Tewkesbury claimed their second win of the season in Premier 2 Glos/Wilts of the West of England Premier League but stand-in skipper Louis Whitmore admits they made very hard work of it.

They needed an inside-edged single down to fine leg by number 11 Tom Morris to secure a one-wicket win over Goatacre in a match they had controlled for long periods.

They won the toss and had Goatacre reeling at 94-8 in the 30th over before they recovered to make 211.

That total was still well within range when Tewkesbury reached 163-1 at the end of the 40th over, but after Josh Richards fell for 98 from the first ball of the next over wickets proceeded to fall at an alarming rate.

Morris got them home with just two balls remaining and Whitmore admitted: “We won that game twice.

“We were pretty gutted that we let it get that close, we should have won it comfortably.”

The win leaves Tewkesbury sixth in the 10-team division and on Saturday they travel to Painswick, who are one place and 10 points above them.

“A win is a win,” said Whitmore. “We’d have liked to have won the game by eight wickets but we’re still pretty happy.”

Tewkesbury have now won two and lost two with one abandoned and Whitmore continued: “Everyone is beating everyone in the division. We knew that was likely to happen this season because there’s no really strong side.

“Cheltenham with full availability are good, same with Painswick and Corsham.

“Anyone who can string a few wins together can get near the top of the table.”

Richards’ innings, which was made from 119 balls, was a welcome return to form for the opener while right-arm seamer Archie Freeth maintained his impressive start to the campaign by snapping up 4-31.

“That’s 13 for the season for him,” added Whitmore. “He’s gone 4, 5, 4 in the last three games.”

Whitmore will hand the captaincy back to regular skipper Tom Allcoat, who has missed the last two games, on Saturday.

Saturday’s win followed a 61-run defeat against Cheltenham but Whitmore, who made 39 against Goatacre, is optimistic for the rest of the season.

“It would be nice if we could finish in the top four,” he said.