Division One:
 
The Rooks and Doves are flying high at the top of the tree!

 
In this week’s round of games in Division One, near neighbours Carew and Cresselly remain undefeated at the top of the table, with six wins apiece but The Rooks two points ahead of The Doves – and with Saundersfoot showing their all-round strength in third by easily beating Neyland and pushing the current champs down to fourth.
 
At the other end of the table, is Llangwm, having lost all their matches with a depleted squad, followed by Whitland, Burton and Haverfordwest who are already sitting uneasily above them and with Lawrenny in sixth slot and Herbrandston showing they can cope at this level by winning three of their games and their young players beginning to blossom.
 
BURTON started really well against CAREW, with half centuries for openers Martin James and Jack Davies but only Dan Ridge managed double figures thereafter   as James Hinchliffe grabbed 4 for 26 and there were two wickets apiece for Shaun Whitfield and Noah Davies in a final score of 160 all out.
Tim Hicks and Whitfield also contributed runs alongside 29 from ‘Mr Extras’ so that although Jack Davies, Gavin Campbell and Luke Hayman shared six wickets for Burton it was the home side who eased home by three wickets with 12 overs to spare.
 
CRESSELLY put basement battlers LLANGWM in and they mustered 88 thanks to a battling innings of 41 from Iwan Griffiths as Cresselly skipper Tom Arthur (4 for 36) and canny veteran slow bowler Christian Phillips (3 for 7) broke the back of the Llangwm innings.
Such a low total was unlikely to trouble The Doves’ powerful batting line-up as Morgan Lewis (20) and gritty opener Phil Williams (36 not out) and Charlie Arthur (29 not out) followed his earlier two wickets as Cresselly raced home, with Mike Williams (1 for 42) grabbing the sole Llangwm wicket.
 
SAUNDERSFOOT were asked to bat first against NEYLAND and the Mansbridge boys again featured strongly as Tom (77) and John (60) took them to a big score of 214 for 6 with minor assistance from Dan Ridge and Nick Cope against Sean Hannon (2 for 27) and Welsh seniors’ international Alan Webster (2 for 16).
Tom Mansbridge (2 for 16) and Cope (3 for 21 led The Seasiders attack and Neil Powling (2 for 1) finished matters off as Webster was top scorer on 25 as Neyland were shot out for only 104 runs.
 
WHITLAND were asked to bat first at HERBRANDSTON and a powerful innings of 63 by Gopal Ramasamy, supported by cameos by Kevin Pearce (20), Jonathan Thomas and Geraint Jones alongside 25 extras saw them reach a respectable 189 for 8 as Harry Nicholas and Dean John led the Herbie Bowling.
But then Nathan Banner came in after his side had lost a very early wicket and showed what an all-round talent he is by stroking 68 not out as Charlie Malloy (52) gave terrific support in a three-figure stand before Jack Nicholas (22 not out) helped Banner stroll to victory by eight wickets in only 34 overs as 48 extras (an amazing 41 of them from wides) certainly helped!
 
HAVERFORDWEST were another team to struggle as only Jerome Merry and Chris Phillips managed double figures in a paltry score of 54 all out against LAWRENNY as Rob Williams (4 for 27), Ryan Morton (4 for 17) and Jamie Lewis (2 for 5) shot them out.
Fin Atyeo shifted Oscar Lewis at the start of the visitors’ innings but then Joe Kidney (15 not out) and Troy Purslowe (29 not out) took them home in the eighth over before the teams then enjoyed a very early post-match tea!
 
 
 

Division Two:
 
Narberth stay top as Pembroke, St Ishmaels and Hook give chase

 
Narberth remain top of Division Two as they showed their determination to make a quick return to the top flight with a sixth successive win, whilst Pembroke lost ground as they went down by 16 runs against Cresselly Seconds, with St Ishmaels convincingly beating Hook in their top-four clash – whilst at the foot of the table Burton Seconds (48 points) and Llanrhian (40 points) who are already adrift of Llechryd and Cresselly Seconds above them!
 
