GOATACRE captain Ed Wilkins is still catching his breath after his side’s remarkable National Village Cup quarter-final triumph over Roche last Sunday.

In a clash switched from Cornwall to Wiltshire following last week’s wet weather, the Goats were seemingly ready to give up the ghost as they found themselves toiling at 23-5 but the home side conjured up a stirring comeback.

Inspired by the heroics of tail-enders Matt House and Dan Wiseman, who shared a tenth-wicket stand of 101, Goatacre posted 231-9 before bowling out their opponents for 133, and Wilkins had never seen anything like it.

“I’ve been playing in this competition since I was 14 but I can’t remember a game like that. Kev Iles is 53 or 54 and he says that he’s never been involved in a game so exciting,” said the Goatacre skipper.

“When were at 23-5 and then 80-8, we thought it was all over. Jif Wilkins and Alan Griffin got a few runs and we thought that maybe we could get to 100 or 110 to give us something to bowl at.

“Dan Wiseman only came into the team at 11 o’clock that morning because Sam Parish’s fiancée went in to labour and 66 not out from Matt House was amazing.

“230 is still a gettable score on our ground but you could see that they were bouncing when we were struggling but at tea, their heads were down.”

After electing to bat first, Goatacre were soon left to regret their decision as their wickets tumbled, with only Jif Wilkins (28) and Kevin Iles (21) mustering up any resistance as Roche’s Ryan Clark (6-39) filled his boots.

But Alan Griffin hit 31 before House (66*) and Wiseman (40*) came to the fore.

Following their revival, Goatacre channelled their sky-high confidence into their bowling display and instantly had their opponents under the cosh, with their first six wickets falling for 57 runs.

Stewart May top-scored with 28 whilst opener Adam Trudgeon made the next-highest contribution with a knock of just 18 as Iles (3-27) led the bowling figures.

Jack Haines, Rob Murphy and Jif Wilkins all also took a pair of wickets each as Roche were skittled for 133 midway through the 33rd over, sealing the Goats’ their semi-final showdown with Foxton in Cambridgeshire next Sunday.

Wilkins added: “We’ve booked two coaches for the weekend and they’re both full. We should have 82 people heading up there, so we’ll have a bit of support.

“There are going to be a lot of nerves before the game but at the end of the day, it’s just a game of cricket. You have to just pretend that you’re out there playing in front of just a few people like a league game on a Saturday.

“We don’t know much about the other team but we back ourselves to beat anyone on our day.”

Chairman Pete Jones says that there were some sore heads on Monday morning following the weekend’s breathtaking endeavours.

“There was a lot to celebrate and a lot of the members of the team were there pretty late for a Sunday evening. I’ve certainly never seen a comeback like that.” he said.