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| Tom Coleman made 90 not out |
Will Eason's side now need just two points from their remaining two games to secure their top-flight status. Horspath hadn't won since the two sides met nine weeks ago, but a string of draws in the timed games when they picked up useful points had kept the visitors clear of the drop zone.
And the importance of those endeavours was realised as they completed the double over bottom club Thame, who were restricted to 195-9 from their 50 overs. Electing to bowl first on a slow Church Meadow pitch, Horspath enjoyed an early success when left-arm seamer Liam Manley had Will Sutcliffe caught at mid-wicket by Tom Cosford in the fourth over with 11 on the board.
Manley struck again when Thame had reached 30 with Callum Russell caught at cover by James Fitzjohn. Thame skipper Michael Beard and Gamindu Kanishka took the score on to 66 when Belcher trapped the former lbw for 31, before Will Eason had Hassam Mushtaq caught behind by Will Hawtin, making it 79-4.
Jamil Faruq then claimed the important wicket of Kanishka with the Sri Lankan edging to Will Eason at first slip for 33 to leave Thame 123-5. James Adams had defied the visitors' attack to complete a half-century, before being snapped up by Will Eason at mid-wicket off Belcher for 53 with Thame on 161.
Showing good control, Horspath's left-arm spinner then enticed a caught and bowled dismissal out of Richard Straughan when he had made 21, making it 170-7. Two runs later, he added to his tally when Mike Higgs edged into Hawtin's gloves.
And he completed his five-wicket haul by getting one through Jonathon Jelfs' defence to make it 178-9, before Chris Jeffcock (16no) and Andrew Russell took Thame to the close. Manley (2-16), Eason (1-39) and Faruq (1-41) were Horspath's other wicket-takers, while there also tidy spells from Cosford and Asad Rafiq.
A solid start with the bat was what was needed to settle any Horspath nerves, and that was just what Coleman and Robbie Eason provided as they shared a second successive half-century opening partnership. They provided the ideal platform for Horspath's run chase by putting on 69, before Eason was caught at mid-wicket by Straughan off Andrew Russell for 22.
Coleman swept past fifty with some cracking boundaries and added 91 for the second wicket with Fitzjohn before the latter was lbw to Kanishka after he had made 35. Darryl Brown, who went into the game as the league's leading scorer, was quickly into his stride and he moved swiftly to 26 before falling to a low catch at mid-wicket by Sutcliffe off Russell with five runs needed for victory.
Coleman wasn't to be unlodged, though, as he marched on to his highest score of the season with a classy knock. And it was left to Cosford to clinch victory in style when, with the scores level, he smashed Adams's first ball for a mighty six over mid-wicket, taking Horspath to 201-3 from 42.1 overs. Russell (2-32) and Kanishka (1-31) were the pick of the Thame attack.
Posted by: Russ