Winning draw sees Whitland stay up (From Western Telegraph)

Winning draw sees Whitland stay up

Whitland (191 for 6 dec) drew with Burton (99 for 9)

Umpires: Ray Kane and Malcolm Mills Scorers: Nina Wright and Stuart Sharpe

Whitland escaped relegation from the top echelon by the narrowest of margins as they managed to play their home match against Burton, had by far the better of the draw as the visitors last pair batted 17 overs - and accrued 24 points to take them one ahead of neighbours Narberth, who had a frustrating afternoon since their game at Lawrenny was off In fact, all the other matches in the section were cancelled but the Whitland contingent spent the morning working on the pitch and their efforts were rewarded when play started - and they were asked to bat first by Burton skipper Richard Hayman when they clearly were hoping to bat second so that they at least know what target they had to chase to stay in the First Division.

Their first aim had to be to set as big a score as possible for the already-doomed opposition and after losing David Lee to a Mark Griffiths full toss with the score on six they gradually raised the tempo as skipper Paul Webb and Paul Davies added 55 runs in decent time.

But then within the space of three runs Davies was removed by a Ross Edwards catch in the cover area for a speedy 35 (two sixes and four fours) by James Scale and Webb was shifted by Johnnie Scale for 19 (two fours).

Their demise brought together Danny Griffiths, recently promoted from the seconds, and Mark Lee, who also scored 19 (two boundaries) before being bowled by James Scale with the score on 108.

But Griffiths provided the inspiration for a big score as he latched onto anything loose and despatched it to the fence, adding another vital 41 with Colin John before the 'little general' departed for a supportive 16 - and Griffiths was finally caught by Rob Neil from a top edge after smashing six fours and four big sixes en route to 75, his best score in the top echelon.

Burton finally declared with one of their allotted overs to spare, their 191 total a challenging one for Burton had a tidy spell from Kevin Roberts and four wickets shared by the Scale brothers but they had tea knowing they still needed to bat well against Whitland, with Webb and his troops very much aware that only a win would do in their quest to leap-frog over neighbours Narberth and condemn their closest rivals to the big drop in their place.

Burton struggled from the outset against the combined spin and pace attack of Paul Webb and Mark Lee, collapsing to 8 for 3 and then 30 for 5 as Webb finished with 4 for 20, including the prized wicket of Steve Jones for 26, and Lee 1 for 19. From there on it was only a matter of whether the weather would intervene as Matthew 'Titch' Davies claimed 2 for 21 and David Lee 2 for 18.

Only James Scale (16) and Ross Edwards (18) managed to join Jones in double figures for Burton and it seemed curtains for them as they lurched to 79 for 9 after 29 overs - but Johnnie Scale and Tom Pellowe decided to battle it out and although they didnt score quickly they resisted the attempts of a variety of different bowling styles, including a rare two-over stint of spin from Colin John.

At one stage Whitland were desperate for the last wicket until Trefor Evans, the club treasurer and a good man with figures, realise that the draw was good enough, providing Burton didn't manage to score 120 runs - and from then on it was safety first for Whitland as Johnnie Scale was restricted to 13 not out and Pellowe scored two runs in 52 deliveries.

It meant that Burton finished a hard season with a draw but Whitland were able to celebrate in style their 'great escape'.

One could feel sorry for Narberth because they didn't have chance to go down fighting - but the vagaries of the weather cause problems most seasons for some unfortunate club - and it was them this season!

WHITLAND P. Webb ct JA. Scale b JO. Scale. .......................19 D. Lee b M. Griffiths ................................................3 P. Davies ct R. Edwards b JA. Scale....................35 D. Griffiths ct R. Neil b JA. Scale .........................75 M. Lee b JO. Scale ...............................................19 C. John b G. Virgo .................................................16 P. Wright ct +b R. Neil .............................................5 M. Davies not out ....................................................1 H. Bevan not out .....................................................5 Extras ....................................................................13 Total (for 7 wkts) ..................................................191

Burton bowling: K. Roberts 12-5-30-0; M. Griffiths 7-1-19-1; JO. Scale 7-3-24-2; S. Jones 5-2-16-0; J. Griffiths 5-0-37-0; JA. Scale 5-0-26-2; G. Virgo 2-0-23-1; R. Neil 1-0-7-1.

BURTON G. Virgo c + b P. Webb ............................................1 J. Scale b M. Davies .............................................16 R. Neil ct P. Davies b P. Webb ................................6 J. Griffiths b M. Lee .................................................1 S. Jones ct D. Lee b P. Webb ...............................26 K. Roberts ct H. Bevan b M. Davies .......................0 M. Griffiths c+b D. Lee ............................................6 R. Edwards ct H. Bevan b P. Webb ......................18 T. Pellowe not out ....................................................2 J. Price ct M. Lee b D. Lee ......................................4 J. Scale not out ......................................................13 Extras .......................................................................6 Total (for 9 wkts) ....................................................99

Whitland bowling: M. Lee 11-5-18-1; P. Webb 12-3-20-4; H. Devonald 8-2-10-0; M. Davies 7-2-21-2; D. Lee 5-1-18-2; C. John 2-0-5-0; P. Davies 1-0-2-0.

Caption: Whitland captain Paul Webb.