Mirfield have discovered their own marathon man.

On a baking hot weekend, Simon Horkin was on the field of play for the whole 188.2 overs as his club not only gathered four precious points in the Bradford League against East Bierley, but also won the Heavy Woollen Cup final against Spen Victoria at Liversedge CC.

Horkin finished with 136 not out on Saturday, but arguably even more valuable was his 41 not out on Sunday as Mirfield turned their cup specialists tag into something tangible.

Facing a Spen total of only 145, Horkin was able to drop anchor, knowing it was virtually certain they would win if he was there at the end.

"I am absolutely shattered, but I am absolutely delighted," said a smiling Horkin in the evening sunshine at a cup final that had attracted record receipts of £1,400.

"We came into this final as underdogs, and we have outbatted and outbowled them.

"I was under orders to see it through and let our shot-makers, such as Ibrahim Latif, Mark Fairburn and Richard Haikings play around me."

However, Mirfield's strokeplay and Horkin's application was only part of the story. Earlier Spen Victoria had put themselves under pressure with the sort of running between the wickets that would have exasperated Richie Benaud.

With Gareth Davis already caught behind by Phil Ackroyd off young Matthew Harrison, 19 for one soon became 41 for three as Garib Razak and Chris Elstub were both run out.

Razak went after a tickle to short fine leg and Elstub to a misfield at mid-on and although Scott Cunningham grafted his way to 33 and was ninth out, the innings never really recovered.

Spen skipper Ian Wood said: "The run outs were crucial. They stopped us playing too aggressively because we couldn't afford to lose more wickets.

"We had bowled them out cheaply (94) when we met them in the league when Rao Anjum was really fired up, but Simon Horkin batted well and Latif did very well here.

"We needed to take about four early wickets, but we only got one. Now I just hope that this defeat won't have a knock-on affect in our league matches."

An emotional Mirfield captain Dave Jackson, pictured above with the trophy, said: "Mark Fairburn and Richard Haikings don't bowl regularly, but Mark tok three for 18 and Richard none for 24 off their ten overs, and Matthew Harrison did superbly in bowling his ten overs through.

"I was gutted when I lost in the 1992 final when I was playing for Kirkheaton, and I said to Neil Parkinson that we would win this competition when we signed him about ten years ago, but it has taken a long time."

Mohammed Asif was his usual mean self with his speedy off-breaks, taking two for 16 in his ten overs and the best partnership for Spen was 36 for the eighth wicket between Cunningham and Peter Jackson (13).

Ackroyd's contribution was also important as he caught Anjum standing up off Fairburn for 23 just when the overseas player was looking to cut loose.

Although Mirfield lost Haikings to a controversial decision - he was caught behind when he seemed to hit his pad with his bat - Fairburn (44) and Horkin added 78 for the second wicket and Latif then saw Mirfield home with a quickfire 50 in an unbroken partnership of 70.

Mirfield, who scored a large proportion of their runs in boundaries, won with 11.4 overs to spare, while Fairburn was named man of the match for his three for 18 and 44.