We took a break from League duties to welcome Uppermill to Well-i-Hole in the Moore Cup. We'd already made a good start, we had a full team of 11 players. KFC was still absent but Ben "Yifter" Tunnicliffe and Adam "Smalley" Smalley we're back with us. To their credit, Uppermill had resisted the temptation of a free weekend for the 1XI and kept with a largely authentic 2XI side.

It was overcast and a little damp, Skipper Pollard induced his peer Bradbury to call incorrectly and then elected to bowl. McGrath and Yifter took the brand new ball. Together they gave Uppermill's Skipper a torrid opening. Hardly a bat was laid on Ryan's first over and Yifter's opener was also smooth. Another maiden from Ryan prolonged the chinese water torture and he succumbed in Yifter's next, edging to Smalley behind the stumps. Well bowled fellas, Yifter took the wicket but you both earned it.

The opener Lees looked a little more comfortable and began to score runs off the odd loose ball. However, Ryan's 5th over, the 9th of the innings, brought more devastation. First Hill was verbally and physically induced to provide another edge for Smalley to snaffle and new batsmen Homer was caught at first slip by Polly off the very next ball. 17-3 and we were well on top.

However, Barlow strode to the wicket and, as he had in the League fixture, rested something back for Uppermill. Starting as he meant to go on, he larruped his first ball for 4 and hit the next two just as hard only to be foiled by good fielding. He went on from there and Lees joined in the fun. It was during this period, having got themselves quite wound-up following complaints by young Hill about nothing in particular (other than the fact he was out), they coined the phrase "smash the trash".

Zak and Gary Pemberton took up bowling duties and received similar treatment, GP in particular being uncharacteristically expensive, which as you can imagine he took calmly and serenely. Thankfully Zak removed both players in quick succession in his 2nd and 3rd overs, both excellently caught by Ryan McGrath in the deep. 109-5 and we were relieved to see the back of them. Barlow in particular had batted well for his 58, he has a good eye and hit the ball very hard - well played. We, had got a bit ragged and tetchy during the onslaught and we shouldn't have, at the end of it half their team was gone and the run rate had only recovered to 5/over.

GP now exerted his usual control and Uppermill only crept onward from there. In the next few overs he also removed Mills, Johnson and Brennan adn we had them 133-8. Yifter returned and took the remaining two wickets in consecutive balls, Jeffries was caught by Dickson at cover and Wright was bowled.

138 all out in the 34th over, Ryan had taken 2-28, Yifter 3-21, Zak 2-30 and GP 3-46. A good performance and we were well placed. Tea was Lasagne and Garlic Bread too, a personal favourite, and all was well.

Jones and Dickson again opened the batting and we're faced by the wily Wright and the wiry Hill, two cricketers at opposite ends of the spectrum in almost every way. Cec remains a very canny bowler, off-cutters to the left-handed Jonah and attempted away swing to me. Hill was bouncy and erratic, and he totally lost his way after having a caught-behind appeal turned down. In return he got some tap, I was particularly pleased with two drives which flew off the middle of my Aldred (have I told you about my new bat?). Jonah also put some loose stuff from Cec away. We were rollocking along, smashing the trash, and had reached 60-0 by the end of the 13th over. Hill was removed from the attack after 4 expensive overs to add to his 1 with the bat, he still had plenty to say for someone who'd contributed so little.

Barlow took over bowling duties for the next and disaster struck, Jonah falling of his first ball after failing to get over his cover drive once more. Smalley came to the wicket to replace him with time on hand for a good bat after a disrupted spell through broken digits.

Nevertheless we had wickets in hand and I was in good nick so I decided to continue the attack. I hadn't faced many balls from Cec and had patted all but one back, I changed that and dispatched him back over his head for my first SCC 6 and pulled him for 4 next ball. It proved to be his last over and I had atoned for my awful dismissal against him in the league.

I creamed a couple more boundaries but then was bowled attempting another shot over the top. Zak came in at No.4 and together he and Smalley took us to 128-2 with increasing confidence. Zak dabbing and cutting expertly and Smalley glancing and driving gracefully. The latter fell for 21 and was replaced by Yifter who scored a few runs before Zak ended the game with a flurry of boundaries, taking his own score to 27 and us to a winning 141-3, again in the 34th over.

We're through to the semi-final, can we make it all the way?

We celebrated with a few beers in the surprise evening sunshine. It was a good laugh too, funny and interesting stag-do and FBI investigation stories bringing many a chuckle. The Uppermill lads spent some money at our bar too, fair play to them and thank you!

MoM? Ryan and Yifter bowled well and my knock was a good one too. However, Zak Pemberton bowled and batted well and fielded tidily too. He earns another Cup MoM award to match his Monton gong. Well played, ZP.

Daily Lesson: Verbals in cricket are fine in my book as long as they are not personal. However, you should respect your elders and that sort of stuff should be left to the experienced cricketers who have some achievements to fall back on.