On the much smaller oval, with a 35-yard boundary on one side, Bristol’s 3rd XI had no hesitation in batting first, and raced to 36 in the 7th over before Ellis Hall was run out from a direct hit from Tom Metcalfe-Smith for 18. Second-wicket pair James O’Dair and Suyash Sachan attempted to emulate their 1st XI on the neighbouring pitch, who were racing to a mammoth 401, but, with O’Dair one away from his half-century, both he and Sachan ended up at the non-striker’s end as Rimon Ahmed threw to the striker’s end. Although Oliver O’Dair managed to break the run out curse by bunting a return catch to Joe Crutchley (1-29), George Harris didn’t want miss out on the trend, as he failed to beat a Tobias Rice direct hit, and when Metcalfe-Smith (1-47) had Harry Tierney LBW for 8 and Matty Crutchley bowled Adam Lee with an unplayable delivery, Bristol were 161-6 with Sachan still at the crease. With limited faith in the lower order and his own judgement of a single, Sachan went on the attack, having just brought up his half-century, but was bowled by Matty Crutchley for 66 in an 11-ball over where Lodway’s familiar failing of too many wides again came to the fore. Rimon was not to be outdone in the next over, bowling two back-foot no-balls, but the reintroduction of Ryan Rice (1-58) restored some control, as brother Tobias took a catch on the short boundary to dismiss James Warren for 19 with the score on 202-8 and an early tea beckoning. This was not to be, however, with Jack Richards and Louis Watson Roper combining for 39 before Tobias Rice (1-60) had Watson Roper caught by Caolan Pearce for 9, and the innings finally came to a close when Matty Crutchley (3-31) yorked Richards for 23 to close the innings on 245; still under par for the pitch conditions and size of the ground.

In reply, Lodway’s opening pair of Adam Robson and Tobias Rice got off to a strong start in vociferous conditions, reaching 50 in the 9th over, before Rice edged pacy Watson Roper behind, where Oliver O’Dair took a fine diving catch to send Rice back for 11. Pearce joined Robson and added 46 before being Watson Roper’s second victim as the left-hander guided a ball to James O’Dair to fall for 18. With 150 runs still to get, Bristol fancied their chances of running through Lodway’s middle order, but their eagerness to take wickets was to be their undoing, as Robson and Rimon took full advantage of anything even fractionally loose, putting on 139 runs in 71 balls, with Robson the first to reach his century from 62 balls with 19 fours and 2 sixes. With 12 to win and Rimon 7 away from a first 1st XI 100, Robson attempted to defend the next over, but only succeeded in edging the indefatigable Watson Roper (3-52) behind for 102, leaving Paul Stubbs (0*) to see out the rest of the over. With that successfully navigated, it was over to Rimon, who duly delivered with two fours in the next over; the first to tie the scores and the second to reach his 53-ball 101, with 17x4s and 5x6s, sparking jubilant scenes from his teammates and the visiting support.

Lodway know that two more victories will now seal promotion, with Saturday seeing Lansdown visit Ham Green, themselves needing a victory to keep their promotion hopes alive!