Rowledge's lingering hopes of survival again took a turn for the worse when they lost by an agonising one run at Sparsholt on Saturday.
Rowledge at least moved off the bottom of the table by picking up enough bonus points to go above Trojans and also closed the gap on Hungerford.
However, defeat was still a bitter pill to swallow as a victory would have taken them out of the bottom two.
Sparsholt's large total was centred around a classic century by Tim Richings. Short of runs recently, their opening batsman remains a class act and he came good against the visitors with a hundred of the highest order.
The game was evenly poised at the halfway stage of the Sparsholt innings, with the home side 74-1 from 25 overs. However, it has been a familiar story all season that Rowledge have failed to seize the initiative at crucial stages.
You cannot take away the brilliance of Riching's innings and the powerful hitting of Kevin Foyle late on, but some of the Rowledge bowling and fielding, especially in the final 10 overs which yielded 112 runs, was an embarrassment.
It seems a mystery that they can perform so admirably in cup competitions (Rowledge knocked Sparsholt out of the Village Cup), but when it really matters, go off the boil in league matches.
The Sparsholt wicket offered very little to the pace bowlers and Rowledge's two quickies, Jeff Anning and Chris Yates Jnr, between them conceded 116 runs in 15 overs. They have to improve their length and direction.
Two bowlers to emerge with credit were Chris Yates Snr and Ricky Yates, who both bowled an excellent line.
On this small ground, the total was well within Rowledge's reach, given their strong batting line-up, and they were given the perfect start by David Lloyd and Chris Yates Jnr who crashed 36 runs from the first six overs.
However, Ball produced a beauty to remove Yates and there was then a steady fall of wickets. Ricky Yates and Lloyd were both needlessly run out.
The two big hitters, Stuart Woodhouse and Anning, did not disappoint as they took the attack to the bowlers with selective hitting. But immediately after completing his half-century, Anning went for one hit too many and holed out at long-on. Woodhouse soon followed suit, but both batsmen had gone a long way towards setting up victory.
Yates Snr took up the challenge, ably supported by Ian Metcalfe and then skipper Dave Booton, batting down the order after dislocating a finger while in the field.
It all came down to eight runs needed off the final over, with Andy Lang, formerly of Grayshott, the bowler. Yates dispatched his third ball for four, but was caught out trying to repeat the trick and Booton could only muster two runs off his next two balls to leave the home side victors by one run.
Lang was the pick of the bowlers. Although taking some punishment from Woodhouse and Anning, he stuck to his task and took four crucial wickets, including bowling that fateful final over.
It's all or nothing in the league now for Rowledge and they simply must find a victory this Saturday at home to Winchester.
sparsholt
O Kelly b C Yates Snr 33
T Richings c Warner b C Yates Jnr 121
J Frith lbw Mitchell 18
K Foyle not out 69
R Savage c Yates Snr b C Yates Jnr 4
D Touge not out 5
Extras 22
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Total (for 4 wkts) 272
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Bowling: C Yates Snr 1-36, C Yates Jnr 2-72.
rowledge
C Yates Jnr b Ball 13
D Lloyd run out 48
N Morant b Lang 0
R Yates run out 6
J Anning c Tonge b Lang 51
S Woodhouse c Frith b Ellis 44
D Mitchell c Savage b Frith 14
C Yates Snr c Frith b Lang 47
I Metcalfe c and b Lang 15
D Booton not out 9
M Warner not out 0
Extras 24
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Total (for 9 wkts) 271
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Bowling: A Lang 4-62.