PUDSEY Congs skipper Gareth Phillips has vowed to take his side back to the NatWest Club T20 finals following their five-wicket defeat by Exmouth in the national semi-final at Cardiff’s Swalec Stadium.

The JCT600 Bradford League T20 champions lost off the fifth ball of the final over when Exmouth passed their total of 152-7.

The disappointed Phillips said: “We were 15-20 runs short of a winning score, but it has been a wonderful achievement to get to the national finals day.

“We have been so well looked after by the ECB that it has made us even more determined to get back here again. It has been a fabulous achievement for the club.”

The semi-final defeat was also the swansong for Australian fast bowler James Pearson. He is returning down under at the end of the season.

He said: “It was disappointing to lose, but it has been wonderful just to be able to play on a Test ground at Cardiff.”

The margins between success and failure are small in T20 contests and Congs will reflect on a number of points when their brave challenge suffered crucial setbacks.

Having won the toss and batted first on the pitch that was used for England’s T20 international with Australia on Monday, Congs suffered an early blow when their talismanic opening batsman Callum Geldart was bowled by Ian Bishop for two.

The second blow to Congs’ hopes came when Phillips, anxious to get off the mark, was sent back by Adam Patel when he turned the ball to fine leg, and was run out.

Patel looked in good form and raced to 44 with a six and six fours in 22 balls before he became the first of four victims for Exmouth skipper Gary Chappell.

Despite wickets falling around him, Andrew Bairstow played with good sense. After initially struggling to find his timing, he accelerated gradually and ended unbeaten on 44. Exmouth captain Chappell finished with 4-24.

Congs knew they needed to make early inroads when Exmouth batted and Pearson delivered when he had opener Richard Baggs caught at slip by Geldart for one. But they could not remove Davie Lye, who peppered the boundary in his match-winning knock of 65.