COLWALL’S bid for National Village Cup glory came to an agonising end as they lost to Warwickshire League side Fillongley by two wickets with three balls remaining in a thrilling last 16 clash.

Put in to bat, Colwall looked to have blown their quarter-final chances as they slumped to 16-3 and then 99-7 with just 14 of the 40 overs left.

But then James Febery came in to join dogged opener Fergus Cameron and they turned the tide with a valiant stand of 89 for the eighth wicket.

Febery smashed five sixes and four fours in a superb 61 before he was eventually stumped and Cameron finished unbeaten on 67, taking 14 off the final over to leave Colwall in with a decent chance as they closed on 215-9.

Cameron then struck an early blow with the ball as he had Franks caught by Mike King for a duck off the last ball of the second over after tea, while Mike Gooch trapped Canty leg before for 17 to leave the hosts toiling on 37-2 in the ninth over.

Colwall then lost the initiative as Skelding and A Sayed put on a decisive stand of 111 in 17 overs for the third wicket, before James Wagstaffe had Skelding caught by Ben Febery for 56 and suddenly the rot began to set in.

Wagstaffe took two more wickets to finish his eight-over spell with 3-31 and when Sayed was sixth out bowled by King for 72 out of 187-6 in the 34th over Colwall were back in with a slim chance.

Ben Febery had Tregonning caught by Wagstaffe to leave Fillongley needing 13 runs off the last three overs.

But 12 came off the next two and although Wagstaffe took his third catch off King with the scores level the hosts scrambled a single off the third ball to seal a narrow win.

In Worcestershire League Division One, Colwall's had toiled in vain to stem the flow of runs as they lost by 53 runs at second-placed Bewdley.

The home side chose to bat on a stifling hot day and took full advantage to run up a mammoth 344-6 total from their 50 overs after openers Mauger and Fearnell had laid the foundations with a first wicket stand of 171 eventually broken when Joe Blight had Fearnell caught by James Abel for 113.

Mauger went on to reach a solid 87 before he was caught behind off Fergus Cameron and although Cameron took another wicket and James Febery weighed in with two more the home middle order continued to thrive as they closed on 344.

Colwall lost Blight leg before off the second ball of their reply, but then showed real spirit with the bat as they chased a daunting target, Cameron (26) and Nick Brown (45) adding 63 for the second wicket before Ben Cooke (65) and James Abel (60) put on another 96.

Ben Febery (58) then came in to add 99 with Cooke for the fourth wicket, but Colwall were never really up with the rate, closing on 291-8 with Jack Mills returning 5-50 for Bewdley.

Colwall seconds bounced back to winning ways with a comfortable 50-run victory over Bewdley in Second X1 Division One at Stow Lane.

Skipper Will Bishop led the way with a solid 73 as Colwall amassed 236-8 batting first,with Crane taking 4-55 for the visitors, who were then bowled out for 186 in the 44th over of their reply, Spencer hitting 79 in vain as the home side produced a much improved display in the field.

Colwall thirds produced their best display of the season as they overcame hosts Woolhope by 13 runs in a thrilling finish to their Marches League Division Two clash.

Put in to bat, Colwall lost Simon Oliver early on, but a century stand for the second wicket between Steve Wright (43) and the aggressive Jack Hughes who hit 11 fours and a six in his 61 set them up for a decent score, while every batsman contributed useful runs thereafter, Ali Martin (24) leading the way to a final total of 222-9.

Hughes and John Henry (1-28) picked up early wickets in reply and Wright came on to claim another in a tight spell, but aggressive batting by Tanner (40), Williams (38) and Davies (39) put Woolhope back in contention, until in a nail-biting finale P J Recorden (3-50) broke through again.

Hughes took his second wicket before 16-year-old Menno Recorden recovered from conceding a six and a four to claim two more in a single over and finally Wright struck again to pin Davies leg before and seal the win with three overs left of a truly sporting contest.