Neyland A are county indoor champions - again!
Pembroke Indoor Cricket 2020:
Umpire: Alan Hansen
Scorer: Ian Milsom
Venue: Tenby Leisure Centre
Neyland will again represent Pembrokeshire in the Welsh Indoor Cricket Finals this Sunday (2nd February) after playing really well against their B-team counterparts and old rivals Haverfordwest.
Sean Hannon’s experienced side smashed their B team by a massive 86 runs and gained an unexpectedly comfortable win against Dai Davies’s Town team as Nick Koomen showed why he is the king of indoor batting with a combined tally of 115 runs without getting out in either match – whilst Ross Hardy, the newcomer in their line-up topped their bowling attack with hauls of 4 for 3 and 1 for 8, with a rare maiden over in both games.
Match One:
Neyland A (143 for 3) beat Neyland B (57 for 5) by 86 runs
Batting first against their own ‘B’ string, Neyland’s senior side raced away from the outset as open Patrick Bellerby smashed a speed 27 before retiring and partner Nick Koomen did the same thing, both making their usual impact with their judgement of quick singles and their ability to punish anything loose.
But Gavin Rowlands, Ross Hardy and Patrick Hannon all fell quickly to good fielding by Nathan Sutton and Sam Laugharne – but it meant that Koomen was speedily recalled to action as skipper Sean Hannon belted 17 not out in support of Koomen’s terrific 78 not out, which was liberally sprinkled with sixes, fours and threes as he led his team to a massive 143 for 3 from their allotted ten overs.
Neyland B struggled from the outset against tight bowling and excellent fielding as Ben Mathias-Milsom was bowled by Ross Hardy and Callum Power was neatly stumped by Sean Hannon off his brother Patrick’s bowling.
Hardy, who had played indoor cricket ‘up the line’ then marked his Neyland debut with a remarkable spell of four balls where he shifted George Evans, Sam Laugharne and Liam Rees in the space of four balls to finish with a 4 for 3 haul, which was followed by a rare maiden over.
Only Nathan Sutton ever looked settled with an excellent 36 not out that included two sixes and a four in successive balls, alongside 11 extras in a final total of 57 for 5
Neyland A Batting:
Nick Koomen not out 78
Patrick Bellerby retired 27
Gavin Rowlands run out 0
Ross Hardy run out 2
Sean Hannon not out 17
Patrick Hannon run out 0
Extras 19
Total (3 wickets) 143
Neyland B Bowling:
Liam Rees 2-0-26-0; Sam Laugharne 2-0-21-0; Nathan Sutton 2-0-25-0; George Evans 2-0-28-0; Ben Mathias-Milsom 2-0-32-0
Neyland B Batting:
Callum Power st Sean Hannon b Patrick Hannon 2
Ben Mathias-Milsom b Ross Hardy 0
Nathan Sutton not out 36
George Evans b Ross Hardy 8
Sam Laugharne b Ross Hardy 0
Liam Rees b Ross Hardy 0
Extras 11
Total (5 wickets) 57
Neyland A Bowling:
Patrick Hannon 2-0-6-1; Ross Hardy 2-1-3-4; Gavin Rowlands 2-0-17-0, Patrick Bellerby 2-0-13-0; Nick Koomen 2-0-7-0
Match Two:
Haverfordwest (100 all out) beat Neyland B (25 all out) by 75 runs
Neyland’s ‘B’ team suffered a second defeat as they went down to a 75-run defeat against Haverfordwest, who batted first to reach 100 all out in 8.5 overs before blasting their opponents for a paltry 25.
But the match started with a bang for Nyland ‘B’ as Ben Mathias-Milsom clean bowled Simon Holiday for a first-ball duck, the first time this indignity has been inflicted on one of the top scorers ever in local indoor matches!
Jake Merry was bowled by the same bowler for only six runs but The Town’s new skipper Dai Davies put his team back on an even key with a classy 49 from two starts, the second after only Chris Phillips (20) managed double figures against useful bowling by Sam Laugharne and Mathias-Milsom with respective spells of 2 for 16 and 2 for 19.
