PHOTO:
Two balls to go, Ashley Suttonon 98, two short of maiden century, he hoists one to long on and is caught six feet from boundary - thwarted

Epic top of the table clash ends in a tense draw

Neyland (214 for 5) drew with Cresselly (206 for 9)

Umpires: John Williams & Ian Phillips
Scorers: John Laugharne & Dave Richards

Opponents of the draw system in Pembrokeshire Cricket would have done well to see the epic finale at the Athletic Ground after Neyland had done really well to amass a challenging total of 214 for 5 before Cresselly ended up nine runs adrift of victory with their final pair at the crease.

It was epic, nerve-jangling stuff where either side could have won and in the final analysis a draw was the fairest result since neither team really deserved to lose.

Scott John (35) and Nick Koomen (33) gave Neyland a platform after a slow start and then Ashley Sutton maintained his recent superb form with a blistering assault on the Cresselly bowling which saw him race to 98 (five fours and six sixes) in a partnership of 125 with Andrew Miller (four boundaries in his 42 not out).

Three figures seemed likely with two balls left of Tom Murphy’s final over but Sutton was caught on the boundary by Sam Harts to deny Sutton a deserved century as Mike Shaw earned figures of 3 for 46 from his slow stuff.

Nick Koomen (3 for 40) and Patrick Hannon (3 for 32) were the pick of the home bowlers but Cresselly also had their batting heroes in Simon Cole (six fours in his 66) and Iwan Izzard, who helped Cole put on 66 runs for the fourth wicket as he belted eight fours and a six in his 46 runs from only 23 balls. Neilson Cole also chipped in with 26 as Cresselly edged close – but Neyland are bonny fighters and both teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.
 

Town take Lawrenny to task

Haverfordwest (127 for 3) beat Lawrenny (126 all out) by 7 wickets

Umpires: Les Hastings & Denis Chiffi
Scorers: Jayne Cole & Malcolm Thomas

Pacy bowler Adam James took six wickets to give Haverfordwest a less than challenging total against Lawrenny and then an opening partnership of 80 between Simon Holliday and Dai Davies helped ensure there were no real alarums when The Town batted.

James was heavily involved at the outset as he stormed down the slope to take four wickets as Lawrenny lurched to 22 for 5 until Steve Lewis showed his class with top score of 55 (nine fours and a six) before he became James’ fifth victim. Ian Jenkins and Joe Kidney contributed 13 runs each before Jamie Lewis was last out having scored 19 valuable runs as Josh Wilment (1 for 39), Clive Tucker (2 for 39) and Nigel Morgan (1 for 10) were the other successful Haverfordwest bowlers.

Dai Davies then scored 40 runs out of that opening stand (including six fours) before he was trapped lbw by Tim Mills (1 for 24) and although the Town lost two other quick wickets to Jamie Lewis (2 for 16), Holliday (ten fours in his 54 not out) was joined by Ben Field (18 not out) in taking their side to victory in only 27 overs.

PHOTO:
Adam James is congratulated by Haverfordwest team-mates after taking the wicket of Steve Lewis

 

‘Cadfael’ stars in Llanrhian win

Llanrhian (166 for 6) beat Carew (104 all out) by 62 runs

Umpires: Trefor Evans & Huw Davies
Scorer: Julie Davies (Carew)

Gareth Davies was the undoubted star of Llanrhian’s big win over Carew as the all-rounder known to all as ‘Cadfael’ showed why he is now a county player with top score of 74 in his side’s 166 for 6 and after tea claimed 5 for 20 to effectively put the skids under the Carew batting.

Davies rapped ten fours and a six in his classy innings as he found support from Jack Jones (22), Matthew Bennett (23) and Geraint Morris (16) against useful bowling from Tom Davies 3 for 36), Sean Whitfield (2 for 18), Neil Gregory (1 for 30) and Ian Forrester (1 for 33) in the Carew attack.

Then Davies bowled his canny slow stuff for 11.3 overs to claim five wickets and only Nick Scourfield (30), Rhys Davies (23) and Brian hall (17) ever stayed long as Jack Jones (3 for 23) and Luke Jones (1 for 24) joined Davies in helping reduce the visitors to 104 all out in 39.3 overs.
 

Whitland win with something in hand

Narberth (100 all out) lost to Whitland (103 for 3) by 7 wickets

Umpires: Rob Bellerby & Dai Morris
Scorers: Peter Hughes & Janice Webb

Whitland cantered home in their local derby at Narberth after the home side failed to reproduce their midweek Harrison-Allen form and were shot out for only 100 runs before Whitland responded with 103 for 3 wickets as Johnny Thomas was again their top batsman.

The final Narberth scoreline owed much to the Hughes boys as brothers Marc (31) and Ian (28) both hit six fours and were joined in double figures by cousin Ben (18) as the rest of the home line-up struggled against the deadly accuracy of Mark Lee (3 for 7), Dan James (4 for 34), Scott Newton (1 for 32) and Iestyn Scourfield (2 for 35).

Ian and Ben Hughes also claimed a wicket apiece and Ben Quartermaine became the third successful Narberth bowler but after Paul Davies (23) and Kevin Pearce (13) had batted steadily for Whitland it was left to Johnny Thomas to apply the coup de grace, with seven fours and two sixes in his excellent 48 not out.
 

Seasiders slump again as Tish take total control

Saundersfoot (95 all out) lost to St Ishmaels (98 for 1) by 9 wickets

Umpires: Tony Scourfield & John Williams
Scorers: Adge John & Wendy Bradshaw

Saundersfoot remain rooted firmly to the bottom of the table after managing to score only 95 all out in 43 overs against St Ishmaels, who reached their target for the loss of only one wicket in double-quick time.

Put in to bat first, Saundersfoot limped to their total thanks in the main to Steve Cook’s 35 (four boundaries) alongside Sam Franklyn (12) and James Caine (11) against the tight bowling of Matthew ‘Hammer’ Phillips (3 for 15), Andrew Williams (3 for 8), Andrew Pawlett (2 for 26), Robbie Thomas (1 for 16) and Kevin L Bowen (1 for 16).

Tish made an excellent start to their reply as Peter Bradshaw was joined by Brennan Devonald, who scored 30 before he was bowled by Neil Powling (1 for 29 in seven overs) having belted two fours and two big sixes.

Bradshaw used his experience to good effect with his undefeated 40 (four fours and a six) and he was joined by Dan Howells (25 not out, including three fours and a six) as Tish strolled home in 16.5 overs.