HANGING Heaton held their nerve to beat New Farnley by two runs in a memorable Solly Sports Heavy Woollen Cup final at Spen Victoria.

The match produced a total of 526 runs and two impressive centuries and was a perfect finale to this season''s competition.

Nick Connolly carried his bat for 110 as Hanging Heaton made 264-6, and New Farnley's Steve Bullen also batted throughout the entire 50 overs of his side's innings as he finished 126 not out.

Bullen was rightly named man of the match after he refused to give up the fight after Tom Chippendale removed Simon Lambert and Dave Cummings in the opening over before a run was on the board.

When Yorkshire's Andrew Hodd was dismissed with the total on seven, it seemed unlikely that New Farnley would challenge Hanging Heaton's total, but Bullen had other ideas.

He played with control as he set about stabilising his team's position.

Bullen was watchful when required and seized on any opportunity to keep the scoreboard clicking over.

When skipper Lee Goddard was run out and Richard Atkins was trapped lbw by Aqsat Ali, New Farnley were 98-5.

Former Yorkshire and England player Ajmal Shahzad struck a couple of lusty blows before departing, and when Alex Lilley was caught by wicket-keeper Ismail Dawood off Ali, the game looked up at 145-7.

Bullen was in no mood to throw in the towel, however, and he found an ally in Dave McCallum.

The spin bowler helped to quicken the tempo with some fine shots as they added 73 for the eighth wicket.

Just when it looked as if New Farnley had taken the initiative, though, McCallum holed out for 41.

Still Bullen refused to give up the fight.

Hanging Heaton skipper Gary Fellows made a rash of bowling changes to try and contain the opener but could not prevent him completing his century off 131 balls with 12 fours.

Bullen got the target down to 16 from the final over but, despite their best efforts, New Farnley could only manage 13 from David Stiff's final six deliveries.

Bullen hit his second six from the final delivery of the game and also hit 14 fours.

There was a mixture of joy and relief from Hanging Heaton after being pushed so close, and they set their victory up with their batting.

Connolly played the anchor role as he hit a six and 15 fours, and New Farnley may well rue not clinging on to the chance he offered on 61.

Hanging Heaton had lost three wickets for 14 runs to slip to 140-5 prior to Connolly's escape.

The slide was triggered when Callum Geldart departed for an entertaining 44.

Big-hitting Stiff found himself coming in earlier than expected, but he tailored his game perfectly to the situation. He was content to accumulate sensibly in the early stages of his innings before producing some of his trademark blows.

Stiff hit four sixes and two fours in his 39 as 93 runs were added for the sixth wicket.

Connolly completed his century off 138 balls and went on to finish with a six and 15 fours as he ensured that his side posted a total that was capable of winning the game, and so it proved.