‘We never lost belief’ – Fareham & Crofton pull off Southern Premier League Great Escape from relegation

Tom Kent top scored with 69 as Fareham & Crofton completed a SPL Great Escape with a third successive victory. Picture: Keith Woodland

They beat Trojans by seven wickets in a final round 'do or die' showdown at Bath Lane - the result demoting the Stoneham club instead.Promoted as the third place club in Hampshire League Division 1 last year - champion club Compton & Chandler's Ford were refused entry because their outfield marks did not meet SPL criteria - Fareham have struggled all season in Division 3.Until three weeks ago, they had only managed two wins and looked odds-on for the drop.But just in the nick of time, they inflicted a crushing 10-wicket win on relegated Bashley (Rydal) II and then pulled off one of SPL3's shocks of the season by nailing promotion-chasing Parley.Those wins cut the safety rung deficit to ten points and set up a 'winner take all' match with Trojans."The lads deserve it,”said stand-in captain Tom Kent. “Despite being in the bottom two, we've never lost belief and worked really hard in training to improve all aspects of our game.

Left-handed opener Kent’s 69 at the top of the innings proved key to Fareham's success against Trojans.Fareham were able to keep Trojans scoring under control during the afternoon session, with only opener Syed Agha (78) and Rahul Bhome (40 not out) making meaningful scores in a modest total of 179-8.Teenage left-arm speedster Shahryar Khan (3-24) produced his best Fareham figures, while the leg-spin of Craig Jeffery (2-33) accounted for Agha and kept the pre-tea scoring rate in check at an important phase.Fareham openers Kent and Jeffery (45) adopted a no-risk policy against the experienced Jamie Donaldson (who conceded only 16 runs of his ten overs) and kept the scoreboard ticking over with sensible ones and twos.They went on to share a crucial century opening partnership before the South African was stumped five runs shy of his fifty at 103.Kent (69) added a further 52 with Jez Bulled (32) to take Fareham to within touching distance of a relegation-saving victory, achieved by a few biffs from Sam Stoddart (16 not out) with 22 balls to spare.

Jeffery ended his debut season at Fareham as the second leading runscorer (540) in the division, as well as the joint fourth highest wicket-taker (23).

Bulled was the third highest runscorer, with 423, in a list topped by Gosport’s Australian signing Ollie Lunt (573).