ROBBIE Eason and Max Smith shared an exhilarating unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 171 to set Horspath on the way to a sparkling 76-run victory at home to Wembdon in the Voneus Village Cup fifth round.
Opener Eason made a well-paced unbeaten 102 while Smith slammed 80 not out to take the Oxfordshire champions to 236-4 off 40 overs after they were put in to bat in the last-32 tie.
Roared on by a crowd of around 300 at the Recreation Ground, the hosts then dismissed the Somerset & Avon Group winners for 160.
Now Horspath will take the next step on the road to Lord's when they make the 492-mile round trip to Grampound Road, near St Austell, in Cornwall in the last 16 on Sunday, July 2.
Eason and Smith came together with Horspath precariously placed at 65-4 in the 18th over and gradually turned the innings round before unleashing a dazzling display of shots to post a challenging total.
Adapting to the situation well, the pair complemented each other perfectly. Eason, who had survived a straightforward chance to mid-off when he'd made three, got their partnership going with a square cut for four after the drinks break before he brought up the side's 100 up with a boundary through square leg.
Smith joined in with a cracking extra cover drive for four, before Eason reached his half-century with a six to the mid-wicket boundary by the car park with Harry Everett juggling the ball as it went over the line.
Smith increased the tempo with a neat late cut for four, before two more glorious extra cover drives and a boundary through backward point took Horspath to 151-4 after 33 overs.
He smashed a six over square leg towards the car park, before Horspath took 17 runs off the 35th over with Eason pulling the ball to the mid-wicket boundary before bringing up the century partnership with a single. Smith then went to his half-century with consecutive fours through fine leg and a flashing cover drive as the over ended with four byes.
Eason fired a four straight back down the ground, before Horspath raced past 200 with Smith hitting three consecutive boundaries as he found the fence at third man, backward point and long on.
The runs continued to flow with Eason driving down the ground again before depositing the ball into the nets, while Smith showed the other side to his game by deftly guiding the ball past the wicketkeeper to the third man boundary.
Eason was on 91 going into the last over and after failing to score off the first two balls he slapped the third delivery on to the scout hut roof for six, before bringing up his century in majestic fashion by cracking the next ball through extra cover for four.
It had been a brilliant century, which he celebrated in curious fashion by placing his bat between his legs as if he was riding a horse - although he was certainly riding the Horspath crest of a wave with the home supporters giving him a standing ovation.
With Eason taking a single off the penultimate delivery, Smith ensured the innings finished in style by lofting the last ball to the long off boundary for four.
It set the seal on a stunning partnership with the pair smashing 107 runs off the last 10 overs. Eason had hit 12 fours and two sixes in his 121-ball knock, while Smith's runs came off just 63 deliveries with 12 fours and a six.
Their stand took Horspath to a score which had seemed unlikely earlier in their innings, which had got under way in a heavy atmosphere with Wembdon, from near Bridgwater, picking up wickets under the light cloud cover.
Eason hit the first four through mid-off before Jimmy Phillips found the fine leg boundary with consecutive deliveries only to perish in left-arm seamer Brendan Pope's next over when he advanced down the pitch and presented skipper Jonathan Brockwell with a simple catch at mid-on to make it 21-1.
Horspath were boosted by five penalty runs when the ball hit a helmet placed on the ground behind wicketkeeper Liam Pigden before Joey Todd was caught at mid-wicket by Everett off Brockwell, who was the pick of the visitors' attack with 1-33.
Elliot Ruff then had his stumps shattered when he left a delivery from Daniel Bingham which jagged back to leave Horspath 47-3.
Stephen Green looked as if he was set to continue his good form when he hit boundaries through cover and mid-off only to be bowled behind his legs by Jack Rich.
However, Horspath didn't look back from that point as Eason and Smith combined for their superb stand to give the side real momentum before they took to the field for Wembdon's innings.
With a forecast of thundery showers, the target of being up with the run rate from 20 overs - the stage of an innings which enables a result - was clearly at the back of the visitors' minds as they went for their shots from the start.
They had reached 21-0 after four overs when they were rocked by the loss of two wickets in the space of three balls.
Smith continued his memorable day by running round to his left at mid-on to gather the ball and throw down the stumps with a brilliant direct hit to run out Everett as the Wembdon opener ran to the wicketkeeper's end, and two balls later skipper Will Eason bowled Harry Love to spark further Horspath celebrations.
Sam Penney and Jub Puddy both hit sixes as Wembdon continued to make their intentions clear before Amin Rafiq came into the attack and trapped the latter lbw with his fourth ball to make it 39-3.
The Horspath off-spinner struck again to leave the visitors 64-4 when Jehan Mohammed ran round from long on to catch Penney before setting off on a jig of delight.
That brought Brockwell to the crease and he was quickly into his stride with a six over long on by the clubhouse sandwiched in between two boundaries.
Daniel Bingham weighed in with a straight six before he popped up a catch to Will Eason at mid-wicket off Mohammed to make it 93-5 as cries of 'Come on Horsey' rang out round the ground, while every wicket was greeted by the sound of Diddy's klaxon.
As light rain started to fall, Jack Rich smashed a six over square leg towards chef Hayden Moon's burger stall as 20 overs were completed with Wembdon behind the run rate at 107-5.
Brockwell continued to pose a threat, though, as he continued to pepper the boundary, before Will Eason returned to have Rich smartly stumped by Todd off a legside wide.
Wembdon's skipper reached an excellent half-century with a single through mid-wicket.
But the visitors suffered a further setback when leg-spinner Josh Richardson came on and struck with his fourth ball. Substitute fielder Christopher Hofen - on for Smith who had taken a blow to his foot when stopping a powerful drive while bowling - kept his eyes on the ball to pouch Pope's lofted drive at long off in front of the nets.
Brockwell crashed another maximum over long on, before his valiant knock came to an end when he was bowled by Subhan Javaid for 60 off 38 balls with seven fours and three sixes to make it 139-8.
Jack Lowe also cleared the ropes before he fell to Richardson with Phillips jumping in the air just inside the long off boundary to take an amazing catch with his right hand high above his head.
A stunning display by Horspath in the field was complete when Green caught Pigden on the mid-wicket boundary off Rafiq (3-32) to spark joyous scenes of celebration with the visitors all out off 31.1 overs.
Richardson (2-15), Will Eason (2-38), Javaid (1-27) and Mohammed (1-31) were the other wicket-takers as Horspath once again bowled well as a unit.
The match was played in an excellent spirit between both sides under the expert eyes of umpires Bob Chamberlain and John Finch.
It was the first time Horspath had won a home tie at this stage of the competition, and it also equals the furthest the club have gone in the Village Cup, having reached the last 16 in 1979 when the run was ended by Ynysygerwn.
Now a trip to Cornwall awaits after Grampound Road secured a two-wicket win at Sully Spartans (Glamorgan & Gwent) after chasing down the Cardiff side's 192 all out with four balls to spare. Click below for Sunday's match highlights