St. George's skipper Lionel Cann said he was relieved to get the 'monkey off his back' following his maiden Cup Match century – especially after missing out by just one run last summer.

On his last hurrah as the East Enders captain, Cann fashioned a superb second innings ton (104 not out) to ensure his side retained the coveted trophy for another year.

Coming to the crease with his team in a spot of bother at 107 for five, the master blaster produced a classic skipper's knock to cancel out Janeiro Tucker's second innings century for Somerset.

Despite playing in Cup Match for 16 years Cann had never hit a hundred in the annual classic and agonisingly came to within one run of the elusive century he so craved last year at Somerset, scoring 99.

But, in front of his team's own supporters at Wellington Oval on Friday, Cann finally etched his name into Cup Match's exclusive century club.

"Obviously it's was a special moment, it was my first one," said Cann. "It was a special innings for me after missing out last year and it was also my last game as St. George's captain.

"I took over the captaincy four years ago and in my first year we won Cup Match, so that was great in itself."

Cann said he hoped to play in Cup Match for a number of years and has set his sights of breaking the 1,000 runs barrier – a feat only four batsmen have achieved.

"I can't put a number on how many more (games) I will play, but hopefully it will be a few more. Obviously I'd like to get to it (1,000 runs), but to be on 900 when I've batted at seven or eight throughout my career, and making them in double-quick time as I have is an accomplishment in itself.

"I will be around a few more years and hopefully get to that landmark, but my objective is not lose the Cup as long as I represent St. George's."

While Cann concedes that being dropped in his 80s by Stephen Outerbridge was a crucial phase of the match, he pointed out that had Delyone Borden held a chance off Tucker (126 not out) then St.George's would have been in the driving seat.

"You could say when Stephen dropped me it was the key point but we still had Justin Pitcher to come in and Glenn (Blakeney) if he wanted to bat. The key moment for me was when we dropped Janeiro.

"At the time we dropped him it was still time to get a result for us and that would have put them on the back foot.

"I never thought we were in a position to lose, but the wicket of Janeiro would have seen the match end by 4 p.m."

But Somerset's 'Mr Cup Match' Tucker remained adamant the West Enders played superior cricket to their opponents.

Tucker hit his third Cup Match century to lift him to second in the annual classic's all-time run scorers.

Only St.George's legend Charlie Marshall, who retired from Cup Match on Friday, has plundered more runs than Tucker.

The Southampton Rangers strokeplayer praised his team-mates for their Cup Match efforts despite falling to reclaim the trophy from their rivals.

"We fought hard this year and I thought the skipper (Jacobi Robinson) had a good two days, both with the bat, ball and his thinking of the game," said Tucker.

"We put our all into it and I personally think we played better than St. George's on both days, so we are just unlucky, that's all I can say about that."

Now gunning for Marshall's record. "It is always a milestone and an honour to be in an elite group as this and hopefully I can continue on scoring runs for my side," he added.