Cricket was the winner, but Yorkshire suffered their first real upset of 2010 when the Academy was knocked out of the Solly Sports ECB Yorkshire County Premier League Cup in Round 1.

A nailbiting clash at Savile Park saw Castleford win by two wickets with one ball to spare. Callum Geldart, above, top-scorer in Saturday's victorious League match, scored the most runs for Academy again - but the visitors' 164-9 in their 50 overs was just not quite enough.

Academy, who travelled with two successive League victories under their belts, gave debuts to James Wainman, a left-arm pace bowler from Bardsey, and Barney Gibson, a 14-year-old wicket-keeper from Pudsey Congs.

Skipper Alex Lees elected to bat and with Geldart put on nine before Lees was lbw for the second match running. Irfan Amjad and Geldart took the total to 42, when Romaniw had Amjad caught by Will Hodson. Amjad was the more aggressive, hitting three fours, but Geldart's 36 in 102 balls held it together.

The wicket was helpful to the bowlers - Chris Young conceded only three runs in his opening five overs. Chris Welburn, bowling from the pavilion end, had Jack Hargreaves caught by wicket-keeper Jason Pitcher, and the Academy were struggling at 45-3. Jack Hughes fell lbw to Welburn: 60-4. The off-spin of captain John Randerson slowed the scoring rate, and he finished with the excellent figures of 1-17 in his allotted 10 overs: he also took the vital wicket of Geldart, who had been made to work hard for his runs in difficult conditions.

Australian overseas medium-pacer Tim Weaver mopped up the tail to finish with 3-34. The tail wagged late in the innings - Gurman Randhawa, 24, and debutant Wainman, 12, ensured that Castleford had a total to chase which at one period had not seemed possible.

Now it was up the Academy seamers. Hargreaves and Wainman took the new ball - and it was Wainman who impressed the home crowd when he bagged the wickets of Young and Le Roux. Not to be outdone, Hargreaves accounted for Nos. 3 and 4, Hopkinson and Chris Jackson.

The situation called for experience - and Randerson and Will Hodson provided it: they took the total from 21-4 to 80-5, providing a basis on which to chase the 165. Randerson could be pleased with his 48: he fell to Hughes, while the other left-arm spinner, Randhawa, went for only 21 runs off his 10 overs. Hughes was even more difficult to get away, and he can be pleased with his 1-17 in 10 overs.

Romaniw played a fine, grafting innings, running well between the wickets with Pitcher as the total neared 165. Coad ran out Weaver - and then Hughes ran out Pitcher. The tension mounted, and any result was possible.

It went to the last-but-one ball, when Romaniw hit Ashley Robinson to mid-wicket to give Castleford victory by two wickets.

Words and Statistics: HAROLD GALLEY