bat early on, as openers Heseltine and Rob Jones went for just eight between them, while Paul Riley was run-out first ball.

Fortunately, Bisby managed to find some inspiration on the Lord’s turf and he steered the Houghton ship into calmer waters. He joined Luke Jeffs and the pair started to move Houghton towards the 100 mark before Bisby had to come off with cramp. Chris Head came in to cover while Bisby received treatment and chipped in with 21 to take the score to 102 for five when he was trapped lbw by Savage. Experienced wicket-keeper Roy Collins then went in to nudge and push and when Jeffs was caught by man of the match Sage for 45, Bisby returned to the field at 141 for six to partner Collins. Houghton were always up with the run-rate and had plenty of overs to reach the total despite the loss of the early wickets. Their cautious approach took them into the last three overs needing 18 runs. That soon became 13 from the last 12 balls and with batsman Bisby back in action, the Timsbury fans were suddenly silenced and it was Houghton’s travelling barmy army who were in full voice. A single off the first ball of the penultimate over from Collins put Bisby on strike – and his two mighty sixes over square leg from the following three balls secured the victory, and started a pitch invasion from the travelling fans. A Barnsley flag, borrowed from the town hall, was flying high above Lord’s as they secured the biggest win in the club’s history. The club have also been invited to a civic reception next month and with two games to go in the league, and with them two points off the top, Houghton could yet be toasting a double success.