Royston captain Paul Harris was left ruing a poor batting display as his side lost by five wickets to local rivals Thriplow 2nds on Saturday.

Paul Miller (18) top-scored for the Crows, who served up a poor 91 all out. Hugh Spotswood was the catalyst for Royston’s demise, grabbing 5-15.

Only Miller, Rory Harper (15) and Praveen Nath (13) hit beyond single figures, leaving their visitors with what seemed a fairly simple task.

In response, Thriplow looked to start aggressively, with Jamie Golding in particular playing some expansive shots.

Martin Leary finally yorked Dan Tinkler with the score on 19 to give Royston a glimmer of hope.

Crows’ Matt Gilham was on a personal crusade to bail out the batters as he removed the next three Thriplow batsmen without conceding a run.

With Thriplow on 44-5, Royston knew that they still had a chance, but swift wickets were vital.

The away side were not to lose another wicket though as Spotswood (37*) and number four Andrew Craze (18*) stabilised the innings and saw them to the five-wicket victory.