The Farnham 3rd XI arrived at Ripley’s second ground with a nervous apprehension around the threatening overhead conditions. But the weather held off throughout but made for a difficult wicket and a tight game.

The 9 good men of Farnham, due to injury across the club, were asked to bat by the Ripley skipper. Dan Steele (C) and James Somerville made a promising start before Steele was deceived by a dipping full toss and Somerville was hopelessly short of his ground as he returned for a second and run-out, both for fewer than 10. Lloyd, turning out for the 3’s due to a strained groin, took the game to Ripley’s bowlers - scoring at a strong rate. Farnham lost regular wickets at the other end, until Andrew Steele (father of the skipper) came to the crease and was steadfast in his support of Lloyd. The 70-run partnership set a strong base for Farnham, with Lloyd eventually falling for marauding 67. Farnham finished their innings all out for 119 - a seemingly defendable total given the conditions.

Youngster Sonny Temple-Hall took the new ball and bowled a tight line, rewarded in his second over with the wicket of the Ripley skipper. Temple-Hall came back later in the innings and bowled some tidy overs which built more pressure on the Ripley batsmen. Dan Steele opened from the other end and bowled economically building pressure, especially against Ripley’s experienced led-handed opening bat. Steele bowled himself through, finishing with 9 overs for just a miserly 15 runs. Somerville’s off-spinners looked threatening, finding the outside edge on several occasions but not going to hand - he was unfortunate to finish his 9 overs with no reward, but bowled excellently on his return for Farnham. As Steele took the gloves, Dickin and French bowled outstandingly. French, finding some turn with his slow bowling, had two men bowled and two caught by Steele - finishing with career best figures of 4-21. Dickin was rewarded early with by a smart catch by Steele, diving away to his right and, ultimately, brought the game home for Farnham. He finished with 4-17 as he had Ripley’s last man caught in the covers - sparking wild celebrations from Farnham’s 9 men - having pulled off the most unlikely of victories by just 4 runs.