Holliday gained ample revenge, however, as his slow left-arm stuff shifted Mathias-Milsom, Sutton and George Evans at a cost of a two singles, with Merry getting rid of Power (6) alongside Rees to earn figures of 2 for 2.
Laugharne managed to belt a four and six in his 13 before Merry’s good catch gave Dai Davies a wicket as Neyland ‘B’ managed to use only five overs.
Haverfordwest Batting:
Simon Holliday b Ben Mathias-Milsom 0
Jake Merry b Ben Mathias-Milsom 6
Dai Davies run out 49
Lee Summons st Callum Power b Sam Laugharne 9
Jack Scriven ct Nathan Sutton b Sam Laugharne 5
Chris Phillips ct George Evans b Nathan Sutton 20
Extras 11
Total (All out) 100
Neyland B Bowling:
Ben Mathias-Milsom 2-0-19-2; George Evans 2-0-20-2; Sam Laugharne 2-0-16-2; Liam Rees 1-0-11-0; Nathan Sutton 1.5-0-25.1
Neyland B Batting:
Callum Power
Ben Mathias-Milsom
Nathan Sutton
George Evans
Sam Laugharne
Liam Rees
Extras 5
Total (All out) 25
Haverfordwest Bowling:
Lee Summons 1-0-4-0; Simon Holliday 1-0-2-3; Jake Merry 1-0-2-2; Chris Phillips 1-0-5-0; Dai Davies 1-0-14-0
Match Three:
Neyland A (97 for 4) beat Haverfordwest (48 all out) by 49 runs
The final saw Neyland ‘A’ aiming for their fourth win on the trot and their 11th in the last 13 seasons against a Town team which were winners on the other two occasions.
Haverfordwest must have been relatively satisfied to restrict Neyland ‘A’ to 97 for 4 after Koomen (37 not out) and Bellerby (32) before he was caught and bowled by Jake Merry.
Nathan Banner chipped in with ten runs and skipper Hannon was caught by Holliday off Dai Davies first ball – with Patrick Bellerby run out by Merry for a duck and Hardy adding six not out late on.
Haverfordwest needed a similarly good start but lost Merry and Davies for seven runs apiece, with Holliday’s departure, run out by Patrick Hannon for 18, boding ill for their chances.
Summons and Phillips failed to score as Sean Hannon claimed a good catch and stumping and Jack Scriven was run out for nine runs to leave Haverfordwest on a very disappointing 48 all out.
The presentations were conducted by Paul Webb, in his final assignment as a top-class county chairman, presenting the silverware to Neyland skipper Sean Hannon which was sponsored by The Pembrokeshire Cricket Groundsmen’s Association, with their representative Will Newell in attendance.
Paul rightly congratulated everyone for their part in the matches, especially umpire Allan Hansen, scorer Ian Milsom, Martin Jones and Peter Davies, who organised the games.
So this Sunday (2nd March) will see Neyland go to the Sophia Gardens’ indoor school in Cardiff as the county’s representatives against Newport and Ynystawe, hoping to start off another trek to Lords in the process.
Neyland A Batting:
Nick Koomen not out 37
Patrick Bellerby ct & b Lee Summons 32
Nathan Banner b Jake Merry 10
Sean Hannon ct Simon Holliday b Dai Davies 0
Ross Hardy not out 6
Patrick Hannon run out 0
Extras 12
Total (4 wickets) 97
Haverfordwest Bowling:
Lee Summons 2-0-18-1; Simon Holliday 2-0-18-0; Jake Merry 2-0-17-1; Chris Phillips 2-0-22-0; Dai Davies 2-0-19-1
Haverfordwest Batting:
Simon Holliday run out 18;
Jake Merry b Patrick Hannon 7
Dai Davies run out 7
Lee Summons ct Sean Hannon b Ross Hardy 0
Chris Phillips st Sean Hannon b Patrick Hannon 0
Jack Scriven run out 9
Extras 7
Total (all out) 48
Neyland A Bowling:
Nathan Banner 1-0-6-0; Nick Koomen 1.1-0-5-0; Patrick Hannon 2-0-15-2; Ross Hardy 2-0-8-1; Patrick Bellerby 2-0-13-0