Ken Morris Memorial Cup final:

Neyland 3rds (90 for 6 and 129 for 9) lost to Haverfordwest 3rds (115 for 6 and 108-1) by 9 wickets

An unbeaten final innings of partnership of 93 between Dai Davies and Filgi Varghese ensured Haverfordwest claimed a sixth straight Ken Morris Memorial Cup win in Bank Holiday Monday, as they overcame a Neyland side making their first appearance at the final stage of the competition.

Trailing by 25 runs at tea, the fact that Neyland remained in the game was largely down to a hard hitting 41 from John Tennick, but after falling to 15 for 1 chasing 105 to win, Davies and Varghese made light work of the task to get their side over the line with two overs to spare.

Filgi’s four wicket haul puts The Town on top

It was Haverfordwest skipper Paul Maggs who won the toss in overcast conditions at Narberth, and his decision to bowl was justified from the first ball of the game, as Neyland opener George Evans nicked a Dean Flood delivery to keeper George Thomas for a diamond duck.

But although scoring was slow, his opening partner Ban Mathias-Milsom and skipper Gavin Rowland rebuilt matters, taking the score to 37 for 1 before Mathias-Milsom was bowled in the ninth over by Matthew Vaughan for a patient 18 (three fours).

But Rowland continued to accumulate, stroking three boundaries as he and Jason Oakley put on 35 for the third wicket – before Filgi Varghese firmly turned the tide in The Town’s favour.

He had Rowland caught and bowled for 31, and after Neyland had reached 79 for 3, the spinner bowled a superb 18th over that yielded two singles and three wickets!

He bowled Callum Woods (5), had Oakley caught by Owen Jones for 19, and then skittled John Tennick (1) on his way to figures of 4-20 from five overs.

It left William Hughes (6 not out) and Rhys Beavis (3 not out) to scramble Neyland to 90 for 6 in their 20 overs.

‘Dapper’ dashes to a vital half century

Neyland needed to strike early in The Town’s reply, and they duly did that when William Hughes bowled Jack Scriven (1) in the third over.

The latter’s uncle, Richard, then joined Dai ‘Dapper Davies at the crease, but again scoring was stagnated early on as the pair took the score to 47 in the 10th over, before Scriven (6) was bowled playing across the line to Oakley.

Neyland then came close to the big wicket of Davies, as he nicked a George Evans delivery that keeper Ban Fairbairn narrowly failed to take cleanly – but just two balls later, Evans did strike when he had George Thomas (2) caught by Rhys Beavis.

But it was then that Davies really began to motor, pushing the singles with new partner Filgi Varghese, and also hammering anything loose to the boundary as the pair put on a quickfire 49  - before the key man was bowled by Evans for 67 (nine fours, one six).

That left The Town 106 for 4 with 14 balls of their innings remaining, but they could only muster another nine runs as Neyland fought back.

Varghese was brilliantly caught by a diving Sam Laugharne off Callum Woods for 20 (two fours), who then had Owen Jones (2) caught and bowled – before skipper Maggs (4 not out) and Richard Davies (3 not out) took Haverfordwest to 115 for 6, a lead of 25 at tea.

Tennick turns the tide

Neyland openers George Evans and Ben Mathias-Milson came out determined to wipe out their side’s deficit quickly, and the pair did just that, taking matters to 42 for 0 before disaster struck.

Firstly, Evans was run out for 19 (two fours) after a bad mix up, and in the next over Mathias-Milsom also fell, bowled by Dean Flood for 25 (three fours).

And 42 for 2 promptly became 42 for 3, as Flood took a second wicket in as many balls by trapping Gavin Rowland LBW.

Things got worse for Neyland as Jason Oakley holed out to Dai Davies off the bowling of Matthew Vaughan for 2, and the exact same combination then removed Callum Woods (1) to leave the score 46 for 5 – with the contest seemingly all but over.

But it was then that the big hitting of John Tennick turned the tide, and in the ninth over, the left hander hammered Flood for two straight sixes and a four, and William Hughes also stroked a boundary as the pair took 21 off the over.

Hughes was soon caught and bowled by Owen Jones for 6, and Rhys Beavis was bowled by Filgi Varghese, after cracking a four in his quick 12.

But Tennick continued to try and push matters, hammering Jones for his third maximum – before the same bowler skittled him for 41 (three sixes, one four) as he attempted another big hit.

