ROYSTON claimed the Junior 3C title on Saturday after another nail-biting finish against Harlton.

ROYSTON claimed the Junior 3C title on Saturday after another nail-biting finish against Harlton.

Sam Montegue Fuller to hit the winning runs with only one ball to spare and one wicket in hand, sparking wild celebrations at Therfield.

Going into the game Royston knew that five bonus points would give them the title if Thriplow beat Comberton. After losing the toss Royston were asked to field, something they would have done anyway. However, the Harlton batsmen provided stubborn resistance despite an excellent opening spell from Toby Fynn. Chris Hooton, as usual, provided another probing spell and it came as no surprise when he removed both Harlton openers.

Despite the two wickets Harlton continued to dig in and no more wickets fell until the 30th over, Hooton again the catalyst producing a fine piece of fielding to run out B Griigs with a direct hit. John Harper then removed Scally as Royston now had two of the bonus points they required.

However the Harlton middle order continued to play well and finished on 148-4, with Simon Griggs anchoring his team withy a solid 57*.

Royston knew 120 runs would provide the 3 bonus points required for the title, but were focused on winning the game. It was hard going for the Royston openers, Mick Miller and Paul Leary and Miller eventually perished to the excellent Simon Webb (10-2-27-3) bowled off his pad.

This bought Martin Leary to the crease and his positive stroke play allowed Royston to accelerate the run-rate. Paul Leary was next to fall also bowled by Harroway and he was replaced by Paul Miller but he found his normal attacking game restricted by the Harlton attack.

Two wickets in quick succession changed the outlook of the match when firstly Miller was excellently caught for 17 before Leary was bowled by the returning Webb for 42.

Sam Montegue Fuller and Harris steadied the ship, but with overs running out the victory looked out of sight. With the score on 117-4 Harris attempted a suicidal third run trying to bring up the bonus point required for the title and was subsequently run out by half the pitch.

It was left to Montegue-Fuller to hit the title-winning run and, with that already in the bag – they set about pulling off an unlikely win.

With two runs required two from two balls Montegue-Fuller (28*) showed great composure and sent the ball to boundary to capture the victory.