Somerset Bridge 68, 299-7 Warwick 158-6, 95-3 Two partnerships of 109 in the middle order saved champions Somerset Bridge from sure defeat as Warwick paid dearly for dropped catches in the Western Counties final at White Hill Field yesterday.

Warwick put down some crucial chances as Bridge were let off the hook as they stared defeat in the face.

In the end the champions were allowed to recover from 46-4 and not only erase the 90-run deficit from the first innings but also build a big enough lead to make certain of avoiding defeat.

Bridge began their second innings at 5.35 on the first day and by the first hour on the second day they had slumped to 46-4, still 44 runs in arrears and facing heavy defeat.

But Jeff Richardson, Arnold Manders, Brian Gibbons and Perry Maybury all came good with the bat and suddenly a new game developed.

"I had a sleepless night,'' admitted Bridge captain Corvett Lambert after the opening day.

"But we've been in this predicament before and I had confidence in my team.

Jeff and Arnold turned the game around and then Brian and Perry followed suit.

Dropped catches were a major part of it, but we dropped catches in the first innings too.'' Sent in on a dampish wicket on Saturday following overnight rain, Bridge were in trouble from the outset when Jamie Cann was dismissed in the second over of the game, bowled by Daniel Caines. That was followed by the dismissals of Maybury in the fifth over, O'Neil Virgil and Jeff Richardson in the sixth and Manders in the eighth to make it 15-5 just 40 minutes into the game.

Brian Gibbons was the high man for Bridge with 23 in 55 patient minutes as Warwick used just three bowlers.

Daniel Caines led the bowling with four for 30 -- all the wickets coming in his first four overs -- while Alan Wilkinson started with five straight maidens on his way to three for 18 from 14.2 overs. Treadwell Gibbons, used as first change, had three for 17.

Thanks to a knock of 79 from Johnny Nusum, which included eight fours and two sixes, 26 from Gibbons and 19 from Foggo, Warwick were able to declare at 5.20 on Saturday evening with a lead of 90. Manders took four for 45 from 13.5 overs.

In the hour they gave themselves to bowl at Bridge they managed to take the wicket of Francis Richardson as the champions finished the day on 17-1. Virgil retired hurt after being struck on the elbow.

Warwick carried on yesterday where they left off on Saturday as Bridge wickets fell regularly. However, determined not to fail again, Jeff Richardson and Manders dug in to carry the score from 46-4 to 155-5.

At lunch Bridge were 85-4 with Richardson on 35 and Manders on 12 and when the pair reached their half centuries the Bridge lead had grown to 53. The Warwick fielders were already paying the price for the dropping of Richardson by wicketkeeper Trent Simmons on nought, by Quinton King on 27 and by Simmons again on 42.

In the next over Manders was missed on the square leg boundary by Millard Rawlins, the ball hitting him in the face before going over the boundary for six. Manders was then on 38 and he went on to score 69.

By the time Brian Gibbons and Maybury came together at 175-6, Bridge already had a lead of 85 and were able to bat with less pressure. They also added 109 as Gibbons finished unbeaten on 70 and Maybury 56, Bridge declaring at 5.25 on 299-5.

That left Warwick the almost impossible task of scoring 210 for victory off the final 18 overs (108 balls).

And though their 50 came up in just 36 minute the effort was not a sustained one, especially after Treadwell Gibbons departed on 14 and Foggo retired hurt after being hit in the face and damaging his glasses as he attempted to hook a short ball from Francis Richardson.

"We knew we were batting for our lives so we just wanted to bat for as long as we could,'' said Lambert. "The guys just showed a bit more patience today.

But that's Bridge, when our backs are against the wall, especially in county, that's when we seem to come through.'' KEY KNOCK -- Arnold Manders helped save champions Bridge from defeat with an innings of 69 yesterday.