Hereford Cathedral School Old Boys captured the Brewers' Company Cricket Cup for the first time with a six-wicket win over St John's Leatherhead at Campbell Park, Milton Keynes.

Replying to Old Johnians 211 all out, an unbroken 161-run fifth-wicket stand between man-of-the-match Ashley Nahorniak (74 not out) and Owen Hewlett (66 not out) swept Old Herefordians to the national independent schools' title with 7.3 overs remaining.

Old Herefordians were accepted into the national competition in 2001 and, having reached the final for the previous two years, they were delighted to finally secure the title.

Old Johnians made a positive start after being put in to bat, with former Surrey batsman Joe Porter (75) and David Balcombe (48) leading their charge.

But Old Herefordians fought back well with fine spells, in particular from Mike Tomlinson-Mynors (3-42), skipper Richard Skyrme (2-29) and Ed Symonds (2-25).

The only disappointment for the Hereford side was the 45 extras which they conceded.

In reply, Old Herefordians were soon in trouble at 48-4 after just 11 overs, but Nahorniak and Hewlett repaired the damage with a magnificent stand.

Nahorniak struck a number of glorious cover-drives in a match-winning display which earned him a year's subscription to The Wisden Cricketer magazine.