Headley (221-9 Dec, Moss 50) beat Warlingham (173 all out, Waller 3-27)

It was a day that belonged to Waller. He made some prize-winning sandwiches and then bowled some prize-winning jaffas; add to that Hopper's all-day contribution of pies and one gets a small picture of why Midmer's men marched on to a storming end to a storming season which has largely been without storms.

Events unfolded thus...

The now established Sunday skipper Midmer won the toss and sent his side into bat; although followers of the club have hinted that ex-skipper Chapman was responsible for the decision... not quite sure why that's interesting, but a good reporter never misses these facts.

A batting line up of Hopper and Noble of the Elvis variety was sent to face the music and after some quite horrendous moos, Hopper departed for 14. Chapman strode to the wicket at his favoured number 3 berth and began to moo in a similar vein. Some have suggested this uncharacteristic resorting to the cow was the result of a close LBW escape early in the Chapman innings, but it was something that the usually correct Chapman couldn't shake off, and he eventually departed for a bright and breezy 46 - although one felt the ex-skipper had something more towering in mind.

Noble had departed in the interim to a thin knick, which he later mused was a poor substitute for a proper edge, and James Moss had arrived in a blaze of very tasty cover drives. 'Don't bowl it there' was uttered by
the watching masses, but fortunately the Warlingham bowlers persisted to let Moss test out the quality of the outfield fencing.

Waller came and went far too quickly, perhaps dazed by his heroic sandwich making, and Mitch Pickering joined Moss at the crease to steady the ship with only the occasional rush of blood.

After some sterling work Moss and Pickering were then replaced by the vintage Moss and Pickering, who were equally sterling in their efforts to guide Headley up to a competitive target. The captain Midmer then joined the vintage Moss - who was unfurling some vintage, if slightly uppish mid-on drives - and took up the reins in his usually reliable manner, guiding his side to a useful 221-9 with a run a ball 29.

The afore mentioned tea was then consumed, with Noble (Elvis) struggling to contain his affection for the selection of caramel slices. In one of the tea moments of the year, and perhaps now coming to an upmarket production of Oliver, Noble heroically handed his second caramel slice to Hopper on hearing that the buyer of the slices may miss out altogether. There were reports of tears being shed.

With no-one particularly fancying an early run to the boundary, Headley rather slowly took to the field to begin the task of removing the Warlingham batters. Midmer handed the new ball to the youth of Henry Elburn and Angus Noble and the two tyros both looked likely early doors.  After some tea-potting in the slips following some forthright appeals off
Noble, Elburn made the now hostile test-match atmosphere count, and produced a cracking yorker to get rid of the Warlingham number 1. Number 2 went soon after, with Noble eventually getting his man after the opener had been bowled after trying to charge the young paceman.

Hopper and Waller both got in on the stump hitting activity to take out two of the middle order, and with Warlingham at 53-4 a good win looked likely.

However, the momentum soon shifted after the Warlingham batters countered the aggressive field setting of Midmer by going for their shots. Runs were starting to leak and Midmer quickly switched to the high pace village attack of himself and Chapman.

Despite the momentous injection of pace, the Warlingham batters continued to look well-settled, with the left-handed number 5 playing some very classy shots on the leg-side.

However, it was to be one of those classy shots that turned the match back in Headley's direction. A leg-side Chapman half-volley setting up an inspired grab from the skipper, who somehow plucked the sweetly timed clip out of the air much to the batter's dismay.

With Chapman removing the other member of the partnership, and then, along with Midmer tactically allowing the lower order some runs in order to bring the target within range, the scene was set for Waller who came in on the first over of his new spell to immediately capture two LBW's and leave the opposition with only one wicket remaining.

Midmer had further tempted the opposition by bringing back Hopper at the other end, and the temptation was to prove too much as the Warlingham keeper struck a tasty half-volley out to cow corner. Perhaps aptly, considering his innings, Chapman was there to take the catch - never an easy thing to do when the match is at stake, but the ex-skipper took it beautifully, and Headley ended up winning a competitive match with more than a bit to spare.