Llanrhian slump to defeat and miss out on a play-off place

 
Umpires: Neill Crawshaw & Alan Hansen
Scorers: Nick Daley, Natalie Thomas and Callum Power
Venue: The Neyland Community Hub
 
Neyland B battled to a play-off place next Monday evening as they narrowly beat the Dock A, who had already qualified, and then Llanrhian slumped to a heavy defeat against Neyland A, who maintained their 100% record and at the same time helped their B team into the final three in the competition. In the other game, Haverfordwest finished their season on a high note as they beat Pembroke Dock B as Will Phillips starred with the bat for The Town.
 
 

Match One 

 

 

Evans and Tennick ease Neyland B home

 

Neyland B (115 for 3) beat Pembroke Dock A (110 for 5) by 5 runs

 
There was a tense finale to this match after Neyland B had built a steady 115 for 3 and Pembroke Dock A looked a little out of sorts in losing five cheap wickets – but then Dock skipper Scott Griffiths stayed alone at the crease with his dad Glyn as support runner – and it seemed that he might be able to snatch a win.
 
They needed 20 off the last over and with Gregg Miller uncharacteristically conceding four wides and Griffiths belting two straight sixes a victory was on but Miller called upon his vast experience to limit the scoring to a single and Neyland B edged home to what later turned out to be a significant success.
 
Neyland found it hard going early on as Callum Power (3), second in the top scorers list, was bowled by a snorter from George Smith in the first over – and Gregg Miller departed for 9 runs, caught by Scott Griffiths at mid-off, with Rhys Daley as the bowler.
 
But George Evans and John Tennick batted well for their 25s before retiring and Steve Murray looked the pick of their batting  with 25 runs that included two sixes – and when Ashley Watkins was run out for 4 runs Messrs Evans and Tennick returned to finish with 35 not out.
 
They ended on 115 for 3, which included 20 threes, 5 fours and 5 sixes but a massive 25 ‘dot balls’ as Scott Griffiths led his team’s bowling 0 for 15, only four of those in his second over where there were only two scoring shots.
 
The Dock A didn’t start well either as Tom Grimwood departed for a duck, caught by Gregg Miller off Steve Murray, quickly followed by Rhys Daley (run out 9) and George Smith, caught by George Evans off Gregg Miller without scoring.
 
Neil Gregory (7) was run out and Glyn Griffiths (4) was caught and bowled by Tennick but Scott Griffiths batted well in two stints, ably assisted by a huge 25 from ‘Mr Extras’ as the Neyland bowlers found it hard to control the swinging ball.
 
Griffiths cleverly increased the tempo late on and there was a moment of drama as John Tennick went down in a heap with a pulled fetlock whilst fielding in the final over but with an earlier 24 ‘dot balls’ The Dock A were always under pressure as 10 threes, 2 fours and 4 sixes kept them in touch – but in the final analysis it was just a little too late as Neyland B had four fielders and a wicket-keeper but managed to edge home!
 


 

Match Two

 

 

Phillips peps Town’s batting

 

Haverfordwest (106 for 6) beat Pembroke Dock B (89 all out) by 17 runs

 
Haverfordwest finished their season on a high note with a win over Pembroke Dock B as they batted first to reach 106 all out and then restricted the opposition to 89 all out as teenager Will Phillips was the mainstay of their batting and veteran Nick Daley featured heavily for The Dock.
 
Phillips opened for The Town and in his two sessions at the crease ended up with 44 before he was run out, a fate that also befell co-opener Jack Peters (14) and No 3 Jason Stobbs (12), plus skipper Chris Phillips (19) who batted as last man and helped them the reasonable tally as there were 12 extras and only Dan Hopley (3) and Peter Soulsby (4) failed to score double figures.
 
For The Dock, Luke Murray (1 for 18), Jamie White (1 for 26) and Peter Kingdom (1 for 19) were the successful bowlers as Haverfordwest were dismissed in nine overs, having struck 20 threes, four fours and 2 sixes but having failed to score from 10 deliveries.
 
Murray managed just a single when The Dock B batted and Adam Phillips (15) and Kingdom (10) were unable to make their usual impact either.
 
Worse was to follow as Jamie White (1) was run out and Connor Carroll (0) was bowled by Jack Peters., leaving Daley stranded but ready to hit out well in The Dock B’s cause.

Peter Soulsby topped the Town’s bowling with 2 for 14 alongside Chris Phillips (1 for 12), including the vital scalp of Daley after he had reached 38 to give his side a glimmer of hope – but then he danced down the track and was stumped by Stobbs to give Haverfordwest a relatively comfortable win in the circumstances.
 

 

Match Three

 

 

Llanrhian’s batting collapse dumps them out of play-offs

 

Llanrhian (37 all out) lost to Neyland (38 for 0) by 6 wickets

 
Llanrhian went into their final group match of the competition knowing that they needed a win over Neyland A or just three bonus points in defeat but they managed neither as they were overwhelmed by opponents who used the heavily swinging ball to reduce them to 37 all out in only 7.5 overs and then smashed the winning runs after only 3.4 overs in their reply.
 
The village side had lost ground over recent weeks and conceded one game which has ultimately cost them dearly – and on this occasion they got off to an awful start as opener Jack Jones was run out for a single and ace run-getter Iwan James joined him back in the hutch in similar fashion for 3 runs before Russell Watkins was well caught by Sean Hannon for a single off Nathan Banner, whose figures of 1 for 7 from two overs showed how hard he was to cope with.
 
Matthew Bennett became the third ‘run out’ victim as Neyland really turned the screw in the field and after 4 overs they stood at 18 for 4 wickets – and skipper Jon Strawbridge was well caught by Andrew Miller to give Patrick Hannon a miserly 1 for 7 haul from his two overs.

That Llanrhian struggled to 37 all out was down to last man Karl Davies as he scored 18 before being bowled by Sean Hannon (who became the third bowler to finish with 1 for 7) as Llanrhian’s total consisted of 20 singles, 3 threes and a four, plus four extras from one bye, one leg bye and two wides!
 
Neyland openers Paul Murray, the league’s top scorer of the season, and skipper Patrick Bellerby made a solid, if unspectacular, start as Jack Jones bowled his two overs for only 11 runs and Karl Davies conceded seven runs off his only over.
 
But then Llanrhian skipper Jon Strawbridge suffered an assault on his bowling spell lasting only four balls as opposite number Bellerby decided it was time to instigate a very early finish as he struck six, four and six from the first three deliveries and then finished things off with a three that took him to 25 not out – with Murray standing quietly at the other end on 8 not out!