GOATACRE captain Ed Wilkins admitted that he was taken aback by the casual approach adopted by their National Village Cup opponents last weekend.

The Goats played host to Wembdon in the last 32 of the national rounds last weekend and their visitors, who play two levels lower in the Somerset Division of the West of England Premier League, threw caution to the wind after winning the toss.

But their gung-ho tactics failed to pay dividends and they were soon cast asunder by Wilkins’ troops, who bowled them out for a lowly 100 before cruising to a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

“It was pretty comfortable in the end," said Wilkins.

“It was strange because it was almost like they turned up and weren’t taking it that seriously.

“Their first three batsmen were just trying to whack it out of the ground and once we got rid of them, we were quite comfortable and Rob Murphy came in, took four wickets, and cleaned them up.

“Most teams do take (Village Cup games) seriously, so it was a bit of a strange approach.

“But maybe they looked at the league structure and thought ‘this team are a few levels higher than us’ so they just decided to go for it.

“On another day, that approach might work.”

Wembdon’s went hell for leather from the off but their wickets tumbled at regular intervals, with their first four falling for just 43 runs.

Billy Vickery top-scored with 36 as Rob Murphy ended the afternoon with figures of 4-10, with Wembdon dismissed in little more than 25 overs.

The visitors’ Jonathan Brockwell did claim three wickets to attempt to turn the screw on Goatacre but Giorgio Rigali (40*) and Wilkins (22) helped guide them to 101-3 midway through the 17th over.

Marshfield skipper James Williams is hoping that his side’s cagey last 16 victory over Cumnor will be a ‘blessing in disguise’.

Williams’ hosts put their opponents in to bat first and piled on the pressure, Tom Bright, William Pascall and Tom Lamb all taking three wickets apiece as the visitors were skittled for 147 in the 39th over.

Pascall anchored Marshfield’s innings with a knock of 60 and despite Max Mannering (4-30) causing the hosts to falter, they eventually made it to 148-8 in the 36th over.

“It was really a good performance," said a delighted Williams.

“We had a bit of a hiccup with the bat but we bowled and fielded fantastically.

“I think that Will Pascall was the difference between the two sides.

“I got out stupidly and we had a few middle-order guys have a few rushes of blood.

“Sometimes I think it’s good to get through a game like that. It can be good for your confidence going forward, so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”