HORSPATH must replay their Voneus Village Cup sixth round tie against Grampound Road in Cornwall on Sunday after the match at the Recreation Ground was washed out with the Oxfordshire champions having posted 179, writes Russell Smith.

Torrential rain cascaded down for 35 minutes during the tea interval of the last 16 contest on the road to Lord’s, leaving the ground unfit for play, with the match abandoned shortly before 5.30pm.

Now Horspath must repeat last year’s 500-mile round trip to Grampound Road, when the side suffered an agonising 14-run defeat, with the tie to be replayed from scratch.

It was a deeply frustrating outcome for all, with the game evenly balanced after Horspath posted a competitive score in front of a crowd of about 200 on a pitch providing assistance for both seamers and spinners.

READ AGAIN: Horspath fightback takes next step on the road to Lord’s

The hosts had been in trouble at 16-3 after being put in to bat by the Devon & Cornwall group winners.

Opener Tom Coleman and Elliot Ruff set about repairing the damage with 77 for the fourth wicket before the latter chipped a return catch to off-spinner Alex Lean (2-21) for 20 to make it 93-4.

Coleman rode his luck to complete a fluent half-century with his 91-ball stay including 11 fours all around the ground.

However, when he had made 70, he was bowled by paceman Nathan Keevil (3-38) and his dismissal sparked a mini collapse with three wickets going down for two runs as Horspath slumped to 150-8.

It was left to Amin Rafiq to produce some lusty blows including a huge six in his unbeaten 19 to take Horspath to their final total.

But the heavens then opened bringing a premature end to proceedings meaning the two sides must do it all again.

The prize for the winners is a home tie in the quarter finals against Painswick (Gloucestershire) or 1988 and 1990 national champions Goatacre (Dorset & Wiltshire).

They also replay this weekend after their tie was abandoned with hosts Painswick 80-2 off 12.3 overs when rain hit the ground leaving the outfield too wet for play.

Horspath produced a stirring fightback to secure a 31-run victory over Peppard Stoke Row in the fifth round.

The Oxfordshire area winners were in trouble at 52-5 following a superb opening spell of 4-16 from seamer Scott Harris, but excellent half-centuries from skipper Will Eason (52) and Tyron Eyles (58) saw Horspath recover to post a challenging 223-8.

Horspath’s bowlers were supported by some brilliant catching, including a wonder effort by Jimmy Phillips, and then combined to dismiss Peppard for 192 despite Harris hammering 53 and opener Jason Vaughan-Davies making 49.