National Village Knockout Cup: GOATACRE pulled off a dramatic final over victory against Shipton-under-Wychwood on Sunday to book their place in the second round.

A crowd of almost 200 people turned out to watch Goatacre take on the Oxfordshire and current national champions Shipton.

The visitors set a decent target of 231-9 from their 40-overs. Goatacre then made a poor start to the run chase when they lost four wickets cheaply.

But an excellent knock of 58 from 18-year-old Ed Wilkins got things back on track for the home side and Adam Iles hit the winning four with five balls to spare.

The Wiltshire side are now just three matches away from the final at Lords and will go head to head with Cornish champions Werrington at home in the next round.

Goatacre's Kevin Iles, who played in the club's previous two National Knockout Cup finals, said the match reminded him of the past successes.

"It was great afterwards and it felt very much like the olds day when we won it in '88 and '90 in terms of excitement.

"We actually did play well although we did it the hard way. Shipton were looking at putting up 300 to 320 runs but we bowled and fielded well for the last ten overs and restricted them to 230 to give ourselves a chance.

"We then lost four wickets for 40 runs and were struggling again but the result was testament to the boys that came in and got the runs.

"It was a superb effort from young Ed Wilkins and that game could be the making of him.

"There was a lot of pressure on him but Ed did brilliantly. His father John batting with him provided some experience to see it through.

"At the end it felt like the two years when we won because people were running onto the pitch and we were all celebrating afterwards. It was a lovely day and we are all looking forward to the next round now."

Goatacre captain Pete Turner won the toss and asked the Shipton side to bat.

The Shipton openers Steve Bates and John Hartley put on 32 runs in the first six overs before Jif Wilkins hung on to a well struck drive in the covers at the second attempt to dismiss Bates for 11 off the bowling of Adam Iles.

Shipton continued to score runs but the second wicket fell when Kevin Iles struck with the first ball of his spell to dismiss the dangerous Hartley for 48.

The visitors' third wicket fell in the 19th over when Simon Hole fell victim to the off spin of Kevin Iles for 15.

This brought together Jason Constable and Andy Hemming and they proceeded to move the score along at a brisk pace.

They moved the score onto 181-3 and had added 87 before Constable attempted a pull shot off Rhan Heer which found the hands of Steve Gee.

The 32nd over saw 200 on the scoreboard with the loss of four wickets and with wickets in hand the home crowd were fearing a score nearer 300 to chase. But Goatacre bowlers Heer and Jif Wilkins, supported by some fine fielding, started to restrict and frustrate the Shipton batsmen.

The visitors were reduced to 208 for 5 after 34 overs when Kevin Iles caught Chris Painter off Heer's bowling.

The second ball of the 35th over saw Andy Hemmings push the ball to Turner at cover.

A sharp return throw by Turner enabled the Goatacre wicketkeeper Sam Parish to run out Shane Duff's diving attempt to make his ground in vain.

With four overs to go the runs were drying up for Shipton and wickets beginning to fall.

After a delay for rain the Goatacre bowlers and fielders continued to peg back the Shipton total.

The visitors completed their 40-overs on 231-9 with Heer (5-50) the pick of the Goatacre attack.

Rain interrupted the start of the Goatacre innings but wickets were a bigger problem and they found themselves at 46-4 in the 11th over.

But boundaries from the bat of Turner with Kevin Iles also at the crease started to make inroads into the Shipton target.

Runs were scored and wickets fell as the afternoon progressed and with ten overs remaining Goatacre still needed 80 runs.

John Wilkins joined his 18-year-old son Ed Wilkins at the crease and they got the runs flowing.

Ed Wilkins' quick-fire 58 helped Goatacre eat up the target and with one over remaining they required only two runs for victory.

Adam Iles had joined John Wilkins at the crease and off the first ball of the last over he hit a four to spark the celebrations.

Goatacre are now three games away from the final at Lords and will play the Cornish champions Werrington at home on Sunday July 11 for a place in the quarter-finals.