Somerset skipper Jacobi Robinson paid tribute to his side's determination to force a result out of what was always an uphill climb for the challengers in this year's Cup Match.

Defending 236 runs in the final session of play, Somerset's bowling attack was left to think of what might have been as St. George's' veteran batsmen Clay Smith and Charlie Marshall ensured the trophy stayed in the East End for one more year.

The result always looked destined for a draw from the start of play on day one with rain delaying the match for two hours, yet Robinson said that St. George's' lack of fighting spirit took the match from a classic battle into a tame draw.

"We put up a good fight," said Robinson. "The last few years we have fielded first so we decided to go have a bat first and see how that goes on. We worked hard and attacked like we planned to from the outset.

"As you can see, St. George's went out, sat on their bats and made it a boring game. We did what we were asked to do and applied ourselves.

"In their second innings, with the game in the balance, we got off to a good start and picked up a few early quick wickets.

"Once this happened I guess they got scared and thought we were a threat and like I said previously, made the game boring and unattractive in my eyes.

"I would like to congratulate my team. We were the better side and took it to them. We are the crowd pleasers as you can see and made it exciting."

Backing his skipper's words was star batsman Janeiro Tucker, who reckoned Somerset were the better side, saying they made an effort to make it interesting.

"I thought we really took the game to them," said Tucker. "We came out in the morning after the rain and made ourselves a target of 250 to get. We came out and got the job done of reaching our goal, so we did our job as the challengers to set the target for them.

"We set ourselves 250 again in the second innings. We were a bit short but we still thought that they would take up the challenge and go after it. They lost a few wickets chasing the total, then put up the shutters.

"From the start of their second innings they never even attempted to make it a match for the fans. 236 in three hours is not hard to get."

Tucker became the first-ever Somerset batsman to score over 1,000 runs, joining St. George's batsmen Charlie Marshall, and brothers Clay and Wendell Smith, as the only players to reach that milestone.

"It is always a pleasure for any batsmen to get this milestone, especially in the short time I have done it in," continued Tucker.

"It is unbelievable. For me to be in the record books, it is an honour and I will be looking to catch up Charlie's total of whatever it may be. It is still a long way to go, I have a few years left in Cup Match, so you never know if I will get it and how high (I can go) if I do get it."