ZURICH boss Richard Pearce thanked arch-rivals Shield and Dagger as their pre-match jibes drove his side to their second consecutive Adver Cup.

Shield and Dagger were in boisterous mood as they turned up at Hunts Copse to collect their Swindon & District Premier League winners medals, with runners-up Zurich warming up.

A shock defeat the previous weekend to league strugglers Running Horse had cost Zurich the title and Pearce admitted the last thing they needed was their rivals rubbing their noses in it'.

Goals in each half from Craig Alexander and the inspirational centre-back Barry Shedden ensured they did not end the season empty-handed, despite Mike Lichoto's late consolation.

Pearce said: "The pressure was on us. Shield and Dagger helped us a great deal though as them coming out and singing songs at us made us even more determined.

"We knew we would not lose the moment they started winding us up. It was a massive disappointment we didn't win the league but at least we have come away with something.

"The boys were first class, fair play to Ridgeway they never gave up but I always thought we were in control."

After a scrappy start, Zurich began to stamp their authority on the match, looking stronger all over the park.

Ridgeway keeper Steve Wyles saved well from Vince Meredith, after a chipped through ball by Alexander, before Meredith dragged a shot wide.

On 11 minutes the deadlock was broken as Alexander turned neatly before firing the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

With Shedden and Anthony Rutzler dominating for Zurich at the back, Alexander should have doubled the lead but his low shot was well stopped by the legs of Wyles.

Despite heavy pressure, Ridgeway kept going and a couple of long-range shots from midfielder Ricky Cook threatened to pull them back into the game.

Alexander was proving difficult to handle and his 25-yard free-kick crashed off the cross-bar to safety on 37 minutes.

As half-time drew near, Ridgeway squandered a couple of half chances, first Dave Brown toe-poked wide and then Cook dragged a strike just wide of the far post.

The final was put beyond Ridgeway's reach when veteran Shedden turned well to volley the ball home from six-yards eight minutes into the second half.

The under-dogs refused to lie down and skipper Chris Smith was denied halving the deficit by the feet of Pearce after being sent clear by Brown.

The skipper was left with his head in his hands again on 66 minutes when he latched onto a poor back-pass from Justin Varndell, rounded Wyles but, from a tight angle, his shot was easily hacked clear.

With four minutes of injury-time already played, the pacy Lichota volleyed low into the bottom corner to pull a goal back in what proved the last kick of the game.

Ridgeway boss Alan Mula said: "They are a good side. The boys fought hard but we have to accept we were beaten by the better team.

"If we had managed to scored earlier than we did then who knows? But we can't really have any arguments with the result."