In a rain affected weekend, Priory stumbled within sight of the finish line, when they failed to take the chance of going top, by losing to Spencer in a rain affected Duckworth Lewis driven run chase. In the event, Priory got a lot more overs than initially seemed likely, with the weather forecast threatening the chances of a result, and a minimum 20 overs required in the innings of the side batting second for the match to "count.". And as wickets began to fall, the Duckworth Lewis target became harder, and Priory eventually lost by just 13 runs in the 44th (and last) over of a reduced overs match, with 9 down, after numerous stoppages for rain.

Fraser Sheat

Having been put in to bat, Spencer had gone off like a train with Darby (45) speeding along in style. But just before the halfway point with Spencer 123-5, the match looked well within Priory's control. Not a bit of it though, as Jack Scriven (75*) found good support from the middle order with 20s from each of MacPherson, Jafri, and Brooking, and Spencer ended up with an impressive 264-7 off their 50 overs. Best of the bowlers – George Ealham with 3-37.

George Ealham

In reply, although Richie Oliver (62) and Surrey's Ollie Sykes (25) got off to a steady start, it felt as though Priory were being overly driven by Duckworth Lewis calculations than by the 265 target, and a sense of urgency seemed to be lacking. At the mid-point, Priory were 92-1 off 25 overs, but already in danger of falling behind the DL rate, and when wickets began to fall, the DL calculation moved against the Priory, and despite the best efforts of Tom Massey (30 off 12 balls), Tommy Bates (24 off 20) and Harry McInley (27* off 19), it was a matter of too little too late.

Richie Oliver

The reality is that this season has been incredibly tight, and the cliché that anyone can beat anyone has proven to be true – and on this penultimate weekend of the season, the Top 3 all lost with Wimbledon and Sutton also losing. Priory remain 2nd just 3 points behind Wimbledon (the irony is that had their match been abandoned, Priory would instead be 1 point ahead!) and four more sides are within 11 points of top – and going into the final round of matches, any of 6 teams could in theory win the title. Wimbledon are favourites to stumble over the line, but would have some justifiable grievance had they not had their own destiny in their hands going into the last matches of the season – the Duckworth Lewis computations were cruel to them as they posted 322-2 v Ashtead and whilst the Ashtead chase had begun well, at 169-2 off 29 overs, most experienced club cricketers would have still preferred to be Wimbledon, with Ashtead still needing another 154 off 21 overs. All that means an exciting last weekend in store with the Dons hosting Spencer, and Priory hosting Sunbury – who in turn need to win to avoid relegation if Esher can beat East Molesey. Never a dull moment!