IT was a Caribbean carnival for Foxton, but more misery for shell-shocked Royston. And what a difference a week makes, after being bowled all out for 53 the previous Saturday. Foxton s West Indian trio of Lawrence Farnum, Patrick Joseph, and Antonel Atwel

IT was a Caribbean carnival for Foxton, but more misery for shell-shocked Royston.

And what a difference a week makes, after being bowled all out for 53 the previous Saturday.

Foxton's West Indian trio of Lawrence Farnum, Patrick Joseph, and Antonel Atwell ran riot in this Senior League Division One clash and tormented Royston to another defeat.

Farnum turned up the heat with a sparkling innings of 178, and set a new individual club record in the process.

Equally as impressive was Joseph, who smashed his way to 124 not out, with Atwell's 42 runs propelling Foxton to another club record of 417-3.

In reply, a depleted Royston team had no response and were all out for 110.

Foxton manager Matt Gray said: "It was a very good day for the club.

"Farnum and Joseph were very happy indeed.

"But you have to be fair to Royston because they were missing a lot of first team players.

"Farnum and Joseph were just too hard to handle, and Royston didn't know how to deal with them.

"They're fantastic players, and possibly two of the best batsmen in the league.

"We're delighted to have them on board because they have a lot of cricket experience."

All three hail from Guyana, the same country that has produced the precocious talents of current West Indian stars Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Gray said: "They have played alongside quite a few of the current West Indies squad.

"They have obviously learned from those guys and it can only benefit a club like Foxton.

"They're helping to move the club forward.

"For a long time Foxton have been in Royston's shadow and now I really think we are emerging.

"We have a great chance of winning the league and so far it's been a good season."

As a former Royston player Gray said his side's dominance was hard to watch and he hopes his old club can fight their way off the bottom of the table.

He said: "Playing for them in the 80s, I'll always want to see them do well and it's not nice seeing them in that position.

"There's still games to play, so hopefully they can work their way up."

Royston captain Craig Holson said: "We knew we would get very little from this game, and our aim is to take points from the clubs around us.

"The club seems to be plummeting very quickly, and it is a worry.

"We haven't had the best of luck, and some of the players haven't really stepped up to the mark.

"But I'm confident we can turn it around and there's still an excellent spirit between the players which is very important.

"It's going to be an interesting few weeks."

Meanwhile, Royston were at last given something to celebrate after reaching the final of the Keatley Cup, beating Aspenden Standon & Puckeridge with four balls to spare on Tuesday evening.

After some tight bowling from Richard Temple (4-0-11-2) and Paul Harris (2-0-11-0) the pressure was on for Aspenden.

Their work with the ball was a sign of things to come, with Matt Gillham (4-0-22-1), Martin Leary (4-0-20-1) and the excellent Mark Harper (2-0-8-3) limiting the Aspenden batsmen, and eventually they had their opponents all out for 78 from 15 overs.

Despite losing captain Holson (11) early on, Royston made a positive start, with John Adler and Harris batting sensibly.

Aspenden's Pankhurst (4-0-7-2) made scoring difficult in his spell with the ball, and Harris perished to an intelligent delivery.

His dismissal cleared the way for Paul Miller to come to the crease, and he duly accepted responsibility with a couple of well-taken sixes.

Mick Miller (23) contributed at the other end before he was caught in the deep.

But Paul Miller (29) and Craig Jackson (2) did more than enough and saw Royston home with four balls to spare.

Holson said: "The final will be a big boost for us and hopefully it will inspire us in the league.

"It promises to be a great game."

Royston will play Reed, who are second in the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League Division Two, in the final.