PHOTO:
Ashley Sutton cracked 34 runs for champions Neyland

 

Division One:

 

Neyland slam The Town – and pouch the section silverware!

Neyland (224 for 6) beat Haverfordwest (110 all out) by 114 runs

Umpires: Arthur Brady & Dave Bonner
Scorers: John Laugharne & Jayne Cole

Neyland are deserved champions of Pembrokeshire Cricket for 2018 after their easy win over Haverfordwest saw them benefit from Cresselly’s loss at home to Lawrenny – and belatedly receive the silverware from county club chairman Paul Webb as reward for their self-belief.

“Never say never,” was skipper Sean Hannon’s mantra and his side responded by playing superbly against fellow contenders Haverfordwest and then waiting for the good news that eventually emanated from the other side of the Cleddau Bridge.

Asked to bat first, Neyland grafted hard with Nick Koomen leading the way with 47 and assisted by Gregg Miller (10), Ashley Sutton (34), Nathan Banner (18), Patrick Bellerby (37) and Scott Jones, who showed the depth of the home batting with a late 41 not out.

For Haverfordwest the wickets were claimed by Adam James (1 for 35), Simon Holliday (2 for 45) and Kieran O’Connor (2 for 47) but their cause wasn’t helped by having two key bowlers removed from their attack for bowling high-pitched deliveries – and somehow conceding a huge 36 runs from extras!

Neyland’s determination in the field was summarised by a splendid boundary catch from Gregg Miller and tight bowling from their ‘spin twins’ Andrew Miller and Gary Lloyd after tight opening spells from Nick Koomen and Nathan Banner.

Ben Field (25) and Dai Davies top-scored for The Town with 25 and 26 respectively, followed by 15 apiece from S Holliday and O’Connor but the rest of their batting line-up was mesmerised by Andrew Miller (5 for 47) and Lloyd (4 for 16).

“We have worked hard together all this campaign and fought our way through our bad patch mid-season to take the trophy,” said Hannon, “and now we have one more challenge to take on this coming Sunday when we travel to Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, to take on Ammanford in the Welsh Cup Final.”
 
 

Lawrenny double shoots down Cresselly’s hopes

Cresselly (228 all out) lost to Lawrenny (252 for 8) by 28 runs

Umpires: Trefor Evans & Dave Brandon
Scorers: Teagan Cartwright & Malcolm Thomas

The destination of the James Morris Memorial Cup was decided as late as 8.05pm on the final day of the 2018 season as Lawrenny completed the double over near neighbours Cresselly and deprived the home side of the league and Harrison-Allen Bowl double at the same time.

Put in to bat, the impulsion for their huge score was provided by Brad McDermott-Jenkins, who showed his full array of strokes in a magnificent innings of 97 which included ten sixes and a couple of boundaries before he went for one maximum too many and was bowled by Ryan Lewis.

McDermott-Jenkins shared stands of 80 with skipper Joe Kidney (21) and Steve Lewis (51 not out, including three fours and a six), whilst James Phillips (24) also made a useful contribution as Dan James (1 for 58), Lewis (3 for 51), Simon Cole (1 for 39) claimed wickets for Cresselly.

It was clear from the start of the Cresselly innings that they were still very much in the hunt for the silverware as Dan Sutton (31), Adam Chandler (64) and Iwan Izzard (42) gave them the hoped-for platform but they lost wickets at key times and only Simon ‘Snowy’ Cole (22) and Dan James (20) made useful contributions thereafter against Ryan Morton (3 for 40), Simon ‘Chief’ Cole (2 for 44) and McDermott-Jenkins (3 for 77).

As a result, Cresselly fell 29 runs short of victory and county club chairman Paul Webb had to drive across to Neyland to present the trophy there, leaving Lawrenny to celebrate their double and Cresselly to rue the loss of theirs.
 

PHOTO:
Brad McDermott-Jenkins stars with bat and ball for Lawrenny

 

Kilgetty hopes evaporate with defeat at Spring Field

Whitland (184 for 7) beat Kilgetty (181 for 9) by 3 wickets

Umpires: Allan Hansen & Denis Chiffi
Scorers: Ann-Marie Jenkins & Hazel Poole

Whitland’s hopes of a win at Whitland to ensure their status in the top echelon of Pembrokeshire Cricket were ruined as an excellent all-round performance by Matthew ‘Titch’ Davies was a feature of Whitland’s win.

He bowled well to claim 3 for 36 when Kilgetty batted first and then top-scored with 59 as his side successfully chased down the opposition’s decent score of 181 for 9.

Kurtis Marsh was again the top Kilgetty run-maker with ten fours and two sixes in his 58, assisted by brother Kyle (32), skipper Ross Hardy (16), Toby Poole (17), Daf Bowen (16) and Jack Parkinson (12) – but no-one was able to stay long enough to build an insurmountable target as Davies was joined by skipper Iestyn Scourfield (2 for 32) Jack Bowen (3 for 32) and Nathan Evans (1 for 34).

