AN outstanding all-round effort by James Ede and a cool finish from captain Robin Williamson led Quarndon to a satisfying victory, which as good as ended Sandiacre Town's lingering title hopes.

Saturday's Beechwood Derbyshire Premier League game also confirmed that Williamson's young side should not have to worry about relegation – they will have enough talent and guts to win more games like this and secure a comfortable mid-table finish.

That, too, is what awaits Sandiacre this time, although, to be fair, their captain, John Trueman, has not been suggesting otherwise.

No sides stick together forever but availability problems have left Sandiacre looking far from the team that challenged Ockbrook & Borrowash for county supremacy for such a long time.

It is perhaps significant that, of Saturday's line-up, only Trueman remains from the side who could call themselves the best in the country, when they won the Cockspur Cup at Lord's in 2003.

However, Trueman can currently lead out a stronger 11 on Sundays, which means that silverware – even this year's Cockspur itself – is not beyond them yet.

There will be none, however, with performances like Saturday's.

Quarndon were at them from the start, with Darren Hoff and Mathew Dowman finding some early movement.

James Chapman touched Hoff to keeper Kevin Hollis in the third over and Trueman's own promising start was undone, when he played on to Dowman a ball after surviving a near-run out in a mix-up with David Jordison.

The Sandiacre captain does not often have his stumps disturbed but, well as he had played from the start, he had also been dropped at slip before being dismissed.

What followed was as good as the day got for Sandiacre, as Jordison, whose batting often promises so much, and Akhil Patel, who promises even more, put together a solid stand of 65.

Jordison square-drove Hoff for four, while Patel hit the teenager uppishly for four back over his head and picked the next ball up gloriously over square leg for six.

Fours through cover and midwicket to Jordison saw the 50 up in 13 overs but what Sandiacre really needed was for one of the pair to go on to a really big score.

Instead, James Blackwell, in the fifth over of a long and determined spell, bowled Jordison for 30, an over before the halfway mark, which Sandiacre reached at 90-3.

Patel, six short of a sublime 50, drove Blackwell low to cover, where Williamson clung on gratefully.

The first ball of the next over saw Ally Leek caught behind off Ede, also settling into a testing spell, and the innings was falling apart at 114-5.

Tom Priestley soon hit Ede straight up in the air and Sandiacre could have subsided very quickly from there.

Instead, Ryan McFadyean, then Kevin Newbold, chanced their arms with some lusty hitting which nudged their side towards respectability.

They were helped along by a useful effort from Matt Swann, who played one excellent cover drive for four off the back foot off Ede and hit Blackwell straight for four before playing on.

By then, McFadyean's cameo had ended with a slice to cover off Blackwell and it was just a question of whether Sandiacre could grab the extra point for reaching 200.

Newbold needs little invitation to get pumped up and facing his former club for the first time certainly did the trick, as he heaved a succession of fours and was sensibly given the strike by Danny Green.

They had just reached 200 when Newbold skied Ede to cover and the Quarndon bowler's figures reflected his perseverance, when he also bowled Green.

Given that Quarndon were without a few players, there was just the chance that a couple of early wickets might keep Sandiacre in the contest but Ben De Vos and Ede knew they had time for a cautious start, not least because their opponents had handed them three extra overs by being bowled out in a ball short of 47 overs.

Both openers were beaten a time or two by McFadyean and occasional first-teamer Andy Marlow, who turned in a solid spell in support of his aggressive South African partner.

But, apart from a low edge by Ede off McFadyean, which the diving Green could not quite gather, the opening batsmen were unflustered.

They had 26 from 12 overs when Trueman decided to try his spin but this only led to an acceleration, as Ede hit him over McFadyean at mid on and through midwicket for fours.

Using his feet well, Ede added further fours through mid off and over mid on and the 50 was up in the 18th over when Newbold was introduced for Marlow.

Patel replaced Trueman and Sandiacre had a much-needed breakthrough at 67 when he trapped De Vos leg before for 22, a job well done by the South African player-coach nevertheless.

Ede reached a superb 50, out of 80, in the 26th over, while Dowman, as so often, looked, for a while, as though he was playing at a higher level than everyone else.

Patel was launched over long on for six and played elegantly through midwicket for four but three mishits in an over also suggested Sandiacre – Newbold in particular – were winding him up and, sure enough, he skied Newbold to McFadyean in the 32nd over.

When Richard Holmes immediately followed, bowled by McFadyean, there was a glimmer for Sandiacre and there was still a lot for Quarndon to do when two more wickets fell at 141.

Ede, attempting to hit Newbold through the covers, was brilliantly caught one-handed by a diving McFadyean, who then had Tom Morris caught behind for a duck.

Quarndon needed 62 from 13 overs and, for a couple of those, it looked as if Williamson, mindful of the potential fragility of the remains of his batting order, might be thinking in terms of a draw.

But those who thought that were proved spectacularly wrong as the seasoned Quarndon captain bided his time.

He and Hollis nudged the target down to 43 from six and then launched an assault. It was an unfortunate time for Chapman to be invited to join the attack and his sole over went for 12 off the bat and 13 in all, with three boundaries smashed over the top by Williamson.

Five followed from McFadyean's next over then, crucially, 14 off Trueman's next, with Williamson, earning his luck, being caught just over the boundary at long on.

When Patel dropped a catch, then conceded three unnecessary overthrows in the 52nd over, the game was up – Williamson and Hollis having added 63 in 12 overs to make the victory look a good deal easier than it had been.