HASLINGTON almost ended their nightmare week in perfect fashion.

An impressive victory against NSSC Division Two leaders Bignall End looked sealed until massive frustration on the final ball, last Saturday.

It's tough times for the Clay Lane outfit.

Stuck in the bottom two and facing the prospect of a double relegation, things didn't get better when Matt Saive resigned as skipper.

But the hosts suggested better times may be on the way with a gutsy performance against the pacesetters.

Inserted into bat, Haslington could well have wilted on this day.

However the boys raised their game with the top order all firing to set a testing total.

Richard Bebbington (48) and Sohail Tanvir (23) made a solid start while new skipper Dean Bedson (38) and Mohammed Ali also delivered, his 32 coming from just 24 balls.

Tahir Mughal (3-81) threatened to stem the flow but another fine cameo from Jonny Phipps (47no) helped push them up to a declaration on 267-7 off 55 overs.

It all became about survival for Bignall as wickets tumbled and Mughal was forced to play the anchor role.

Haslington pro Tanvir (4-90) finally ended his vigil for 105 to revive those hopes of registering a big upset.

They thought they'd got it on the final ball of the match only for the umpire to call a no-ball, Bignall survived to close on 200-9.

Eight points lifted them out of the drop zone.

Haslington will look to build on this result at Weston on Saturday.