Triangle arrived at the White Cliff Recreation Ground knowing that 18 points would be enough to secure promotion to Division 5 and ensure they finished no lower than 2nd. This of course would have been the case if our illustrious leader had done his maths correctly. After inspecting what could be generously described as a cricket pitch, situated in the middle of a public park, Grant Neven duly lost the toss and Triangle were sentenced to field on a very hot afternoon.

The host's decision to bat seemed curious at first as the erratic bounce caused Poole's openers numerous problems with a number of balls either rising up or shooting low off a good length. New ball bowler Sam Polley used this to his advantage dismissing the young lad Bennett with a brute of a delivery which rose steeply, brushing his glove and was well held by Mark Nott at first slip. Bennett senior then dug in with Wright as they made slow but steady progress on a very difficult track. Rupert had no luck at his end, when Dodson and Nott conspired to let a thick edge go straight between them at first and second slip. Sam also found that not all catches were sticking off his bowling as a routine take by the skip behind the sticks was fluffed allowing Bennett to continue to flash away.

With lady luck not favouring Rupert this day, the captain turned to Rob Hodges who once again delivered the goods with a four wicket haul. After claiming a very lucky lbw decision to remove the dangerous Wright (snr.), he bowled the opener Bennett who had rode his luck, and at times it seemed there wasn't too much of a middle between the two edges of his bat. Rev'd Gates at a sort of gullyish-point position then took a fine low catch to send Wright (jnr.) back to the pavilion. The fourth and final wicket from an impressive spell was a caught and bowled, coming via the thigh of Ken Dodson at silly mid off, deflecting Matthews' drive allowing Rob to perform a dive for the cameras. Thanks to poor addition by the scorers, he was robbed of a possible five-for as his stint came to an end one over early.

Meanwhile at the other end Polley made way for the good Reverend, who we shall kindly say bowled without much luck, though while getting the ball to turn was unable to keep the run rate down and was given a well-deserved rest after a few overs. With a heavy heart, Neven threw the ball to Clifford and the bespectacled one though fairly expensive in the runs column picked up three crucial wickets, bowling the younger Sears and Taylor, while Morris proved an exception to most on the afternoon by holding the only catch that had come his way at backward square leg.

Young Dyson proved to be the thorn in Triangle's side as he made batting look easy on the difficult White Cliff wicket, hitting a fine 70 with a combination of prods and pushes into the numerous gaps for easy singles, but also showing he could hit the big shots when needed for boundaries. It was only in the final over when another farcical exhibition of fielding saw four overthrows conceded, leaving Dyson confused as to which end he should be at, finally broke his concentration and Rupert picked up his wicket. Poole finished on 209-9 as the islanders were unable to capture the final wicket, though really shouldn't have been chasing anything over 150 on more than bowler-friendly wicket, if their fielding had been anything near up-to-scratch (something which Ken pointed out to his captain at the end of the innings in no uncertain terms).

After a truly appalling tea, Neven sent out the tried and trusted opening pair of Dodson and Dave Males to give PRT a good foundation for expected hectic run chase. The captain's plans were soon in tatters as lively bowler Sparkes picked up the first of his wickets removing first Dodson with a rising delivery well held by Wright in the slips and then Dave with a yorker, followed by a rudimentary cartwheel right down the middle of the wicket. Sam Polley was in at three as he had to depart for work and was out just about half a minute later adjudged lbw, and was as plum as you like.

The skipper was less than happy at this stage as his promotion hopes were fading fast, but Gates and veteran Tony Quayle dug in superbly and a partnership of 88 dragged Triangle kicking and screaming back into the match. After seeing off Sparkes and his slightly more wayward opener Wright the younger, the pair made short work of the change bowlers, with Gates smashing one poor lad for 20 off one over as Poole became less than certain of the win. The reverend was suckered into a soft caught and bowled by Dyson just short of a well-earned fifty and was replaced with Hodges.

There were high hopes for Rob, even though he had yet to break his duck for Triangle in his previous two innings, but after a shaky start he recovered to form some useful partnerships with Quayle and Nott as Portland edged to victory as the required run rate fell to a very gettable five an over. The return of Sparkes brought the demise of Hodges after a spirited innings and the accompanying cartwheel.

A captain's innings was needed more than ever, but with hardly a glut of runs behind him this season, not as much was expected from those on the sidelines, but the little guy delivered in spades. A fine unbeaten knock of 26, with able back up from Mark Nott (8 no), as a succession of hard-hit boundaries saw Triangle home with nearly two overs to spare. Unfortunately it was to be a week later that Neven learned his team's fate as Wayfarers pipped Triangle to the second promotion spot by an agonising 0.03 of a point, sentencing them to another season in Division 6.