player-coach James Pace may have been ineligible for their upset victory over Southampton Rangers at the weekend.

Rangers lodged a protest against PHC over Pace's eligibility after they crashed to a shock four-wicket loss in the third round of the competition on Saturday.

But yesterday it was confirmed that the protest had been turned down during a special membership meeting of the Western Counties on Monday night. The vote resulted in five for the result to stand, three against and one spoiled. Each of the five counties clubs were allowed two representatives.

It also emerged that the council allowed PHC to remain champions because they felt the club was `misdirected and at a disadvantage' after first being informed that Pace was eligible and then told on the morning of the match by president Reginald Outerbridge that he could not play because a protest was being lodged by Rangers.

"There was a lot of concern with the way things were handled,'' said Western Counties secretary Wayne Raynor yesterday.

"The council felt the matter could have been better handled. It was felt that PHC were disadvantaged by events leading up to the match.'' The rules regarding eligibility calls for a player to be a member of an affiliate club for two years.

But Raynor explained that PHC first became members of the Western Counties in 1996, the year before they made their debut in the competition. They were not an affiliate of the counties in 1995 when Pace first played for the club. He rejoined them this year.

It was agreed by the Western Counties that all the players registered by PHC in 1997 would be allowed to play in the counties that year, but that anyone joining them in 1998 would have to wait until this year to be eligible.

Pace's eligibility was discussed last week when he met with four Western Counties officials, including president Reginald Outerbridge, who unanimously cleared him to play.

The next night Pace was chosen to lead his team on his debut, only be told on the morning of the match by the president himself that he could not play because Rangers were protesting.

Pace played anyway, arguing that the PHC team had already been submitted to the umpires and that they had no reserves. He went on to play a significant part in the biggest upset of the season, taking two wickets and scoring 31 as PHC reached the Rangers total of 131 with the loss of six wickets.

PHC president Chris Furbert also felt the matter could have been handled better. "At the meeting last Wednesday they didn't even have a quorum. They had five representatives and there should have been six to make a quorum,'' said Furbert.

"That's why the vote (Monday night) was cast the way it was.'' Now, the club better known for winning soccer trophies than cricket silverware, can look forward to meeting neighbours Warwick in the final on September 4, with the winners going on to play in the Champion of Champions later in the month.

PHC can also look forward to receiving the trophy which was not presented to them after Saturday's match.

"They showed total disrespect to PHC by not presenting the trophy to us on Saturday,'' said Furbert.

"PHC were very hurt because we won the cup outright. Even though Rangers had a protest in, the cup should have been presented to PHC. This is the first time in the history of the Western Counties that PHC have won the cup.''