NETHERFIELD captain Marc Brown has praised the match-winning century of Ben Barrow as his side earned bragging rights with a comprehensive victory over Kendal.

Barrow hit an unbeaten 104 to help Field post a commanding 248-4 off their allotted overs before opening bowler Mark Clarkson took a five wicket haul as Kendal were dismissed 102 runs short of the total.

And Brown was quick to heap praise on the batsmen’s contribution.

“To be honest that has been due all year,” he said. “He has looked pretty good for little cameo knocks.

“I was out early and then we had a good partnership between him and young Tom Williamson who is only 17 and Ben just batted well all the way through.

“It was a fantastic moment for him getting his first centuuy. He has worked towards that all year and the hard work has paid off in the end.”

He added: “It was a fantastic victory. We have had the edge on them for a while now. We are always very confident when we play them and I think it’s a mental thing for them now.

“It was a tremendous victory - we spoke about individuals standing up and you don’t get much better than a five-for and a century so now hopefully we can kick on for the rest of the season.

“I’m not a Kendal lad but I’ve played for the club for the last four years and I know what it means. We expect to beat them and we’ve got to keep on doing that over the next few years.

“For the lads who have played for a long time it’s a big moment and it’s just big for the club and the older people who have come to watch.”

The victory on Bank Holiday Monday was preceded by a narrow loss away at Barrow on Saturday.

Graham Dawson and Michael Wellings put on a 183 fifth-wicket stand as Barrow reached 238 from their overs.

A valiant chase by Netherfield, helped by a 72 by Sri Lankan pro Saliya Saman, saw them fall just 35 runs short of the total and two deliveries off securing a losing draw.

“The innings Graham Dawson played was one of the best knocks I’ve seen in club cricket,” said Brown.

“We stuttered in the middle and didn’t do our job knocking the ball around but the things we talked about on Saturday that didn’t go so well we put into practice on Monday.

“You don’t come up against those sort of partnerships too often. We just couldn’t get that wicket and they rode their luck a little bit but you have to do that in the game sometimes.”

Netherfield travel to Chorley this Saturday as the league season draws to a close with just a handful of games left.