Findon elected to bat first on a lovely green wicket at Horley's Copthorne ground and the weather was on everyone’s minds with rumours of a downpour later in the day.
Findon started steadily with a mixture of experience and youth. Ryan Smith and Chris Cosham opened the bowling with no luck, then on came Tom Jowett to take the breakthrough wicket of opener Mark Byerley, lbw for 35.
Jowett also dismissed number three Ben Coulson, while at the other end Henrick Cook bowled a brilliant six-over spell of 1-9, having Charlie Coulson caught by Ed James, and was unlucky to not take a few more wickets.
With rain looming, wickets were needed. Khyan Patel came on and ripped through the Findon line-up, taking six wickets for his best figures of 6-11 from 5.1 overs, joining the other legends on the club honours board.
His father Danny Patel joined the party at the other end taking a wicket with the delivery of the day and Findon fell from 56-1 to 90 all out off 28 overs, just in time, as the rain came down.
The small shower ended quickly and the Horley batters got the game back under way. The openers struggled against some tidy bowling from Findon with the pitch starting to assist more. Jowett came in at three and scored a quick 36 taking on the bowlers' bad balls but fell to one shot too many.
At 44-2 Horley fell into their old habits, losing quick wickets for not many. Danny Patel (13) steadied the ship slightly, getting Horley past the 20-over mark, meaning the match would still count if it was rained off.
Findon youngster Oliver Coulson took 4-26 off his eight overs, but at 85-7, Horley needed just six to win.
Spectator and club secretary Rich Waddington commented, “We can’t lose from here," then saw Horley lose two more wickets for just one run, leaving James and Cosham to score the five runs needed for victory.
Cosham whacked the opener's loose ball to level the game and James punched a shot down the ground to win a brilliant match, with Horley finishing on 91-9 from 26.5 overs. The heavens opened just as the players walked off.
Horley sit nicely on top of Division 10 West with four wins out of six. Next Saturday they are away to Horsham Trinity, who are fifth.
Horley’s 1st and 2nd XIs both had their Surrey Championship matches fall victim to the rain.
Horley Ladies secured their first win of the season in Surrey Division Two East on Sunday, beating Purley – who had won three out of three until then – by five wickets.
Horley put the home side in and made a fast start, with Maisy Lightowler being bowled by Ella Gouldsborough with the second delivery of the innings. Megan Griffiths (2-23) then took the second and third wickets in the second and fourth overs to make it 15-3, but from there the batters started ticking over nicely, and reached 61 by the drinks break at 15 overs.
The partnership between Caroline Handley and Geri Wall continued to grow, taking Purley to 98 with seven of the 30 overs left.
Sarah Preston then secured the breakthrough when Wall (37) hit a huge shot to square leg, only for Griffiths to land a great catch. Just a few balls later, Handley was seen off for 44 with another great catch, this time by Ella Gouldsborough off Lauren Waddington's bowling.
Three more wickets fell in quick succession, two for Waddington (3-22) and one for Naomi Hamilton as Purley crashed from 98-4 to finish their innings on 115-8.
Griffiths and Hamilton opened for Horley and started steadily, knowing the team only needed 3.8 runs per over, but Hamilton soon opened up and hit some spectacular shots.
The teenager passed her 50 but just two balls before drinks, she was caught and bowled by Jessamine Kelly for 52 (55 balls, eight fours).
After drinks, the run rate slowed considerably but Griffiths played a vital role to steady the ship before she fell victim to a truly spectacular catch by Wall off Kelly for 18, with Horley on 94 after 20 overs.
The task of getting 22 runs from ten overs seemed simple for big hitters Kersti Meyer and Ella Gouldsborough, however, the game nearly got away from Horley, with Ella and Charlotte Gouldsborough both falling on 102. Meyer (14 not out) plugged away, with the help of Cheryl Douglas, and got Horley across the line with two overs to spare.
This was a welcome win for Horley against a side who had beaten them by 30 runs last month and it moves Horley up to fourth in the league table.