THE absence of star bowler Rory Cullinan did not hold Warminster back on Saturday as five wickets from John Powell saw them claim victory over Gloucester City Winget.

Warminster have endured a stuttering summer so far, claiming just three wins from 10 WEPL matches prior to the Gloucester fixture.

However, the weekend win saw Warminster leapfrog their vanquished opponents – who drop to the bottom of the table – and Davie’s men have now put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

After setting the visitors a target of 247 to win, Powell got off to flying start with the ball and had both Gloucester openers back in the pavilion with just eight runs on the board.

He went on to finish with figures of 5-25 as Warminster bowled out their opponents for 126 to secure an emphatic 120-run victory.

“It was a much-needed win,” said Davie.

“As a group, we have been disappointed with how this season has gone and we’ve realised that we have been under-par in certain aspects, whether that be a whole game or bits of a game.

“The league is quite funny in that anyone can beat anyone. It’s pretty tight, the team that’s top has won six games and we have won four and aren’t having a great season.

“When we needed to put in a good performance, we did that, and missing our star performer in Rory makes this an even better performance.

“The way we came out and bowled was superb and I don’t think John bowled a bad ball.

“He is someone that always goes a bit unnoticed a bit because Rory probably takes a few more wickets and bowls a bit quicker but John has been a crucial part of our side for a number of years.

“With Rory being away, we needed everyone to step up and John certainly did that and he virtually won us the game single-handedly with the ball.”

A battling 73 from Peter Hickerton had earlier been the backbone of the Warminster innings as they were dismissed for 246 off the penultimate ball. Trevor Fabian chipped in with 42, while David Bateman added 39 not out.

“Pete played superbly. He was a very determined at the crease not to give his wicket away and we really built our innings around him,” said Davie.

“I thought it was only an OK score – not above par for Warminster, which is usually such a good track. We knew we had to bowl well in order to get the win and we did just that