DIRECTOR of cricket Tom Moody has heaped praise on his Worcestershire players for the character they showed in yesterday's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final victory over Essex at New Road.

The County, last season's beaten finalists, won by 21 runs in a match which Moody described as 'a bit of a dog-fight.'

He said: "It was a scrapping type game of cricket. It wasn't free-flowing, it was a bit of a dog-fight and the guys showed a lot of character."

The County, who lost by seven wickets in a one-sided final against Gloucestershire last year, now have to wait until after today's three other quarter-finals before they will know who they will face in the semis on Saturday, July 17.

Moody said: "It was a great journey last year to get to Lord's but the big day was disappointing and the guys are very keen to get back and set the records straight. Obviously we have got one more hurdle to cross before we get there, so we have got a long way to go yet.

"The semi-final is a long way off and a lot can happen between now and then with form and injuries and all sorts of things. But I'm just pleased we have got over this tough hurdle against Essex and we'll approach the semi when it eventually crops up."

Yesterday's win was based on a crucial 76-run partnership between man-of-the-match Ben Smith and David Leatherdale who helped lift the County from 75-5 to 204 all out before Essex were removed for 183.

Moody said: "Our total was competitive on that wicket as it wasn't the easiest to bat on. We probably felt it would have been nice to have got another ten to 15 runs, but we found ourselves in a sticky position early on in the innings and we recovered well to post a competitive total.

"We thought that anything over 200 was going to be competitive because we know it can be difficult to bat at New Road when the wicket is a little bit slow and there's a little bit of seam there as well. So it was up to us to bowl well which we did."

Moody was delighted with the stand between Smith and Leatherdale, saying: "They both batted very well. They have pieced together a number of good partnerships over the years in one-day cricket.

"They know each other's game very well and they turn things round very quickly for us. They tend to play with a pretty cool head and that's what was required at that time."