When the defeat came, from the last ball of the 48th over of Waringstown’s ultimately unsuccessful run chase, it could barely have been harder to take.

With last pair Stuart Kidd and Simon Stokes at the wicket, the villagers required just five runs for victory with 13 balls left, and Regan West, the New Zealand left arm spinner, was bowling his final delivery.

Kidd was facing and if he had negotiated the ball safely, then the villagers would have fancied their chances of getting the runs required from the remaining two overs, which were to be bowled by Civil Service North’s part-time bowlers.

Kidd did everything asked of him, playing forward and watching the ball spin. However, there was a noise like bat brushing against pad and umpire Mark Hawthorne raised a finger in response to a huge appeal for caught behind.

Kidd was crestfallen, sinking to his knees in misery while at the other end a furious Stokes stormed off to the pavilion.

It was a bitterly disappointing way to lose but that Waringstown were even in a position to get so close to CSN’s modest 150 for nine was remarkable, because they had seemed a well beaten side a little over an hour earlier.

At 83 for seven, the villagers had batted for the most part horribly, and it took a superb partnership of 59 between Peter Hanna and Dave Cheater, the opening bowler, to get them back in the contest.

Cheater was the man who led the way, first smashing Colin Andrews into the car park for a huge six and t aking the aggressive lead in making a top score of 27 from 31 balls.

At the other end Hanna was more circumspect but gradually they turned a dire position into one where Waringstown were strong favourites.

However, panic set in with CSN looking a beaten side and Waringstown requiring just nine to win from more than three overs.

Hanna made the initial mistake, calling Cheater for a risky single to backward point and unfortunately the eighth wicket pair ended up at the same end and CSN were able to complete an easy run out.

From the next ball the match had turned completely on its head as Cheater crashed medium pacer Wayne Horwood in the air to long off where he was taken about five yards inside the boundary.

Even then Waringstown could still have won it as Kidd and Stokes held their nerve under mounting pressure to accumulate four more runs, but unfortunately the match ended in controversy.

Simon Harrison’s side will also have to study flaws in their own performance. Kyle McCallan and James Hall, their best two batsmen, both got starts but gifted their wickets to Horwood, primarily an opening batsman who bowls occasional medium pace.

McCallan pulled a long hop to mid-on after looking in superb touch while Hall, after surviving an easy missed chance to point, was taken brilliantly by a substitute fielder at long-off, but he shouldn’t have been hitting the ball in the air in the first place.