Neyland almost assured of another title – but who will join them in the Welsh Finals?

 
The inclement weather on Monday actually caused the three matches in division one to be postponed – but they will be played soon as organiser Patrick Hannon already had a contingency plan. At the moment only a catastrophe could prevent Neyland being crowned champions for the umpteenth time, with Pembroke and Hook vying for a second place which would also see them join Sean Hannon’s team for the finals, which are scheduled to take place in Neyland!
 
PembrokeshireSport.co.uk missed its regular Monday evening trip to the Neyland Community Hub but at least it gives us a chance to reflect on the campaign now there are only two games each to play – and to sing Patrick’s praises as he has done such a brilliant job since he took over from other stalwarts in Wendy Bradshaw and Peter Davies.
 
His yeoman efforts are really praiseworthy, especially when one considers his family commitments, but as always, he supplied us with all the details we needed and sang the praises of others like Ian Milsom, Johnny and Clarissa Lewis, Sarah Arran, Ginny Davies, Ffion Ashman and Kate Chandler-Hall.
 
They supply the match details and he formulates the leagues – and towards the end of the campaign he actually managed to play twice, when twin brother Sean needed a player at short notice, and showed he is still worth a regular place as he retired on 25 in his only innings and took two wickets for next to nothing in the six overs he bowled!







 
So, after eight of their ten games, the league tables are as follows:
 
1. Neyland 1sts                       125 pts
2. Pembroke                             91 pts
3. Hook                                   86 pts 
4. Cresselly                              76 pts
5. Herbrandston A                   52 pts
6. Seniors A                            17 pts




 
It means  that Neyland need only two points in those two games and they will be worthy champs again with class players like skipper Hannon, Andrew Miller, Ross Hardy, Patrick Bellerby Dai Davies, Jack John and Brad McDermott-Jenkins involved, with Korey and Kacey Arran also helping out if needed.
 
The real battle is for second spot as Pembroke stand five points ahead of Hook, having showed their capabilities by beating Neyland comfortably with their opening bowlers Krunal Patel and Callum Davies arguable the best pair in the league, plus top batsmen in Luke Butler, Jack Harries and Gareth Long, ably assisted by talented teenagers in Jay Sutherland and George Morgan.
 
Hook are the youngest team in the league(Matthew Holder excepted)  and are packed with potential through top players like George James,  Harry Makepeace, Aled, Rhys and Owen Phelps, and teenager Charlie Holder – but they still need to adapt their game to the indoor game in terms of not trying to blast the ball to the back wall all the time – then they will be a heck of a team! Charlie deserves a special mention because at 14 years og=f he features in the top ten with bat and ball!
 
Cresselly are another developing team, oozing with talented teenagers – but they need to learn the indoor skills from Neal Williams (still one of the best exponents of the game) and skipper Tom Arthur.
 
One can feel sorry for Herbrandston because they have had to divide their best six players amongst their A and B teams because of availability – and so their place d in the table does not reflect their available strengths. But skipper Robbie Hood has topped the batting charts and had good support from Callum Power, whilst teenager Dillon Lewis has bowled the most maiden overs!
 
And finally, one can feel even most sorry for the Seniors A team because they lost a number of their best players, who have returned to help out their clubs – nut with Ian Milsom as skipper and then Nick Daley, David Haynes, Alan Webster, Mark Hicks, Jonathan and Andrew Williams, all having the chance to extend their playing days the fact they have a 100% loss record isn’t hugely important!




 
 
 
 Best Batting (so far):
 
Well done to Robbie Hood for topping the batting; a real example of focussing on each ball to build a good score.
 
The top ten are as follows:
 
1. Robbie Hood (Herbrandston) - 206           
2. Luke Butler (Pembroke) – 167
3. Nick Daley (Seniors A) – 153
4. Dai Davies (Neyland) – 151
5. Neal Williams (Cresselly) - 137
6. Sean Hannon (Neyland) - 135
7. George James (Hook) – 122
8. Callum Power (Herbrandston) – 109
9. Charlie Holder (Hook) – 101
10. Jonathan Williams (Seniors A) – 100





 
 
 


















Best Bowling (so far):
 
Congratulations to Krunal Patel, who tops the list with nine wickets from his left-arm swing bowling.
The top ten are as follows:
 
1. Krunal Patel (Pembroke) – 9
2. Jack John (Neyland A) - 7
2. Harry Makepeace (Hook) - 7
4. Jack Harries (Pembroke) – 6
4. Charlie Holder (Hook) – 6
6. Tom Arthur (Cresselly) – 5
6. Ceri Brace (Pembroke) – 5
6. Lewis Jones (Cresselly) – 5
6. Andrew Miller (Neyland A) – 5
10. Nick Daley (Seniors A) - 4