A disappointing batting display saw North Runcton lose their play-off final at Woolpit.
Needing to beat their Two Counties League champions hosts to earn a place in the East Anglian Premier League, they were well beaten by 174 runs.
After restricting Woolpit to 294/7, the Norfolk Alliance champions could manage only 120 in reply.
Runcton captain Ben Coote lost the toss and the hosts chose to bat.
They made a solid start, with captain Chris Thomas sharing a 79-run opening stand with Merlin Stamper (43) and then added another 67 for the third wicket with Kieran Pell (58) on his way to a top score of 89 from his team’s 198/3.
Jack Major caught and bowled Stamper, with Malik Carroll taking Thomas lbw. Kirwin Christoffels took the first of his three wickets when he had Pell caught by Jasper Payne.
Runcton continued to push hard, stopping any more partnerships building, with Christoffels finishing with 3-67.
Coote also took 2-55 as Woolpit completed their 50 overs on 294.
That left Runcton needing to score at just under six runs an over to earn victory.
They made a swift start with 36 runs on the board when they lost Christoffels for 16 in the seventh over.
Fellow opener Ben Skipper made 32 when he became a second victim for Jake Lawrence with the score on 57 in the 11th over.
Jacob Lockheart (10) followed an over later to leave Runcton on 63/3, within reach of the run-rate but with key batsmen already back in the pavilion.
Woolpit sensed Runcton were rocking and moved in for the kill, being rewarded with three more wickets as Leon Gino (7), Mark Skipper (5) and Jasper Payne (1) fell cheaply to send them crashing from 75/3 to 80/6 in the 17th over.
That left captain Coote to marshall the lower order in a desperate effort to save his team but he lost Owen White for a duck and Jack Major for a single as they limped to 90/8 in the 20th over.
However, Coote dug deep and scored all but two runs of a 30-run partnership with Jack Hazel to keep promotion hopes flickering.
He eventually fell for a 37-ball top-score of 33, having helped boost his team’s total to 120.
Last-man Carroll went first ball to leave Runcton’s dream shattered.
The home bowlers shared the wickets with William Parker taking 3-12, Parth Mahesh 3-26, Marcus Packer 2-11 and Jake Lawrence 2-29.
It means North Runcton will again be playing in the Norfolk Alliance next season, when they will be aiming to make it three titles in a row and try again to win the play-off for a place alongside local rivals Downham Stow in the East Anglian Premier League.
