LANGLEY Manor celebrate winning the Southern Premier League Division 3 title – 12 months after being being relegated!

They put their recent wobbles behind them and clinched the championship with a resounding eight-wicket win over Basingstoke & North Hants II at Mays Bounty.

But they only just completed the victory in time – within ten minutes of finishing, the heaven’s opened and the rain poured down!.

Luke Mooney (5-35) (left) and Jamie Brown (5-24) routed the Bountymen in only 15.1 overs, Basingstoke losing nine wickets for 26 runs after being 34-1 (Chris Froud 21).

Langley Manor must have feared the worst when Chris Chandler (2-31) dismissed both Dave Castle and Graham Noble in three balls without a run on the board.

They had, after all, lost two of their previous three matches and confidence was a little fragile.

But Conor Browne and Jack Budd steadied the frayed nerves of the travelling band of Langley supporters with an unbroken partnership which steered the Manor to victory – and the championship.

Budd hit seven fours in a breezy 40 not out, while Conor Browne (24) completed the victory with a 4-4-6 salvo.

St Cross Symondians II finished runners-up after their visit to Waterlooville was washed out at tea.

The Winchester side were 192-8 when the rains came, with Nick Boulton 73 not out on debut and lead SPL3 run maker Paul Hawkins (62) scoring his sixth half-century of the season.