League champions St. George's closed out their successful season with a second major trophy yesterday at White Hill field where they beat Devonshire by 71 runs in the Knockout Cup final.

In a match that was dominated by the bowlers on a wicket that gave some assistance, two 20-over spells shaped the tone of this contest after St.

George's won the toss.

First, Devonshire's first and second change bowlers Mark Trott and Erskine (Choe) Smith succeeded in reducing the St. George's scoring rate from 3.9 after 10 overs to 2.46 by the 30th.

And when the underdogs began their innings needing to score at a comfortable 3.56 for victory, Greg Foggo and Ricky Hodsoll rocked them back on their heels by having them 36 for six after 20 overs. It was a position from which Devonshire never recovered as the left-armer Foggo produced his best bowling performance of the season to finish with four for 11 from 10 overs with three maidens.

St. George's, themselves, struggled against some tight bowling early on. "We were off to 39 in 10 overs and 51 after about 17 and they really put us under pressure with some tidy bowling,'' acknowledged St. George's captain Wendell Smith after the match.

Though Wendell and Dexter Smith added 53 for the first wicket in 17 overs, the match swung in Devonshire's favour when Trott and Erskine Smith came on to replace Anthony Edwards and John Ray.

The breakthrough came in the 17th over when Wendell was run out when trying for a third on Anthony Amory's arm at long-on. Wendell hit five fours in his 25, which came during the 76-minute opening stand.

Five overs after that Dexter played on to a delivery from Trott as his innings of 24 came to a close and when top batsman Clay Smith was trapped lbw by Trott for 10 when attempting a sweep shot, St. George's were in some trouble at 67 for three.

Not one St. George's batsman was allowed to make a big total as Trott and Smith conceded just 35 runs in 20 overs between them, leaving St. George's with just 74 on the board going into the final 20 overs.

Graham Fox lasted the longest of all the St. George's batsmen, batting for 103 minutes for his top score of 29 before being last (eighth) out in the 48th over when the innings ended for tea.

He got some support from Dean Minors who hit a dashing 23, which included three sixes and a four and Lewis Foggo with 15, but there was no Kenny Phillips (hamstring injury) to boost the scoring with some big hitting late in the innings.

"Graham always picks matches like this to come through, when the chips are down,'' said captain Smith.

Added Fox: " The wicket was favouring the bowlers, staying a bit low so I knew if it was difficult to score against their bowlers that it was vital that I stay there and bat as long as possible. I knew they would definitely struggle against our bowlers on that wicket and it turned out to be exactly how I thought.'' Mark Trott led the Devonshire bowling with two for 24 from 10 overs while Erskine Smith was unlucky not to have taken a wicket, but no doubt very pleased with his figures of none for nine from 10 overs with five maidens.

Bruce Perinchief took two for 47 off nine.

Devonshire had a bad start when Greg Foggo had Donald Norford caught behind on the last delivery of the first over. Foggo also got the wickets of Terry Fray, Albert Steede and Roger Trott -- all bowled -- in his third, sixth and ninth overs.

By that time Devonshire were staring defeat in the face at 32 for five at the water break, which later became 48 for eight after spinner Eugene Foggo, in his second over, got Edwards and Perinchief off successive deliveries.

David Adams at the other end had Mark Trott stumped to take the east-enders within one wicket of victory at 52 for nine. However, the celebrations had to wait another 39 minutes as Lloyd Morrison and John Ray added 47 for the last wicket to put some respectability into the defeat.

Morrison, who batted for 104 minutes and faced 92 balls, led the Devonshire batting with 26 while Ray scored 23 not out. Eugene Foggo supported Greg with two for 21 from 8.4 overs while Hodsoll had one for 18 and Adams one for 26, both from 10 overs.

"We knew that with a big field like this, and with the wicket playing a bit slow, that 170 was like 200-plus normally,'' said captain Smith.

"The guys made up their minds collectively that they were going to go out there and give a true St. George's performance.

"Getting Albert early and their two openers really early put us in the driver's seat.'' Fox had praise for his cousin Greg for the way he stuck to his task. "Looking at the pitch and knowing how much Greg has developed as a bowler this year we were always confident he would produce for us and today he showed the calibre of player he is,'' he said.

"In my opinion he is our most improved player and it's always nice to see a young playing coming through to continue strengthening the team. I think he is the best young bowler in Bermuda and I'm surprised he hasn't been invited to train with the national squad.'' PARTY TIME -- St. George's players congratulate Greg Foggo, far left, after he bowled Terry Fray. Foggo claimed four for 11 from 10 overs to lead the east-enders to victory.