They did themselves a massive favour when demolishing Premier Division Saturday's visitors Moseley by 57 runs at sun-kissed Arlington Avenue.

The win, and the maximum 24 points that went with it, saw the rejuvenated Spa club move out of the relegation zone and with two matches remaining hopes of avoiding the drop are at a new high.

An amazing game laced with drama saw Leamington ease home in some style following another disappointing batting performance that had seen them dumped back in the pavilion inside 44 overs for a slender 141.

It would have been far worse but for a brilliant last stand worth 50 runs between Jack Hawkes and Tim Westwood. Pitched together at a precarious 91-9 the youngsters showed maturity beyond their years during a 49-minute stay highlighted by some bravura hitting from Hawkes and another they-shalt-not-pass rearguard action by Westwood.

Hawkes, watched by proud dad David, Southam's current skipper and over the years one of the most accomplished performers in the area, proved himself to be an admirable chip-off-the-block with some savage shots that brought 37 runs including seven boundaries.

Westwood, carrying on where he left off against both Knowle & Dorridge and West Bromwich Dartmouth, was content to protect his wicket, doing so with great aplomb to repel 31 deliveries before seeing his playmate hole out in the deep.

It had been exciting contribution after Leamington's earlier failings with only Mark Lewis, with a skilled two-hour 32, Alex Phillips (16) and Michael Balac (14) reaching double figures in the face of six leg before decisions awarded to a lively Moseley attack headed by Nick Bell's 5-30 return.

Moseley were soon made to think again as Leamington roared into their top order. Inspired by man-of-the-match Faisal Irfan, Spa showed commendable spirit as they had their opponents on the ropes at 17-5 and 27-7.

Irfan's superb 10-3-13-5 burst saw him lift his season's Premier Division tally to 35 victims.

Praiseworthy resistance from tail-enders Robinson, Hussain and Awan kept Leamington waiting, but stand-in skipper Neil Smith capped a motivational afternoon with two cheap wickets and Westwood, who also claimed two scalps, capped a sparkling all-round display when rounding it all off with a stunning catch to trigger highly-charged victory celebrations.

Leamington host Barnt Green on Saturday.

Leamington: R Swann lbw Macleod 0, A Phillips lbw Eburah 16, M Lewis lbw Hussain 32, T Lewis b Bell 0, L Hopkins lbw Bell 5, F Irfan lbw Bell 5, L Radford lbw Bell 0, M Balac c Chase b Hussain 14, N Smith b Bell 7, J Hawkes c Hussain b Bell 37, T Westwood not out 8. Extras 17. Total (43.2 overs) 141. Bowling: Macleod 10-2-53-1; Eburah 10.2-4-17-2; Bell 18-2-30-5; Hussain 8-1-35-2; Awan2-0-4-0.

Moseley: N Bell c Hopkins b Irfan 0, C Macleod c Balac b Radford 3, A Awan c Balac b Irfan 1, H Jones c Balac b Irfan 2, D Powles c Balac b Westwood 10, U Shebir lbw Irfan 0, S Chase b Irfan 0, J Robinson lbw Smith 10, A Hussain lbw Westwood 18, U Awan not out 18, F Eburah c Westwood b Smith 0. Extras 22. Total (32 overs) 84. Bowling: Irfan 10-3-13-5; Radford 11-3-30-1; Westwood 6-0-33-2; Smith 5-1-4-2.