Curtain falls on a season to savour.

AS what was probably the county's biggest away following of the season began their long journeys home, Durham's players left the dressing room for the blue skies of a beautiful Worcestershire afternoon to reflect on a second consecutive County Championship success.

As their always eloquent captain Will Smith dissected five months of memorable cricket, a hot air balloon sailed into his eyeline.

Beneath the large picture of a curvaceous and scantily-clad young lady on it was emblazoned the word "Triumphant".

It seemed a perfect finish to the season.

In fact, it wasn't quite. For a handful of players there was still the matter of yesterday's Pro40 League dead rubber at Somerset to get out of the way before setting off on a couple of days' team bonding in the bars of Dublin.

Liam Plunkett had only been able to claim the 49th of the 50 Championship wickets which had for the past week seemed his destiny and Worcestershire escaped with a draw on Saturday on a lifeless New Road pitch.

But it was still pretty damn good.

The Riversiders' aim from long before they lifted the trophy was to go the season unbeaten. From pretty early in this clash it was obvious that had been achieved.

A slew of personal and team records were racked up over the final four days, the last being the largest winning points margin in Division One - 47. But a ninth victory of the season was a step too far for a team who looked like the enormity of what they had achieved on the county treadmill had dawned on their bodies.

Stephen Harmison's swollen knee stopped him bowling, Shivnarine Chaderpaul's bruised forearm kept him off for almost the entire fourth day. The rest looked dead on their feet - with one exception.

Plunkett bowled for almost the entire morning session and 26 overs in all in search of his seasonal halfcentury.

He produced six wicket-taking deliveries, only for two to go to ground. Harmison and Mark Davies' butterfingers might have denied the Teessider the cherry on the top of a personal campaign which has also seen him score 400 runs at an average of 44, but there was no diguising his revival.

A year earlier when Durham claimed their first title Plunkett was a bystander, having been left out of the crucial final three games with a hangover - an England hangover.

Plunkett was 20 when he first wore the Three Lions but has not done so since 2007. His coach Geoff Cook thinks only recently has he started to recover. "Liam's picked up some form recently," said Cook, who nurtured Plunkett's rise from academy to first team. "His all-round confidence is returning now. It's lovely to see."

Steven Davies' explosive batting and steady knocks from Gareth Andrew and Richard Jones led Worcestershire to 410-7 and a draw. It was a slight anti-climax but you would have been hard pushed to find anyone complaining.

STUART RAYNER