St. George?s pulled off a double Cup Match triumph at Wellington Oval yesterday when their stars of the future overcame Somerset by four wickets in a low-scoring encounter in which the ball dominated over bat for most of the day.

Having dismissed the visitors for only 93 thanks to some superb bowling from Loren Marshall (two for 16), Kyle Hodsoll (two for 10), Jade Foggo (three for19) and Chris Douglas, St. George?s found themselves in serious trouble in reply at 19 for five.

But having shone earlier with the ball, Hodsoll (32) also produced the goods with the bat at number seven in the order, putting on an inspired 63 for the fifth wicket with Chea Foggo (23 not out) to take his side from what looked like impending defeat to the brink of victory.

Somerset?s Jordan DeSilva stood out with the ball, but even his excellent figures of three for 15 off eight overs were not enough to stave off defeat, with the visitors left kicking themselves for not making the most of their opportunity to bat first.

The match, however, got off to a rather inauspicious start when no umpires arrived, forcing St. George?s stalwarts Herbie Bascome and Barry Sousa to step into the breach.

Repeated attempts to uncover which two umpires, if any, were appointed ? as well as who was responsible for appointing them ? were unsuccessful.

However, there were unconfirmed reports yesterday suggesting Bermuda Umpires Association may have boycotted the game as a protest against the way in which they were treated ahead of Cup Match last week, when they were snubbed in favour of English umpires David Shepherd and Mervyn Kitchen.

When contacted, neither BUA president George Francis nor secretary Randy Butler were prepared to comment on the matter, leaving it unclear as to whether the absence of umpires for the game was simply down to administrative error or a deliberate ploy on the part of the BUA.

The Cup Match clubs and the BUA were at loggerheads in the days and weeks leading up to the senior classic, with the umpires insisting they would not submit a short list of potential candidates for the game until they had met with both St. George?s and Somerset to discuss several changes they wanted put in place.

Unimpressed by the BUA?s demands, the Cup Match clubs took matters into their own hands and flew in overseas umpires for the first time in Cup Match?s 105-year history ? a move which did not go down well with either the BUA or Sports Minister Dale Butler.