Neyland start as favourites but Narberth
could upset the form-book

By Fraser Watson

 
Many will assume that Neyland are the clear favourites as the Division One side, but it won’t be as simple as that.
 
Certainly, in terms of experience and know-how on this stage, there’s little comparison. For all the talk of the players they’ve had unavailable this season, Neyland are still the most well-drilled and disciplined side around. It's Sean Hannon, they have a captain who knows how to guide a side under pressure, and the expectations or pressure won’t remotely faze them.
 
The semi-final win over Tish showed that they are still a team that knows how to get things done, even when up against it. In Paul Murray, Dai Davies, Andrew Miller and if available, Patrick Bellerby and Ashley Sutton, they have players who have been man of the match in this final before. My hunch is that experience, as well as the fact that this is still a team laced with quality, will see them through.
 

Narberth are now a first division side

 
But Narberth have the players to hurt them. Jamie McCormack, Loui Davies, Lewis Hough - just some of the names who can turn the game if they come off. They have beaten Saundersfoot and Burton on the way to this final, so forget their Division Two status. This is a team with Division One quality.
 
A host of these players were involved when they lost to Neyland in the DR Morris final two years ago, and that experience should help them. But the pressures and frenzy of a Harrison-Allen Bowl final are like nothing else in Pembrokeshire cricket, and they cannot afford to lose focus or belief at any point.
 
If their top order comes off in both innings, though, then we could have a hell of a game on our hands.
 
Neyland have won all seven Bowl finals since losing to Cresselly in 2009. That stat alone makes it hard not to back them. Narberth, however, will be happy to be considered underdogs.
 
It has the makings of an intriguing final. Let's hope we get one.



 

It’s Neyland for me

by Gordon Thomas

 
The Harrison-Allen Bowl takes place this Saturday which features hot favourites Neyland, who are experienced campaigners, as they take on underdogs from Division Two Narberth at Cresselly Cricket Club.
 
It’s been a good while since a Division Two team has reached the final, Narberth have enjoyed promotion this season back to the top flight after they finished second in the table to champions St Ishmaels.
 
However, Neyland finished mid-table in Division One and just about scraped past Tish in a tight semi-final clash to reach the final.
 

Neyland still has big match players

 
However, don’t be fooled into thinking Neyland’s players are past their best, many of their players can still produce a moment of magic with plenty of potential match winners in their line-up. I think over two innings Narberth may suffer a little with pre-final nerves and they certainly will have to be at their very best if in my humble opinion they have any chance of causing what would be a major upset.
 
Neyland’s skipper Sean Hannon’s men have a vast amount of experience in their line-up, both on the batting and bowling front.
 
Equally, captain Lewis Hough’s Narberth outfit have some decent batsmen and also their bowling attack is extremely useful. So best of luck to both teams, may the best side win.
 
I’m not one to sit on the fence, I just hope the final lives up to its billing as a I predict Neyland to win comfortably and incredibly pick up yet another Harrison-Allen Bowl.



 

Could this be the year of the underdog?

By Bill Carne

 
As far as I know, there has never been a team from the second division which has won the coveted Harrison-Bowl so on paper Narberth’s chances look slim, especially over two innings each, where turning out for a second innings after a tea break has proved difficult for some teams.
 
 Neyland have won the Bowl on numerous occasions in the last decade, with three victories in the last five years, so on paper they should be hot favourites, especially since four of their top regulars from recent years have made sudden come-backs to boost their fortunes here after an average season where they only finished in mid-table after being champions in 2024.
 
And yet I can’t help wondering if that is their Achilles’ heel because as good as Patrick Bellerby, Ashley Sutton, Patrick Hannon and Brad McDermott-Jenkins are (they could make it with any club in the county) it will be interesting to see whether their natural class will overcome their inevitable ring-rustiness!
 
It is sometimes said that a club’s name seems to be written on a trophy almost from the outset and this could certainly be the case for Neyland because all the other top teams cut each other’s’ throats in the one half of the draw before Narberth kicked out Saundersfoot after Carew, Cresselly, Lawrenny, Whitland had fallen by the wayside.
 
This could be added to by the fact that Neyland strolled into the last four against another second team in St Ishmaels and seemed down and out as they could only muster 84 – but bowled out Tish for 83 to scrape into the final!
 

Neyland experience should be a huge factor

 
Neyland have powerful batters like the four already mentioned but even more so in Ross Hardy, the real Neyland ‘danger man’, Paul Murray and Dai Davies, plus the Miller brothers Gregg and Andrew – and another measure of their power can be gauged from the fact that at least half their team have won the ‘Man of the Match’ award, with Sutton achieving it twice!
 
In sharp contrast, only a few of the Narberth players have been to the final before – and that was 17 years ago, but they have Lewis Hough as a promising young skipper, Loui Davies as one of most in-form batsmen in the county, plus the likes of Jamie McCormack, Ben Quartermaine, Ben Hughes and Matthew Johns as others to watch with bat or ball. I was super-impressed by Shay Norcross in the semi-final as he took the Saundersfoot early bowlers to the cleaners and if he fires on all cylinders it could prove a vital factor, especially if he can do it over two innings!
 
So, on paper a Neyland win seems a bit of a certainty and yet, and yet – I have a sneaky feeling that this could be the year of the underdog and so I’ll plump for Narberth, although my head says I should join Gordon Thomas in picking the favourites - but at least we haven’t sat on the fence like the ‘Young Shaver from St Davids’ as the other regular member of our team of the  three making a forecast here!