FARLEY came tantalisingly close to finishing the season on a buoyant note after losing away to Odiham and Greywell in the final over.

In a game which featured fluctuating fortunes, Farley were inserted on a greentop to face the pacy home attack.

After Simon Wakeford nicked behind for ten, Mike Covill and BJ Cole added an excellent 92 for the second wicket.

Cole was trapped LBW for 47, and when Covill followed a couple of overs later for 51, the middle order collapsed to 137-6 in the face of fine off-spin from Ross McGaughrin (4- 28).

Some brave shotmaking from Glanville brothers Dave and Ted, alongside more orthodox strokes from Lewis Wakeford and Jake Hand, took Farley to a respectable 182-8.

The home batsmen got off to an excellent start with captain Paul Voisey in particular playing crisply.

The openers added 85 before Geoff Ramsey claimed a return catch, at least partly in selfpreservation.

Farley stuck to their task, and picked up regular wickets from then on, with Lewis Wakeford unlucky to finish with only 2-31.

That kept the pressure on Odiham and with some tight bowling from Cole in particular, the game went down to the wire.

Odiham needed five off the final over, and the experienced Walsh-Smith saw them home.

There was no such drama for Farley’s second eleven, who outclassed Whiteparish II to secure survival in Regional 3 North West.

Batting first, Farley compiled 263-5.

Ian Swain and Ian Owen laid the foundations, and then it was father and son Pete and Adam Thompson who made hay.

Both made a halfcentury, and some lusty blows from Phil Owen at the end put the odds firmly in Farley’s favour.

Owen then shone with the ball, picking up four wickets, as did Ian Owen.

But Farley did themselves no favours in the field, shelling multiple chances, including three in one over.

That gave Whiteparish the chance to deny Farley maximum bowling points, and the last wicket pair deadbatted their way through the final overs to finish 148-9.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter as the 23 points gained were enough to keep Farley out of relegation territory.