David Ridgley hailed Aston Rowant’s travelling support as they reached the last 16 of the npower Village cup.

Rowant’s captain said his side’s supporters outnumbered hosts Ashcott & Shapwick ten to one despite having to make a 280-mile round trip.

Ridgley felt their five-wicket victory was well-deserved and now hopes a similar crowd will travel to Glamorgan & Gwent champions Miskin Manor, near Cardiff, in the next round.

“I would like to pay a big tribute to our supporters,” said Ridgley.

“We took a coachload and there were probably 20 carloads. There must have been at least 100 people that came down.

“We outnumbered them by ten to one, which was fantastic.

“I managed to get a couple of messages to them to brighten up during the game and they did.

“They really made a difference for us.”

Ridgley added: “It was a great day for the club and hopefully it will have a knock-on effect.

“We are taking it one game at a time.

“But if we play the way we did on Sunday, we will be hard to beat.”

Ridgely stressed Rowant’s squad size and variety of options will be crucial to the campaign.

He added: “Only two of us who played on Sunday have ever played in the national stages before – Paul Humphreys with Shipton and myself.

“A lot of the younger players dealt with the pressure very well.”

As for Sunday’s victory, Ridgley said: “I think it was quite comfortable.

“They were a very good side and knew the conditions better than we did.

“We timed it quite nicely and did well to keep some wickets in hand.

“Alex Jewell and Tim Morgan batted great at the top to set us up.

“The pitch wasn’t the best. I did expect a bit more. It was slow and low.

“Their 150 wasn’t quite enough. They probably needed another 25 to 30 more.

“We felt that they were the best bowling attack we’ve faced this year.

“Apparently at tea, they were quite confident.”