When Whitland batted Davies had five fours and a six en route to his half century and Steff James (41), Gethin Scourfield (30) and Nathan Evans (25) also batted well against Christian Phillips (3 for 34), Jack Parkinson (3 for 33) and Kurtis Marsh (1 for 48) – and they still had three wickets and two overs to spare to take them to a creditable fourth place in the table, whilst Kilgetty made the ‘Dreaded Drop’ into the second division by a tantalising three points!
 

PHOTO:
Matthew Davies - runs and wickets for Whitland all-rounder

 

Burton battle hard – and preserve their place

Burton (184 for 5) beat St Ishmaels (181 for 6) by 5 wickets

Umpires: John Williams & Richard Merriman
Scorers: Wendy Bradshaw and Pat Williams (both St Ishmaels)

Burton produced one of their best performances of the season to beat St Ishmaels at Oatfield Park as they successfully chased down St Ishmaels challenging score and ensure they stat in the top echelon as their reward.

Put in to bat, Tish had good batting from Peter Bradshaw (45), skipper Phil Cockburn (44) in a stand of 73, Dan Richards (14) and Harry Nicholas (11), but the late increase in the scoring rate owed much to the powerful hitting of Andrew Palmer, whose undefeated 51 included six fours and a six. For Burton, the successful bowlers were Johnny Scale (2 for 25), Morgan Scale (3 for 50) and Jack Davies (1 for 25).

Burton needed a very good innings to keep them in touch and they got just that from Toby Hayman, whose quality 90 included 12 fours and a six and inevitably formed the backbone of the innings where brother Luke (13), Morgan Scale (11) and Robbie Neil (12) managed double figures against Brennan Devonald (1 for 33), Palmer (2 for 37) and Andrew Pawlett (2 for 43).

Burton also had another ace up their sleeve in the batting stakes because Jonathan Venables used his experience to good effect with an unbeaten 45 that steered his side to victory before news came through that they were safe in the top echelon.
 

PHOTO:
Toby Hayman - was top scorer for triumphant Burton

 

PHOTO:
Liam James - batting resistance from Johnston's Liam James

 

Skipper Davies steers Llangwm to victory

Llangwm (112 for 1) beat Johnston (111 all out) by 9 wickets

Umpires: Steve Blowes & Les Hastings
Scorer: Gracie Morris (Johnston)

Llangwm finished in sixth place in Division One as reward for beating near neighbours Johnston, who completed a difficult season still seeking a first success and now back in the second division for the next campaign.

But the Glebelands Gang deserve praise for never giving up in any match and enjoying themselves as they won the toss on 12 successive matches and elected to bat every time.

On this occasion they had a top score of 30 from Chris Goodridge, assisted by Liam James (24), Kevin Roberts (19) – with John Summons bravely batting in a plaster late on after breaking a bone in his wrist from a too-powerful swing of a club in a midweek golf tournament!

Noah Davies (2 for 11), Phil Llewellyn (1 for 10), skipper Ollie Davies ((2 for 27) and especially Matthew Kiff (3 for 3); whilst his brother Joe had no reward for some ‘pied’ that he tossed up.

Chasing 111 to win was never likely to stretch Llangwm’s batting line-up and that’s how it turned out as Jonathan Twigg departed for 10, bowled by Keegan Codd, but Noah Davies (three fours and a six in his 37 not out) and skipper Ollie Davies 52 not out, including seven boundaries and two sixes) saw them home with ease.
 

PHOTO:
Sean Williams in action for Haverfordwest 2nds

 

Division Two: 

 

Carew canter home on The Racecourse

Haverfordwest 2nds (90 all out) lost to Carew (94 for 1) by 9 wickets

Umpires: Jonathan Willington & Gareth Brace
Scorers: Kelly Williams & Julie Davies

Carew set the seal on their successful season in Division Two with an easy win over hosts Haverfordwest 2nds, who have been in good form of late but conceded the double over the runaway section champions after batting first and slumping to 14 for 4.

Tom Davies and Shaun Whitfield were the early strike bowlers for Carew as Davies bowled his pace stuff down the slope to eventually return figures of 3 for 18, whilst Whitfield showed what a good all-rounder he is by switching from pace to spin and causing such consternation that he ended up with 4 for 24 alongside fellow slow bowler Ceri Brace (3 for 12).

For The Town there were cameos from Chris Phillips (24), Evan Watts (12), Nigel Morgan (10) and George Thomas (14) but a final tally of 90 all out showed how no-ne was able to take the Carew attack by the scruff of the neck and shake it.