Sam Laugharne kept the score ticking late on with Jake Lewis (5 not out), before Laugharne (9) was caught by Richard Davies off Varghese from the final ball of the innings, as Neyland finished 129 for 9, setting The Town a tricky total of 105 to win.

Davies and Varghese steer The Town home

Picking up where he left off in the first innings, Dai Davies drove William Hughes to the boundary in the first over to get The Town’s chase going, but the key man then survived a run out care before Jack Scriven hit Jason Oakley to the fence next over.

But Neyland soon got the breakthrough they needed, as Hughes bowled Scriven (6) in the third over to leave Haverfordwest 15 for 1.

However, that only served to bring Filigi Varghese to the crease with Davies, and the pair put together a match winning partnership, picking the gaps in the field with ease and rotating the strike constantly.

The duo took the score to 91 for 1 after 17 overs, leaving them just 14 off 18 balls to secure the silverware.

But they only needed six of them, as along with three singles, both struck a four each – before Davies finished matters off in style with a big straight six off George Evans to again secure the Ken Morris Memorial Trophy for The Town.

Davies finished 46 not out (five fours, one six) and Varghese 48 not out (seven fours) – and it was the latter who was later adjudged man of the match by Matthew Johns for his contributions with both bat and ball.

In the post-match presentations cup organiser Richard Howell, who has again worked tirelessly this summer to ensure a successful competition, thanked everyone involved, and made presentations to the umpires, scorers, groundsman, and tea ladies.

He also thanked all teams involved and everyone who attended the final, and made a presentation to Bill Carne as a show of gratitude for his support of the competition over the years.

It was then left to Haverfordwest skipper Paul Maggs to receive the trophy from the family of Ken Morris, and The Town were able to celebrate retaining the trophy they have dominated in recent years.

Scorecard:

First Innings:

Neyland Batting:

George Evans ct George Thomas b Dean Flood 0

Ben Mathias-Milsom b Matthew Vaughan 18

Gavin Rowland ct and b Filgi Varghese 31

Jason Oakley ct O Jones b Filgi Varghese 19

Callum Woods b Filgi Varghese 5

John Tennick b Filgi Varghese 1

Williams Hughes not out 6

Rhys Beavis not out 3

Extras 7

Total (for 6 wickets) 90

Haverfordwest Bowling:

Dean Flood 5-0-17-1; Matthew Vaughan 5-0-22-1; Owen Jones 5-0-29-0; Filigi Varghese 5-0-20-4.

Haverfordwest Batting:

David Davies b George Evans 67

Jack Scriven b William Hughes 1

Richard Scriven b Jason Oakley 6

George Thomas c Rhys Beavis b George Evans 2

Filgi Varghese c Sam Laugharne 20

Owen Jones c and b Callum Woods 2

Paul Maggs not out 4

Richard Davies not out 3

Extras 10

Total (for 6 wickets) 115

Neyland Bowling:

William Hughes 5-0-22-1; Jason Oakley 5-0-25-1; Jake Lewis 3-0-25-0; George Evans 5-0-28-2; Callum Woods 2-0-15-2.

Second innings:

Neyland Batting:

George Evans run out 16

Ben Mathias-Milsom b Dean Flood 25

Callum Woods c Dai Davies b Matthew Vaughan 1

Gavin Rowland lbw Dean Flood 0

Jason Oakley c Dai Davies b Matthew Vaughan 2

John Tennick b Owen Jones 41

William Hughes c and b Owen Jones 2

Rhys Beavis b Filgi Varghese 12

Sam Laugharne c Richard Davies b Filgi Varghese 9

Jake Lewis not out 5

Extras: 12

Total (for 9 wickets) 129

Haverfordwest Bowling:

Dean Flood 5-0-49-2; Matthew Vaughan 5-0-25-2; Owen Jones 5-0-28-2; Filgi Varghese 5-0-24-2.

Haverfordwest Batting:

Dai Davies not out 46

Jack Scriven b William Hughes 6

Filgi Varghese not out 48

Extras: 8

Total (for 1 wicket) 108

Neyland Bowling:

William Hughes 5-0-28-1; Jason Oakley 5-0-31-0; Callum Woods 4-0-19-0; 4-1-29-0.

Umpires: Neil Croucher and Micky Marsh.

Scorers: Ian Milsom and Allison Sanders.

Man of the Match: Filgi Varghese.

Adjudicator: Matthew Johns.