Welsh Cup Semi-Final:

 

Neyland (107 for 4) beat Ynysygerwn (106 all out) by six wickets

 
Umpires: Rhodri Jones (Neath) and Peter Williams (Aberdare)
Scorers: John Laugharne (Neyland) and Howard Bowden (Ynysygerwn)
Electronic scoreboard operator: Ian Milsom (Neyland)
 
Congratulations to Neyland on becoming the first Pembrokeshire team to reach the final of the Welsh Cup as they accounted for an Ynysygerwn side whose pedigree could be gauged from the fact that they had appeared in four semi-finals in the last five years.
 
That the game went ahead after so much rain was a tribute to ground staff Rob Bellerby, Ian and Ben Milsom – and after a slightly delayed start it was agreed that 40 overs per team was the order of the day.
 

Hannon and Banner give Neyland a great start

 
After winning the toss and electing to field Neyland skipper Sean Hannon handed his wicket-keeping gloves to Nick Koomen and opened the bowling: making an immediate impact as he took a sharp return catch to shift Aaron Ace for a duck with the score on two.
 
At the other end Nathan Banner bowled four successive maidens to keep the pressure on and returned terrific figures of 1 for 19 in his eight overs as he had Gareth Davies caught by Patrick Bellerby for 3.
 
And when Sean Hannon struck again to remove Adam Bray for 4 runs the visitors were in dire trouble on 16 for 3 as he bowled his eight overs for 2 for 21 and at that stage they had shared 16 overs and conceded only 40 runs as proof of their sustained accuracy and hostility.
 

Miller torments Ynys batsmen

 
Geraint Rees suffered a little punishment when he started but settled into a rhythm beyond his years as he proved a good foil to Andrew Miller’s amazingly accurate slow stuff that resulted in key run-maker Yuvraj Odeja going for a short single and getting run out to some smart fielding by Rees having belted a big six and two fours in his aggressive 25 in a stand with Alex McCormack, who was dropped off Miller’s first ball but had moved to 18 when the slow bowler tempted to add to his three boundaries and was beautifully stumped by Hannon for 18.
 
That happened with the score on 68 and Miller then shifted Adam and Nathan Davies for ducks at the same total with the assistance of catches by Rees and Bellerby.
 
Josh Griffiths helped Ynys move towards three figures but was run out for 23 (four fours) by an Ashley Sutton direct hit and although Gavin John chipped in with a late 17 wickets by Koomen and Rees (another stumping for the ubiquitous Hannon!) saw the visitors end on 106 all out with four overs still unused.
 

Gregg goes early but brother Andrew settles in with Nick Koomen

 
Neyland’s hopes of a solid response were hampered by the early departure of Gregg Miller (2) as he attempted to pull a rising ball from Odeja and gave a return catch to the bowler who is on Leicestershire’s books but is currently studying in Cardiff.
 
Miller has been in good form of late but his brother Andrew joined Koomen and this pair gradually restored the balance in a partnership where Koomen took on the aggressor’s role and Miller did a great job as anchor man in a stand of 71 before Miller was caught low down for a vital 19 by Nathan Davies off Craig Evans.
 

Nick’s 50 settles the issue

 
Koomen marched on to a splendid half century where he was dropped once and had a couple of top edges that evaded fielders but his splendid stroke play saw him hit six fours, two sixes and a three to reach 50 before he also fell to opener Evans as Gareth Davies took the catch at mid-wicket.
 
Ashley Sutton came and went to O’Brien but Nathan Banner was joined by Bellerby in pursuit of the last ten runs and Banner looked good and Bellerby belted Ace’s first ball over the boundary for the winning six to earn Neyland their historic win – and fly the Pembrokeshire Flag with style!
 
SCORECARD:
 
Ynysygerwn Batting:
Gareth Davies ct Patrick Bellerby b Nathan Banner 3
Aaron Ace ct & b Sean Hannon 0
Adam Bray ct Andrew Miller b Sean Hannon 4
Yuvraj Odeja run out 25
Alex McCormack st Sean Hannon b Andrew Miller 18
Josh Griffiths run out 23
Adam Davies ct Geraint Rees b Andrew Miller 0
Nathan Davies ct Patrick Bellerby b Andrew Miller 0
Gavin John b Nick Koomen 17
Craig Evans not out 1
Patrick O’Brien st Sean Hannon b Geraint Rees 1
Extras 14
Total (all out) 106
 
 
Neyland Bowling:
Sean Hannon 8-1-21-2; Nathan Banner 8-4-19-1; Geraint Rees 7-1-29-1; Andrew Miller 8-2-14-3; Nick Koomen 3-1-10-1; Gary Lloyd 2-0-6-0
 
Neyland Batting:
Greg Miller ct & b Yuvraj Odeja 2
Nick Koomen ct Gareth Davies b Craig Evans 50
Andrew Miller ct Nathan Davies b Craig Evans 19
Ashley Sutton ct Gavin John b Patrick O’Brien 6
Nathan Banner not out 8
Patrick Bellerby not out 6
Extras 16
Total (4 wickets) 107
 
Ynysygerwn Bowling:
Yuvraj Odeja 7-1-12-1; Craig Evans 8-2-29-2; Josh Griffiths 4-0-9-0; Gavin John 2-0-5-0; Nathan Davies 1-0-11-0; Patrick O’Brien 5-0-20-1; Gareth Davies 2-0-9-0;  Aaron Ace 0.1-0-6-0