Jonny Gould recorded a sublime century as he guided London Maccabi Vale to a convincing victory away to Spartan CC.
Carrying his bat throughout the innings to finish unbeaten on 101 not out, Gould brought up his ton, his first in all forms of the game, in the last over to the acclaim of his teammates.
Having won the toss and, unusually for captain Neil Lederman, electing to bat first, Gould and Ben Kohler set the foundations for a large total. Both batsmen were imperious through the off side, dismissing with disdain anything wide, before Kohler slapped one straight to cover on 33.
In a youthful LMV side, club stalwart Adam Brand was the oldest by 17 years, but he departed for just three, dubiously given out LBW despite clear evidence he hit the ball first.
That setback did not affect Vale too much, as Steven Allweis joined Gould and the pair put on a partnership of more than 50. Allweis struck a couple of powerful boundaries and nurdled the ball into the gaps until he was bowled for 31.
Lederman struck two monstrous sixes to add a flourish to the innings, but it was Gould who stole the show and a four in the final over took him to a well-deserved three figures.
Defending a total of 245, 17-year-old debutante Jonti Aremband took the new ball and struck early to get Vale off to a flier.
Bowling with good pace and swing in an impressive eight-over spell, Aremband grabbed three wickets and set down a marker for the rest of the season.
Joe Nyman opened his account at the other end, inducing an edge that was pouched safely in the gully by Allweis.
It was left to Gideon Gale to apply the finishing touches. He took two wickets in two balls and then proceeded to drop a caught-and-bowled attempt on the hat-trick delivery, but a further wicket sealed the game and LMV recorded a thumping 135-run win.
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