GOATACRE and Marshfield’s love affair with the National Village Cup is rumbling on as the pair stand primed to tussle with the national round, four matches from Lord’s.

On Sunday, Goatacre beat Dorset outfit Parley by 45 runs to win the Dorset and Wiltshire group, booking a home clash with Somerset and Avon winners Wembdon on June 28.

Meanwhile Marshfield, who last reached the national round in 2009, will host Oxfordshire group winners Cumnor after a 23-run Gloucestershire section triumph at Redmarley.

Toby Horton (42) fired 1988 and 1990 champions Goatacre to 165-9 before captain Ed Wilkins (5-26) helped skittle Parley for 120 and the skipper says that plenty of people at his club hold the Village Cup in higher regard than their West of England Premier League efforts.

“When you play at the club, you know that it’s part of what you do and for some of the guys, it’s probably even more important than league cricket,” said Wilkins.

“Unfortunately, we’re probably not as strong as the Saturday side because the rules mean that a few people can’t play in it but that’s just the way it is.

“We wanted to put pressure on Parley with some early wickets and everybody bowled really well. I got a few wickets, which doesn’t happen often – it was my first five-for.

“We just want to go as far as we can now. We had about 150 people there on Sunday. We had the barbecue on and hopefully got a bit of money over the bar. We’re at home to Wembdon in the next round and I think, looking at the league structure, they’re a few levels below us.

“If we win that, we could end up playing Marshfield, which would be good because we’ve played them a few times over the years and know a few of their lads well.”

Marshfield lost the toss at Redmarley but posted 224-6 thanks to Rupert Crockett (47), Dave Jenkins (44*) and William Pascall (39) before dismissing their hosts for 201.

“At Marshfield, I think you get a lot of interest from people in the village because they know that it’s a national competition and you can get to Lord’s,” said captain James Williams.

“We reached the national round in 2009 and since then, we’ve had a bit of a decline, with the young players not coming through.

“I’ve been playing in the Village Cup for about 12 years, so I’m a bit of an old hand but now we’ve got a good group of seven or eight 17, 18, and 19-year-olds that have all come through together.

“These kids were probably watching us playing back in 2009. I think they think that we’re off to Lord’s and the older guys need to make sure we calm them down.

“We’ve played Cumnor before, so we know what to expect from them, and we’re looking forward to a good day.”

Marshfield chairman Nick Heynen added: “It’s like the FA Cup in football for us. We love the Village Cup. We love the format and it’s very exciting to be a part of.

“We probably matched the number of spectators they had at Redmarley and obviously things will be weather-orientated but hopefully we can have a good crowd at home in a few weeks and a good day all round.”