ASTWOOD Bank continued their march towards the final of this season's National Village Knockout when spin kings John Summers and Paul Boycott steered them into the quarter-finals.

Lancashire County League outfit Woodhouses looked set to snatch a place in the last eight away from the Jill Lane side until the spinners took centre stage with devastating effect.

Bank batted first but the top order struggled to cope with the Woodhouses' bowling and they were soon struggling on 60-4. Opener Andy Clayton (40) stood firm but wickets continued to tumble around him.

Help was at hand in the form of skipper Dan Evans (39) and Steve Clarke (29) but when the home side were finally dismissed for 173 in their final over, the game looked to be within the Lancastrians grasp.

And when the openers put on 55 for the first wicket it seemed just a matter of time before Woodhouses would be making arrangements for a quarter-final tie.

But Summers put the brakes on with an excellent nine-over spell of spin that saw him return excellent figures of 1-16.

If his efforts had slowed the visitors, Boycott subsequently brought them to a grinding halt as he claimed 5-30 to send Woodhouses from 102-3 to 135 all out with four overs to spare. Sam Churchley also added to their downfall with a dazzling catch out on the boundary.

Bank, who reached the final of the competition in 2003 where they lost to Oxfordshire side Shipton-under-Wychwood, must now travel to Warwickshire outfit Stockton in the next round on Sunday, July 31.

But at least they can do their homework on their hosts - Stockton controversially beat Exhall & Wixford to clinch the Leicestershire and Warwickshire region.