CHRIS Phillips shone with bat and then ball for Stapleton who trumped Coalpit Heath by 58 runs to seal a second place finish in the Senior Division of the Martin Berrill Sports Bristol & District League, and a return to WEPL next season.
Phillips led the way with 64 in a total of 208, Ken Gainsford supporting with a crucial 45, before cleaning up the tail with a haul of 3-13 after George McEndoo had grabbed 4-22 from nine.
Bradley Stoke, already guaranteed the title going into the last weekend of the season, suffered a one-wicket defeat at Hanham who, in the process, pulled clear of relegation.
The visitors were dismissed for 157, Shahzad Ahmad carrying his bat for 72 from 123, as Bikram Hota took 4-26.
in reply, Hanham were going well at 143-6 in the 42nd over despite the efforts of Shriranj Praveen (4-30 from nine).
But Dan Qureshi took two wickets to set up a tense final over with Hanham’s ninth wicket pair still needing four to win.
Dan Laver captured a wicket from the second ball, bringing in Mollie Robbins who got off strike straight away with a single, setting the scene for Tim Bromfield to win the game with a boundary with two balls to spare and finish on the most important 17 runs of his career.
The result saw Hanham, ninth at the start of the day, leapfrog Timsbury – defeated by two wickets at OB Westbury – to preserve their Senior Division status.
Rupert Swetman grabbed 3-28 from nine before Charlie Hiram hit 68 for OB Westbury who finished third, and also sealed promotion back to WEPL.
It was an action-packed afternoon in Division Three where leaders Bishopston 2nds clinched the championship with a ten-wicket defeat of Bedminster 3rds.
And Old Down, fourth at the start of the day in a congested chasing pack, finished second thanks to an exciting eight-run victory away to Twyford House 2nds who began the day occupying the runners-up slot.
It was a memorable day for Old Down as their 2nds completed a club promotion double with a 143-run home defeat of Golden Hill 5ths in Division 12, Ben Riggs taking centre stage with a return of 6-11 from eight.
The outstanding bowling figures of the day came in Division Five where Amarajeewa Mudiyanselage finished with 7-41 from eight for champions Bristol Sri Lankans, setting up a 79-run win away to Pucklechurch.
Martin Millard retired on 103 – his fifth century of the season – as Division Seven champions Dyrham & Hinton ensured an unbeaten record with an eight-wicket home victory against Stanton Drew.
The league’s leading runs scorer ended the summer on a tremendous total of 1,214 from 14 visits to the crease at a remarkable average of 121.