Morgan causes an upset (From Free Press Series)

Morgan causes an upset

A BREATHTAKING display from all rounder Carl Morgan saw Sudbrook defy their underdog status against reigning National Knockout Cup finalists Bath and pick up one of their biggest wins of the last two seasons.

Morgan hit a match-winning 92 runs off just 64 balls against the West of England champions before nailing four of his sides wickets with a devastating display of bowling as Sudbrook moved into Round Three of the competition.

Now player-coach Mark O'Leary has challenged his side to take their cup form into this weekend's Thomas Carroll South Wales Premiership match against Newport.

The big blow for O'Leary though will be the loss of Morgan who is unavailable for the visit of Newport due to other commitments.

He isn't focusing too much on his absence just yet though, preferring to bask in the glory of a thunderous win for the Deepweir side.

"Carl was absolutely brilliant," beamed O'Leary. "Bath had their first team out against us and despite us having our best team out there we still had some inexperienced youngsters in the pack who could have easily folded against them."

After batting first and hitting a respectable 160 runs Sudbrook were given a taste of just how powerful their opponents were at the crease when Bath rattled up 60 runs off just two wickets.

Two match-changing bowls from Morgan though, spun the game on its head. Rob Voke and Russell Pitman made the all-important catches and a quick pep-talk from O'Leary saw them nail Bath for 142.

"This is one of the best club games I have ever played in," said O'Leary. "We were fantastic. We produced a stunning display of cricket against a professional side and I am delighted.

"What we now have to do is take this form into our league game against Newport on Saturday. They'll probably have Glamorgan's opening batsman Ian Thomas playing, but we have to respect all the players we face and aim to get them out regardless of who they are."

Sudbrook will also be missing Ross Lewis who is on representative duties with university side UWIC.

"It's going to be a bit of struggle this season because we have so many of players playing representative cricket. It is going to be hard to keep some consistency and I am disappointed with that, but we'll just have to pick the strongest side available," said O'Leary.

Saturday's match starts at the Deepweir Ground at 1pm.