Somerset were ?a long way? below their best in all departments of the game, said a disappointed skipper Janeiro Tucker last night after his side?s second successive Cup Match defeat.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl in attempt to knock the champions over quickly and cheaply on the first day, the hosts? game plan appeared to be working with St. George?s tottering on 59 for four.

But a superb middle-order fightback from veteran left hander Charlie Marshall and the young OJ Pitcher stopped Somerset?s charge in its tracks ? with their fortunes going from bad to worse after that.

?It looked at one stage as if the game plan was going to work ? but St. George?s fought back very well and we did not take advantage of our opportunities,? a despondent Tucker said.

?But the fact is that we just didn?t play well enough to win the Cup back. I cannot fault the commitment of my team ? they never let their heads drop and we fought back well after following on.

?But despite all that, I think the future of Somerset cricket is in good hands and we will be going down there to Wellington Oval to try and win the Cup back.?

Somerset all-rounder Saleem Mukuddem, meanwhile, agreed that the challengers had missed chances at crucial times ? particularly in the field on the first day when both Marshall and Pitcher were making hay.

?I know it?s a cliche, but catches do win matches and it was our failure to take them that cost us,? he said.

?We had a couple of chances off OJ which on another day might have been taken and at 60 forfive the game could have turned out very differently.

?But saying that, OJ came out to bat with a lot of pressure on him and played absolutely beautifully to get St. George?s out of trouble, and once he got going with Charlie there was very little we could do.

?The wicket itself was fairly slow and not doing a huge amount, so we knew after bowling on it that it was the type of wicket where the only way you were going to get out is if you got yourself out. And I think that was definitely the case in the first innings where there were a number of loose shots and batsmen getting to 20 or 30 without really going on to get a big score.

?Again I think if we?d shown as much patience and determination in the first innings as we did in the second, we could have got ourselves into a competitive position. But after following on so many runs behind we were always up against it.?

It was the South African who ensured St. George?s would at least have to bat again with a controlled knock of 63 yesterday afternoon ? a welcome return to form with the bat after a decidedly below-par season.

?I haven?t been in the best of form recently and it was good to really get in a zone again ? particularly with our tour of Canada coming up,? he said.

?I think I?ve just been over analysing my batting a little bit rather than just going out and playing and this afternoon, with the game the way it was, it was a perfect opportunity for me to go out there and concentrate and get into what I call my ?Cup Match zone? where I filter out the crowd and the opposition and just play the ball.

?It was good to be back feeling good and scoring runs again, although the end result was disappointing for the team.?