Prestwich booked their place in the Walkden Cup Final with a thrilling nine-run triumph over a gutsy Glossop side.
Chris Thomas and 18-year-old Tom Gibson played starring roles for the Heys men, not just with the bat, but with stunning catches.
In a game worthy of the final itself, Glossop’s bowlers did a fine job to restrict Prestwich to 175 – a below-par total by their high standards this season.
But a superhuman bowling and fielding display pulled victory out of the fire, with Danny Jones spearheading the bowling attack with a superb 5 for 17.
There was no early sign of batting frailty as the home side raced to 22 in just three overs, before opener Danny Jones offered a catch into the safe palms of Perera off a slower Usher delivery and he was dismissed for 19.
Usher then forced Steve Orrell to snick the ball to wicketkeeper Dale Pennington for 2, Matt Wiley mistimed a drive for 10, and Steven Lorenzini was caught by Dyson for 7.
Sam Holden had moved smoothly to 25 before a mix-up left him run out, and at 74 for 5, the Heys men were in need of a fix. Teenager James Wharmby and Thomas began to turn the tide with a sensible 40-run stand before Wharmby was caught and bowled by Perera for 20. Dave Taylor fell l.b.w. for 2, and it was looking precarious again for the home side at 120 for 7, with overs ticking down.
Enter Gibson at the wicket, and a mix of textbook running and clever shot placement added a quickfire 44, aided by a big six to the tennis court end from Thomas.
Thomas was stumped for a splendid 44 and Gibson followed suit for a run-a-ball 26 – albeit his stumping dismissal came off a wide.
All five Glossop bowlers had a wicket to their name with Usher’s 3 for 45 and Oliver Kenyon’s 2 for 21 arguably the pick.
The pace of Danny Jones struck early as Kenyon nicked to the gloves of Wiley for 0, bringing Glossop’s key men together at 3 for 1.
Pennington had been kept relatively quiet and Holden came into the attack and trapped him l.b.w. for 10.
Perera began to look ominous, as demonstrated by a six boomed over the trees into the adjoining field.
Chris Jones found luck against him when he did manage to break through the Perera defence and dislodged his bails, only for the umpire to call no-ball.
Wilde played a worthy supporting role to take the score to 80 before Gibson claimed him l.b.w. for 20, but Glossop still looked in control.
Captain Lorenzini re-introduced Jones to the attack and the shrewd move paid off as Perera edged the ball to Wiley and the professional was out for 49.
A sizeable crowd was gripped by the ups and downs as John Stopford and Alex Coates pushed the score into the 100s.
Cricket is synonymous with champagne moments, but what followed could arguably be described as two moments of “pure stellar”, which undoubtedly turned the game the Heys way.
Stopford must have thought six all the way as he whipped Holden off his legs to the square leg boundary, only for Gibson to pluck it out of the air inches from the perimeter edge, leaving the experienced Glossop man in disbelief.
A few balls later, Thomas went one better. Bevan Blackwood will not have hit many better square cuts in his long career, but Thomas’s lightning reactions at point snapped up the catch inches off the ground and Glossop were now 107 for 6, and Holden had three wickets to his name.
The score became 120 for 7 when Chris Jones held a return catch, and 136 for 8 when Danny Jones ended Coates’ resistance for 22.
Skipper Will Hargreaves then blasted a straight six to bring the never-say-die visitors back into the race, only for Jones to have the home contingent cheering again when Hargreaves was leg before for 23.
With one wicket left, 16 runs were needed, but that was whittled down to single figures.
In the penultimate over, Jones clipped the stumps of tailender Usher to secured a heart-thumping Prestwich victory – one of the most enthralling games seen at The Heys in recent years.
* Prestwich face Woodbank in the final on July 31, venue yet to be decided.
