Mick Baldwin played a captain's innings to guide Gomersal to Crowther Cup glory at sunny Spen Victoria.

Playing shots all around the wicket, Baldwin hit 21 fours and a six in his unbeaten 111 as they defeated Scholes (Huddersfield League) by eight wickets.

Scholes had ealier made a great start and were 119 for one but a superb second spell by teenager Bradley Drake pegged them back to 208 for nine at the end of their 50 overs.

Gomersal were rarely becalmed when they replied and Scholes could not stem the flow of boundaries, Steve Pollard hitting ten fours in his 48 during an opening stand of 48 with Des Wilkinson (17).

Danny Reagan (25 not out) and No 3 Baldwin then kept up the momentum as the target was reached in just 41.5 overs.

Baldwin, who was also named man of the match by adjudicator Phil Radcliffe, said: "We won the toss and put them in and Scholes did really well for 25 overs.

"It was a flat deck but I always felt that we could get some wickets and Bradley's second spell was brilliant.

"To bowl four maidens in a cup final like he did was superb and Chris Rhodes also gave nothing away.

"Even though Chris only took one wicket, sometimes bowling ten overs for 18 runs is worth more than a wicket in itself."

Baldwin played some stylish strokes off his legs and through cover.

"We got off to a good start when we batted through Steve Pollard, Des Wilkinson and Danny Reagan," he said.

"It was such a good wicket that you could trust yourself to play shots on it."

Scholes had earlier profited through the efforts of their top order, including vice-captain Nicky Brook (54), Mark Winpenny (37) and Paul Hertzberg (32).

It was Gomersal's fifth triumph in the Heavy Woollen Cup second teams' cup as they also won in 1948, 1966, 1999 and 2000.

Spen Victoria did a splendid job in staging the final and deserve the chance to host more cup finals.