It was a weekend to savour for all those of a Stanmore persuasion after they claimed the Middlesex County Cricket League Division Two title to earn promotion back to the top flight following a 148-run win against Winchmore Hill, and then booked their place in a national final.

Heading into the 18th and final round of matches, there was a three-way tussle to claim the two promotion spots that also involved Harrow St Mary’s and Enfield, but Stanmore knew their destiny was in their own hands providing they bettered the results from elsewhere.

Anything less than a win could have dropped them to as low as fourth in the standings, such was the magnitude of the match and testament to how congested the division has been this campaign, so there was no shortage of nerves and excitement present ahead of the Hill clash.

Batting first, Stanmore recovered from a poor start that saw them lose their opening three batsmen with only 40 runs on the board as Talah Azam (0) and Ahmed Elech (29) became victims of De La Rey Terblanche (2-16), while Steven Reingold was trapped leg wicket before by Charlie Avent (1-39) for 13.

The fightback was orchestrated by Grant Reingold, who made a well-constructed 65, and Kush Patel (41) as Stanmore eventually closed on 230-8 thanks to late runs from skipper Tushaar Karia (21) and 19 from Mark Reingold.

Winchmore’s reply never got off the ground as an inspired spell of bowling from Elech (5-14) tore through the Hill card and helped dismiss them for just 82 inside 22 overs.

That win, combined with Hornsey’s victory over promotion challengers Enfield confirmed Stanmore’s status as champions.

An historic weekend for the North West London outfit was confirmed on Sunday when they defeated Sussex Premier League champions and national Twenty20 finalists Roffley CC to progress to the final of the ECB National Cup.

Stanmore batted first and made 225 in their 40 overs thanks to top scorer Azam’s 58 and contributions of over 30 from both Karia and Grant Reingold.

The Roffley reply started well and they were 90-2 after 19 overs with the game evenly poised at the half-way stage.

However, captain Marc Reingold opened the floodgates as they subsided well short of their target and to 143 all out.

The Stanmore Hill club will now travel to the County Ground in Bristol on Sunday, September 16 to face North Yorkshire side Richmondshire CC, as they look to bring the trophy back to Middlesex for the first time since 1991.