Tom Davies and Ian Sefton got Carew off to a speedy start in a stand of 32 before the latter departed for 19, removed by the artful Clive Tucker.

Nick Scourfield joined Davies and they added a speedy unbeaten 62 run stand, with Scourfield contributing 21 and Davies belting four fours and three sixes en route to 40 in their 9-wicket success.
 
 

Seasiders return to top section

Saundersfoot (196 all out) beat Cresselly 2nds (109 all out) by 87 runs

Umpire: Tony Waldeis
Scorers: Adge John & Des Brace

Saundersfoot rounded off an excellent season with another win that confirmed their right to promotion as they comfortable accounted for Cresselly Seconds after they had amassed 196 all out and then dismissed the opposition for only 109.

Nick Cope lead The Seasiders’ batting with a powerhouse innings of  64 that contained six sixes and James Caine included another four maximums in his 38 alongside Steve Cook (30), Gareth Edwards (27) and Neil Powling (12).

For Cresselly there was an excellent haul of 4 for 14 from Richard Harries, whilst Stefan Jenkins (2 for 10), Matthew Lewis (2 for 53) and Josh Lewis (1 for 44) also claimed wickets.

But Freddie Hancock (26), Matthew Webb (18) and Phil Williams (16) were the only Cresselly batsmen in double figures against Kevin Sykes (4 for 29), skipper Sam Franklin (3 for 28), Nick Cope (2 for 11) and Powling (1 for 22) as The Seasiders won with plenty in hand.
 

PHOTO:
Kevin Sykes - bowled well for Saundersfoot

  
 

Hook win well as Whitland Seconds go down

Hook (152 for 4) beat Whitland 2nds (150 for 7) by 6 wickets

Umpires: Mervyn John & Bob Elliott
Scorers: Phil Griffiths & Rob Benjamin

Whitland Seconds had managed just one win all season and their visit to Hook saw another defeat as the home side ended up in fourth place whilst Whitland move into the third division to regroup.

But a feature of the visitors’ performance was the all-round display from Jacob Owen, who plays for the club’s under 13s and scored an impressive 38 alongside his dad Rob (20), Wayne Jones (39, including three fours and two sixes), James Thomas (19) and Phil Oeppen (15) against the Hook bowling of Brennan Martin (2 for 39), Chris Holder (2 for 11), Aled Phelps (3 for 38) and Bradley Flood (1 for 11).

Then Jacob Owen picked up 2 for 15 in his short bowling stint as Stuart Harries (1 for 30) and James Thomas (1 for 26) were the other successful bowlers but another talented young player in George James struck 11 fours and three sixes in his terrific 77 for Hook.

He had support from Dai Hopkins (four sixes in his 33 as part of a 104 stand with James) and Aled Phelps (19) as Hook reached their target in only 21.3 overs.


PHOTO:
Whitland 2nds' Paul Oeppen bowled
 

Beard helps keep Llechryd safe

Llechryd (145 for 2) beat Narberth (144 for 9) by 8 wickets

Umpires: Simon Richards & Richard Scriven
Scorers: Will Newell & Rhian Howell

An excellent all-round performance from Rhys Beard helped secure Llechryd’s second-division status as he claimed 5 for 41 in his 12-over stint against Narberth and then top scored with 51 not out as his side beat a team which at one stage looked hot favourites for promotion but lost their way and had to settle for a distant third place.

Loui Davies again looked a talented teenager with Narberth’s top score of 55 (six boundaries) whilst Richard Adams (30), Owen Richards (14), Mike Johns (11) and Jordan Howell (3) were their others in double figures against Beard, Peter Betterley (1 for 28) and Mike Godfrey (2 for 24) in a final tally of 144 for 9.

Mike Carter (34) and Steve Smith (21) provided the platform for Llechryd before beard belted eight fours and a big six alongside Andrew Fletcher (22 before he had to go off to milk his cows!) and Llechryd were worthy winners in only 31 overs.
 

PHOTO:
Rhys - Beard - took five crucial wickets for Llechryd

 

Stackpole win well but are relegated

Stackpole (179 all out) beat Pembroke (111 all out) by 68 runs

Umpires: Huw Davies & Sutha Siva

Stackpole were easy winners of their local derby against Pembroke but were still relegated, with Pembroke ending their season in a disappointing seventh place as they have rarely looked in confident mode during the second half of the season.

Simon Bevan again topped the Stackpole batting as reward for regularly travelling down from Cardiff, his 53 joined by 29 from Richard Simpson as Jonathan Rogers was the pick of the Pembroke bowlers with a 4 for 33 haul.

Rogers also contributed 24 along with Paul White (25) when Pembroke batted but good bowling by Iwan McDonald (5 for 33) saw Stackpole shoot them out for only 111 and a seventh defeat alongside only four wins in the campaign.