Berkshire were crowned Minor Counties champions for the fifth time at Wormsley today, but only after a nerve-shredding last day against Lincolnshire in what turned out to be a classic final of the Unicorns Championship.

It featured a brilliant century by a teenager from the Surrey academy, an outstanding all-round performance by a former Middlesex spinner – and a valiant rearguard innings from a current Nottinghamshire offie, notwithstanding the fact that he had lost both his front teeth following a freak incident on the third afternoon.

“What a match,” reflected Chris Peploe, who made the last of his 30 first-class appearances for Middlesex in 2008. “I’m 35 now, and four-day games like that are exhausting. It was up there with anything I’ve played in, two good teams going hard at each other and not willing to back down. I think we’ve come out of it with massive respect for each other – you couldn’t have a better advert for Minor Counties cricket.”

Lincs were virtually out for the count when they resumed their second innings on 125 for seven, having been set a daunting 286 for victory.

But Matt Carter, a tall 20-year-old offspinner from Lincoln who made a record-breaking first-class debut for Nottinghamshire at Taunton last season, dug in with wicketkeeper Carl Wilson in an eighth wicket stand of 86.

Carter’s performance was all the more admirable as it came after an emergency trip to the dentist, as Peploe explained. “I’d been caught at deep square leg in our second innings, and when the ball was thrown back in by the catcher, the Lincs lads were celebrating, and it whacked him in the face. He had to go to the dentist and have both front teeth taken out. So for him to come back and bat like he did, that just shows the quality of the match and the people involved.”

Even after Wilson had been dismissed – by Peploe – there was further frustration for Berkshire as Lincolnshire’s captain David Lucas joined Carter to add another 36.

Lucas fell soon after lunch to Ollie Wilkin, a 24-year-old allrounder who made a handful of white-ball appearances for Middlesex, but even then the agony wasn’t over – with rain stopping play as the target came within range.

Fittingly, it was Peploe who struck the crucial blow, bowling Carter for 59, which he had eked out from 174 balls in more than three hours. That gave Peploe second innings figures of 46.4-21-74-5, and ten for 175 in the match.

However he did not win the man of the match award. That went instead to Euan Woods, a teenager who plays for Wargrave and who represented Surrey in the England Development Programme’s Super-4 Competition for the country’s best under-17s last week.

Coming in at number seven when Berkshire had been reduced to 56 for five on the first morning of the match, Woods responded with a remarkable unbeaten 142 from 176 balls. Peploe provided crucial support with 73 in an eighth wicket stand of 146, and Berkshire ended up posting 332.

That turned out to be a matchwinning total, as Peploe’s first five wickets secured a first innings lead of 48, despite 71 from the former Yorkshire and England Under-19s opener Jack Tattersall.

Woods added another 41 in Berkshire’s second innings, leading another recovery, this time from 46 for four – although they were equally indebted to a battling 51 from wicketkeeper Stewart Davison.

“I’ve not seen much better than that in a pressure match from anyone, never mind a 17-year-old,” added Peploe. “What a temperament. He’s got nerves of steel, nothing flusters him – it was like he was out there having a net. He bowls as well, he can field – he’s a Berkshire boy through and through, but Surrey have got a great lad in their Academy. I’ll be following his career with a lot of interest.”

Berkshire have now gone through two full seasons unbeaten, finishing top of the Western Division by 22 points to secure their place in the final – so they are now deserving Minor Counties champions, for the first time since 2008.

“I’ve been with them since 2009 after I finished with Middlesex, and full-time as pro for the last two years, involved from top to toe with the county,” said Peploe. “It’s a great feeling.”