Copeland lauds County’s perseverance

The Australian seamer, who took three wickets in the second innings, was at his accurate best as the visitors were blown away before tea.

And he said: “It happened in the first innings for them.

“We knew that with (Graham) Wagg at seven and (John) Glover at eight if we could get a couple of breakthroughs, even after they were 100-odd for two, then we could keep applying the pressure and stay on top.

“We always knew there was enough in the surface, variable bounce and a bit of sideways movement, that we could capitalise on.

“We didn’t know too much about (Chris) Cooke so it was more (Murray) Goodwin, (Jim) Allenby and (Mark) Wallace that we concentrated on and had to hit hard with our plans.”

While the bowlers will take the plaudits for another good day’s work, Copeland pointed to the initial stages of the hosts’ first innings as being crucial in setting up the victory.

He added: “That period on the first night when Pedro (Stephen Peters) and Midders (James Middlebrook) batted was crucial because going in none down enabled us to push for a bigger lead on the second day.”

Next up for the County is a trip to the Aegas Bowl and Copeland, who returns to Sydney after the encounter, intends to go out on a high note.

“It’s a massive game for me because it’s my last for the club,” he said.

“With the win here, a few other results going our way and another good performance next week hopefully it can put us in an unassailable position.”