WHILE it may be true that the Feversham League is presently struggling for survival, memories of better times came flooding back when champions Spout House met High Farndale in a top four play-off semi-final at Harome.

The match was adorned with excellent cricket, good sportsmanship and a total of 292 runs off only 36 overs.

High Farndale batted first in overcast conditions and both Brian Leckenby and Kevin Wilson adopted a cautious approach for the first few overs as the ball tended to keep rather low on a damp wicket. It wasn't until the sixth over that Leckenby hit the first boundary.

Having won the bowling trophy this season, Spout House's talented young bowler James Allison then found that cricket can sometimes be a cruel game as Wilson, who had literally risen from his sick bed to play, launched a vicious assault which brought him six, four, six off successive deliveries.

High Farndale held the initiative at 61-0 after nine overs, but Spout House finally made the breakthrough two overs later when Martin Thompson's first ball comprehensively bowled Leckenby for 18.

Wilson reached his 50 in the same over, but shortly afterwards was dropped twice in successive balls. The misses ultimately proved costly for Spout House.

Robert Aconley offered valuable support to Wilson and he had reached 15 when he chopped a ball from Thompson on to his stumps.

Wilson was now doing pretty much as he pleased with the bowling, hammering it to all parts of the ground. James Blacklock garnered a few quick singles until he was bowled for 12 by Matthew Garbutt off the last ball of the innings to leave Wilson frustratingly stranded on 99 not out, an astonishing performance which saw him blast seven sixes and six fours.

High Farndale were in a happy mood when the time came for them to take the field, knowing that their final total of 153-3 was surely beyond the capabilities of even Spout House.

Their optimism soon increased when the dependable Robin Garbutt was bowled for just one by Robert Aconley, followed closely by Geoff Eborall's dismissal of Paul Donaldson for six.

There seemed no way back for Spout House, but Eddie Farrow and George Allison began to up the tempo to such good effect that the scoreboard read 60-2 after nine overs.

Allison's valiant effort came to a conclusion when he was well caught by Blacklock off Frank Croft for 24.

Chris Brass, hampered by knee trouble, came in to join Farrow, who looked in excellent form, as dusk began to fall. Brass certainly did his bit for his side, but was eventually bowled by Croft for 14.

With four overs to go, Spout House still required 50 runs and Matthew Garbutt was run out after neither batsmen could establish where the ball had gone in the gathering gloom.

But Farrow, in company with Mark Farrow, who ended on 12 not out, kept battling on. With one over to go, 25 was still needed, but after Eddie Farrow had hit the second ball for six, Spout House had to admit defeat. They finally attained the very respectable total of 139-5.

Farrow's 75 not out would normally be sufficient to win the man of the match award, but no-one would begrudge it going to Kevin Wilson, whose performance was largely instrumental in High Farndale going through to the final