The final of the KGJ Insurance County Cup takes place later today with the same teams from the 2023 final, just like in 2021 and 2022 when the same two teams contested those. Sir John Bayley were victorious in last year’s final as they took a clean sweep of domestic honours. However, Castlefields finally broke the final hoodoo against them when winning the Audlem Special Events Team Alan Mayhew Trophy Final in May. Both teams have named a full strength line up, with some difficult decisions having to be made by both captains on which 12 to put into the final given their strength in depth. The first four could be one of the best first four this competition has ever seen with all 8 players established county players with multiple honours to their name. Castlefields missed Callum Wraight from their team last year, but is in this year’s team at number 5 and plays Ayden Smith, both players tending to like a short length. Chris Worthington helped bring home the final last year, and maybe that is why he has been put in at number 12 to do so again. He faces a former team mate in Josh Hale though, who won the competition with the Bayley last year and could potentially be the first player to win it in consecutive years in different teams. Spencer Clarke has drawn Russell Pugh at number 8, with both players arguably the best performers for each team last season, Spencer winning the Wishy Dodd player of the match award.
Sir John Bayley vice-captain Tom Roden says “there’s not much more to say about these ties. We’ve met Castlefields in our last 4 or 5 finals and the matches are always fiercely competitive. The draw looks great from a spectators perspective. There are lots of interesting match ups and the Adderley green has a bit of everything to it. Anything could happen on the night and I’m sure both teams are looking forward to it. These are the matches you want to be involved in when a season kicks off.”
Adderley will be selling burgers and pork baps tonight during the game.
The draw is below with action starting at 6.30 p.m.
| No | Castlefields | Agg | Score | Score | Agg | Sir John Bayley |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rich Goddard | 0 | 0 | Scott Simpson | ||
| 2 | Jon Palmer | 0 | 0 | Paul Evans | ||
| 3 | Michael Beer | 0 | 0 | Reece Farr | ||
| 4 | Wayne Rogers | 0 | 0 | Scott Harries | ||
| 5 | Callum Wraight | 0 | 0 | Ayden Smith | ||
| 6 | Gary Neal | 0 | 0 | Alex Jones | ||
| 7 | Adam Jones | 0 | 0 | Stuart Rutter | ||
| 8 | Russell Pugh | 0 | 0 | Spencer Clarke | ||
| 9 | Andrew Judson | 0 | 0 | David Lloyd | ||
| 10 | Ashley Wellings | 0 | 0 | Dan Taylor | ||
| 11 | Tom Palmer | 0 | 0 | Tom Roden | ||
| 12 | Josh Hale | 0 | 0 | Chris Worthington | ||
| Games | 0 | 0 | Games | |||
| Aggregate | 0 | 0 | Aggregate |
Castlefields Reserves: Hayden Lewis, Andy Duckett, Steve Duckett, Glyn Herbert, Adie Rowe & Dave Peach
Sir John Bayley Reserves: Owen Evans, Michael Cooper & Jackie Rutter.
