TILLINGHAM Cricket Club's first team secured a thrilling two-run victory against division three champions Terling in T-Rippon Mid-Essex League division two.

Skipper Stuart Cummins lost the toss for the second game in a row and was disappointed to be put in to bat due to the favourable overcast bowling conditions.

The going was tough early on in the face of some lively swing bowling from Tristan Woolfenden, who bowled a superb opening spell of ten overs for 16.

However, the early break-through came at the other end as Humphries dismissed Barrell, caught in the gully as he extracted additional bounce off a length.

Cummins dropped anchor, though, and batted cautiously, determined to see off the opening attack.

However when he was out LBW, the hosts were in trouble at 50 for four.

A middle-order revival, led by Jack Purkiss (44) helped Tillingham eke out a total of 124 all out in the final over of their allotted 45 overs, though.

The total contained only a handful of boundaries, as the long outfield consistently prevented the ball making it to the ropes and Terling’s reply also started slowly.

Tillingham were buoyed by the early dismissal of the prolific Ash Nahorniak for just three.

Nahorniak, a former Minor-Counties and Warwickshire second XI cricketer scored 1,031 league-runs in just 15 innings in 2015 so Tillingham were delighted to dispatch him cheaply.

The hosts continued to chip away at the wickets column, as Cummins rung the changes in the field and three wickets for Connor Allington in the middle-overs, including the big-wicket of Terling captain Alex Taylor (38), helped swing the momentum in favour of the hosts.

Two wickets apiece for Hayman and Barrell aided the cause and it was left to Mike Clay, in his new role as a specialist death-bowler, to finish the job.

The Terling number 11 was clean-bowled by a perfect in-swinging yorker with the visitors a tantalising two-runs short of their target.