It was an evening to remember for our first team as they annihilated neighbours New Brighton by nine wickets to reach Finals Day of the Ray Digman Knockout Trophy.

In one of their shortest games in living memory, the Sey found themselves fielding first on a warm night at Rake Lane that ended up lasting just over an hour.

A disastrous innings for NB began when the prolific Rui bowled Louis Botes in just the fourth ball of the game. From his end, Bourney snared the scalp of Adam Neal via a safe catch from Captain Al and when Rui trapped Oliver Griffiths LBW, the hosts were in disarray at 5 for 3.

Both our bowlers kept things tight from their respective ends, with the magician then bagging the key wicket of Rakers captain Matty Thompson for 2. By the end of the powerplay, NB were struggling badly at 11 for 4.

Rasun Gamage offered some brief cheer for his team with two boundaries (out of three in the whole innings) before Mark Hale holed out to Yozzer off Bourney.

The introduction of Matty Keogh and AB then brought further misery to our opponents as they crumbled after the halfway stage. In just eighteen balls, the pair combined to share five wickets (including two bowled and two LBWs) as NB were finally bowled out for a horrendous 30.

Our final bowling figures read as follows; Rui (3-1-6-3), Bourney (4-0-11-2), Keogh (3.2-0-11-3) and AB (2-1-1-2).

With barely an hour of cricket played, the Sey looked to finish NB off quickly as Jamie and Dan struck seventeen runs off a single over from Philip Lees.

Having hit a glorious six, Dan was unlucky to fall to a sharp catch at point from Adam Sandalls. But within three balls, the game was over as Greg struck a four and a massive six off Botes to finish an extraordinary evening off in just 16 balls.

Our swift win means a second Finals Day appearance for us this year as we travel to Formby on Sunday 19th September; the day after the Premier League season ends.

In the meantime, the 1s are back at Rake Lane for the second Bank Holiday Monday derby as they seek a fourth win in all competitions against their rivals.

Scorer's Man of the Match: *TIE* Sumit Ruikar & Matty Keogh