Bootle too strong for New Brighton in KO Trophy final

Date: 5th September 2011

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Bridging Finance Solutions Knockout Trophy Final: Firwood Bootle 263-8 (45) (Swart 75, Snellgrove 71, Parry 41, Nawab 2-40, Cuthill 2-41) beat New Brighton 202 (Cross 50, Hale 43*; Snellgrove 4-46, Di

Picture courtesy of PSD-IMAGES.CO.UK

Whoever sponsors the trophy and whatever its format, Firwood Bootle's addiction to winning the Liverpool Competition Knockout seems quite incurable. Their victory over New Brighton in Sunday's final at Wadham Road was their 14th in the last 16 years, a domination which is comparable to that of Glaswegian football clubs in its near totality.

Bootle's win on Sunday was founded on a first-wicket partnership of 152 in 24.5 overs between Michael Swart and David Snellgrove. This stand made the most of the failure of New Brighton's bowlers to exploit any early moisture or other assistance in the wicket and it also established a dominance which the home side never relinquished. Both batsmen were eventually bowled by balls of a full length by the persevering Dave Cuthill, but not before Snellgrove had hit five fours in his 80-ball 71 and Swart the same number of boundaries plus a couple of sixes into Wadham Road off Neil Cross. The spinner had earlier had the Australian dropped by long-off David While when he was a mere 58. By then, though, much of the damage had been done.

The rest of the innings was anti-climactic. Stephen Parry batted capably and with a professional cricketer's sense of placement to make 41, while other wickets were traded for runs, 112 of which were scored in the final 20 overs, to leave Bootle with a total of 263 for eight. Five batsmen departed in the final eleven overs, two of them to Ashraf Nawab, who was the most economical bowler. Yet by the time the slow left-armer and Martyn Evans had begun to perform really well in tandem, Bootle already had a formidable total on the board.

If Snellgrove needed any further encouragement at teatime, he might have reflected that Ronnie Davis's admirable level of effort is quite unrelated to the total Bootle have to defend. On Sunday evening the veteran seamer got rid of Matty Thompson, caught at mid-off by Mark Prince for 12 , and DeWayne Bowden, caught by backward-point Swart for 33. As is his wont these autumnal days, Davis bowled his overs in one spell and was forced off the field with what looked like a painful knee injury before the end of the innings. That may affect Bootle's late bid for the Championship, but in the context of Sunday's match it didn't matter a fig: inspired by his example, Davis's colleagues were already all but home, hosed and ready to collect their medals.

The bowler who profited most from New Brighton's need to accelerate from a score of 90 for two in 25 overs was Snellgrove. The off-spinner pouched both Martyn Evans and Graham Bolton off his own bowling with successive deliveries, and later added John While and Tom Hunter to finish with 4-48 and the unofficial man of the match award. But Stephen Parry tightened Bootle 's stranglehold by conceding just 15 runs off his six overs and Swart bowled meanly too, nought for 33 being his return.

For New Brighton, Neil Cross was eighth out having made 50 off 57 balls and stand-in skipper Paul Hale's late aggression netted him an unbeaten 43 and hoisted his team's total above 200. Neither innings disturbed the basic architecture of the contest. James Dixon picked up the wickets of Cross and Cuthill as the game ended in persistent drizzle.

A strangely low-key final, then, given the rivalry between the two teams, but it was also a game umpired with admirably unspectacular efficiency by Hugh Evans and Dave Smith. New Brighton return to the Wirral to prepare for their final two league games, knowing that they are not yet out of the chase for the title. Neither, of course, are Bootle, who may yet do the double with what the old sweats at Wadham Road insist is a non-vintage side.