NARBERTH found stronger resistance than they might have expected by the league tables but  they batted first and built a commanding 257 for 4 before restricting LLANRHIAN to 164 for 8.
Jamie McCormack (70), Loui Davies )56), Shay Norcross, Lewis Hough and Kyle Williams, with a bruising late unbeaten 60, claimed the bulk of the runs as Jack Jones, Gwynant Watson, Rhodri Owen and Ninja Prabath claimed a wicket each for Llanrhian.
Russell Watkins (51) again led the Llanrhian batting, with support from Chris Couzens, Jack Jones and Fraser Watson – but there was 3 for 30 spells each for Lewis Jones and Matthew Jones ensured that the league leaders stay well clear at the top.
 
 
ST ISHMAELS are beginning to recover from a couple of early defeats and played really well to beat fellow-promotion hopefuls HOOK with 7 wickets and 23 overs to spare.
Rhys Phelps (32), Brennan Martin  (20) and Callum James (11 not out) were the only hook batsmen to manage double figures as Steve Williams (5 for 24) mesmerised them with his slow stuff alongside son Thomas, Jon Pawlett and another canny spinner in left-armer Andrew Pawlett (3 for 25).
Brennan Devonald and John Pawlett provided little cameos but it was Phil Llewellyn who was in dominant mode with a stylish 68 not out that contained 13 boundaries as Tish won at a canter.
 
 
PEMBROKE lost valuable ground as CRESSELLY SECONDS batted first and reached a challenging tally of 222 for 8 as teenagers Griff Jenkins and Lewis Mason struck half centuries and found support from old timers Matthew Lewis and Neal Williams, with Ceri Brace (4 for 44) leading Pembroke’s attack along with a wicket each for Billy Wood, Jack Harries and George Norman.
Pembroke have a strong batting line-up and there were useful contributions by  skipper Harries, Gareth Long, Krunal Patel and Phil Hay as Andy Tait top-scored with 51.
But no-one was able to build a vital big score against Mason, Iwan Thomas, Griff Jenkins and Ollie Arthur- and Pembroke finished tantalisingly short in a high-scoring tussle.
 
JOHNSTON are continuing to do well in the section, boosted by the return of former player Steve Mills Jnr and he played a significant part in their win at LLECHRYD, who were bowled out for  115 as they had cameos from Joe Mansfield, John Curran, Jac Davies, Florian Cartwright, Jac Dow and Andrew ‘Drewy’ Davies (not out at the end) but no-one was able to build a really significant score as Mills, Liam and Gary James all grabbed two wickets in support of Keegan Codd (3 for 21).
Then Lewis Boswell (40) and Lee Summons (28) got the ‘Glebelands Gang’ off to just the start they needed then ‘Millsy’ saw them home with a typically robust 40 not out as his side picked up the points after only 17.3 overs.
 
And finally, CAREW SECONDS were far too strong for their counterparts in BURTON SECONDS, who were asked to bat first and could only muster 60 runs as Barry Evans bowled his tantalising eight overs, which included five maidens, to return figures of 4 for 9 alongside another real battler in Sam Harts (3 for 12), George Waters, Corey Hall and Joel Read.
Oan Roberts and Joe John were the only Burton batsmen to manage double figures and Jack Bevan claimed their only wicket, that of Corey Hall (12) before Ian Sefton (21 not out) and Luke Hicks (24 not out) gave the Rooks reserves an easy win.
 
 

Other Divisions - Performances of Note:

 
Congratulations to bothers Scott Delaney (82 not out) and Mattie Delaney (56 not out) as they helped Fishguard beat Kilgetty, outshining dad Nigel with the bat, with Robson Walkey (Hundleton) grabbing 5 for 29 and helping his team into third place behind Pembroke Dock, for whom the new slim-lined Nick Daley is continuing to do well at Imble Lane.
 
Ava Midgley was the best female player as she supported Robson with splendid figures of 3 for 11 – so well done Ava!
Steve Durston made a return to Pembroke with 5 for 16 and Dai Rees (72) batted really well for Carew Thirds. Mike Bailey also caught the eye for Saundersfoot Seconds with his 6 for 22 haul against Haverfordwest Thirds.