Thame Town suffered an agonising one-run defeat against Cove at Church Meadow on Saturday.
In a game that fluctuated each way and was hit by rain showers, Thame lost out on the winning points in the last over.
Thame’s bowlers reduced Cove to 5-4 with Will Rooney claiming two, Sam Lachlan one and a run out. The Cove batsmen then slowly rebuilt their inningsand ended on 169-7.
Thame started well in reply with Rathod and Higgs putting on 32 before three quick wickets were lost.
Manoj Parmar and Ed Barnett started to rebuild but when they were out, Thame had to score at five an over to try and win the game as the rain had reduced their innings to 43 overs.
Sam Lachlan and Harry Desai put on 31 at the required rate before an lbw decision in the last over ended Desai’s innings, and two balls later Sam Lachlan was also adjudged lbw going for the single that would have tied the match. The home side were shattered after fighting back in the game, and they now face some difficult away games to gain the points to lift them up the table.
Elsewhere, the seconds put on an excellent display to chase down Kimble’s 201.
Cian Davies took 5-37 when Thame bowled first, and when they batted Will Sutcliffe (117)and Sam Alexander (46) shared a match winning third wicket partnership to ensure a Thame win.
The thirds secured a draw against unbeaten table-toppers Horley in a low scoring game.
Horley were all out for 118 but Thame struggled to post a score and ended up on 85-9.