SWINDON UNITED CHURCHES travelled to Goatacre to take on their second eleven on Saturday, coming out on top by a 42 run margin in a very high-scoring match.

Dominant hundreds from Daniel Hunt and Chris Gilchrist helped set the game up for Churches, before the returning Alan Boivin claimed impressive figures of 8-1-35-4 to help stifle the hosts in the run-chase.

Despite missing three of his normal top five batsmen, Churches captain Richard Martin had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss.

Fill-in openers, Daniel Hunt (111 off 117 balls) and Mark Defty (25 off 32 balls), got the visitors off to a perfect start with a fifty partnership inside 12 overs.

Right-arm seamer Chris Watchman (9-0-32-1) bowled Defty through the gate to bring Ravi Dhayalan to the crease, and Dhayalan wasted little time in getting stuck in to the Goatacre bowling.

Dhayalan made 63 from 48 balls, dominating a partnership of 88 with Hunt, before he was run-out by C.Chapman following a mix-up with his batting partner.

This brought the in-form Chris Gilchrist (109 off 62 balls) to the middle and, inspired by Dhayalan before them, Gilchrist and Hunt raised the tempo with a partnership of 186 in just short of twenty overs.

Hunt and Gilchrist struck 21 fours and 11 sixes between them as the Goatacre bowlers struggled to contain them on a flat pitch.

Dan Smart (9-1-54-1) bowled well in the face of the onslaught, but little could be done to stop Gilchrist and Hunt bringing up their centuries within minutes of each other.

Both men would depart before the innings ended on 335/5 from 45 overs.

The Goatacre innings got off to the worst possible start when Stephen Baker (0) was bowled by Alan Boivin in the first over.

Chris Spackman (6.5-1-56-2) replaced Boivin from the Pavilion End and would claim the wickets of Thomas Cutler (14) and captain Chris Chapman (1) in his opening spell.

By the time that opening bowler Richard Martin (9-1-30-1) removed Thomas Ponting for 33, in the final over of his spell, the hosts were out of touch at 60/4.

A spirited comeback was then mounted by middle-order batsmen Ben Miller (66), Imraj Heer (43), Kyle Barnes (53) and Dan Smart (24), as the Churches change bowlers found conditions more difficult bowling with an older ball in the middle overs.

Leg-spinner Debashis Saha (8-1-49-2) had the most joy, claiming the key wickets of Miller and Heer, to keep Goatacre 2nds in check.

The return of Boivin to the attack sealed the win for Churches though, claiming three wickets (two bowled, one caught behind) in his second spell to finish on 4-35.

Despite their best efforts, Goatacre fell 42 runs short of the mammoth target, claiming eight bonus points in the process.

The 21 points gained in victory for Churches, all but seals their promotion back to Wiltshire League Division Two next season.

The home game against first placed Chippenham 2nds on the last day of the season, looks like a straight shoot out for the Division Three title between the two clubs.