Neyland battling to retain the title after beating Carew

Carew (140 all out) lost to Neyland (249 for 7) by 109 runs

CURRENT champions Neyland showed that they are again still very much in the hunt for the silverware this season with a comprehensive victory over Carew that allowed them to leap-frog over their opponents in the top three.

Gregg Miller (28) batted well early on for Neyland but the innings really gained its impetus when Andrew Miller and Nathan Banner built a partnership of 111 before Miller departed for a boundary-sprinkled 53.

Banner was dropped when he had scored 13 and punished that error as he went into the last over, bowled by Tim Hicks, knowing that he was close to three figures – and made sure of achieving his century in some style with 36 runs coming from it!

He smashed the first five balls for 6 and after a wide that went to the boundary managed just a single off the last ball to move to a huge 131 not out – and Neyland had raced impressively to 249 for 7 against Rhys Davies (3 for 65), Neil Gregory (1 for 22) and Shaun Whitfield (3 for 51) as the successful Carew bowlers.

Skipper Davies again led the Carew batting with 41 not out but ran out of partners as only James Hinchliffe (21) and Lewys Hicks (24) ever looked settled against Henry Durrant (3 for 39), Banner (2 for 25), Patrick Hannon (2 for 23), Scott Jones (2 for 18) and Nick Koomen (1 for 4).

Umpires: Denis Chiffi & John Williams.

Scorers: Julie Davies & John Laugharne.

Glebelands Gang hold on for tame draw

Johnston (164 for 6) drew with Whitland (242 for 5)

WHITLAND gained all the points allocated for a draw as they scored an impressive 242 for 5 at Glebelands and then had Johnston settling for a tame draw on 164 for 6 as they played without four key players.

Whitland were given a solid start by Dylan Blain (25) and Kevin Pearce (seven fours in an attacking 54) before Jonathan Thomas and Leighton O’Connor shared a productive partnership of 134 before Thomas was out late on for 51 (four fours and a six).

O’Connor continued to plunder runs and remained 74 not out at the end of the innings, with ten boundaries as Lee Summons (4 for 62) and Richard James (1 for 41) were the only successful Johnston bowlers.

Dan Sutton continued his impressive batting form as he led the Johnston batting with 72 (ten boundaries), ably assisted by Lee Summons (46, including five fours) but no-one else really stayed long against Mark Lee (3 for 27), Wayne Howells (1 for 42), Johnny Thomas (1 for 10) and Matthew Davies (1 for 38).

Umpires: John Austin & Tony Waldeis.

Scorers: Steve Mills (Snr) & Janice Webb.

Tish tail-enders hold out for draw

Llanrhian (238 for 4) drew with St Ishmaels (134 for 9)

LLANRHIAN bolstered their chances of avoiding the ‘dreaded drop’ as they gained by far the better of the draw against St Ishmaels – and might have had claimed victory but for the fact that Andrew Williams and James Hall batted the last thirteen overs, with Williams defying a hand injury and hall showing grit aplenty in facing 34 balls for his nine not out.

Put in to bat first, Llanrhian had three batsmen celebrating half centuries – and might have had four but opener Ben Jones was dismissed for 47.

Gareth Davies hit three fours and three sixes in his 57, Jack Jones belted four fours and two sixes in his top score of 57 and skipper Paul Lewis rounded things off nicely with four fours and four sixes to help send his side speeding to a healthy 238 for 4.

For Tish, the successful bowlers were Andrew Williams (1 for 62), Andrew Pawlett (1 for 29), Johnny Pawlett (1 for 30) and Peter Bradshaw (1 for 56) – but their batting lacked confidence as only Dan Howells (26 before he was run out) and Steve Hartley (26) stayed long and there was 14 apiece for Andrew and Jonathan Pawlett.

Gareth Davies completed a good performance for Llanrhian with 4 for 12 alongside Tom Dunn (1 for 44), Daf Williams (1 for 13) and Luke Jones (1 for 30) but no-one could shift the Tish tail-enders late on!

Umpires: Les Hastings & Arthur Brady.

Scorer: Wendy Bradshaw.

Town take a tumble in top of table clash

Haverfordwest (155 all out) lost to Cresselly (157 for 3) by 7 wickets

CRESSELLY certainly blew apart the title race with a bang at The Racecourse as they gained a deserved victory over table-topping Haverfordwest and dramatically reduced The Town’s 36 point lead at the head of the section.

Cresselly skipper Neilson Cole won the toss and elected to field – and made sure that no Haverfordwest batsman took total control – and then his team recovered from an awful start at 11 for 2 to ease home with overs and wickets aplenty in hand.

Haverfordwest had steady innings from Ben Field (24), Simon Holliday (42), Nitin Mathias (21), Dai Davies (27), Huw Scriven (12) and Adam James (14) but lost wickets at regular intervals as teenager Tom Murphy spear-headed the Cresselly attack with an excellent 4 for 32 haul, supported by Ryan Lewis (2 for 29) and Brad McDermott-Jenkins (3 for 41).

Adam James quickly removed Matthew Morgan and Phil Williams after tea but Adam Chandler made the home side regret a dropped catch as he and Simon Cole built a century partnership before Cole departed for 71 (eight fours).

Chandler maintained his fine form with 66 not out (ten boundaries) as Adam James claimed 2 for 55 and took the catch off Dai Davies that eventually shifted Cole.

Umpires: Trefor Evans & Allan Hansen.

Scorers: Jayne Cole & Glyn Cole.

Makeshift Llangwm lose out at Lawrenny

Lawrenny (65 for 3) beat Llangwm (64 all out) by 7 wickets

LLANGWM’S disappointing season continued at Lawrenny as they again travelled with a makeshift team and paid the inevitable price as they were shot out for only 64 before Lawrenny reached their lowly target for the loss of only three wickets.

And that score could have been worse but for a gritty 35 by opener Huw Brock (four fours and a six) as Sean Waller was next-highest scorer on nine runs against Rob Williams, steaming down the slope to claim 5 for 16 in 12 overs (six maidens), and assisted by Alistair Edwards 92 for 16) and Phil Cole (1 for 6).

Chris Inward was the pick of the Llangwm bowlers after tea with 1 for 15 but Simon Cole steadied the early Lawrenny batting with 25 before James Buckle used his experience to good effect as he finished undefeated on 26 as his team widened the gap between them and the bottom two clubs.

Umpires: Huw Davies & Ian Phillips.

Scorer: Malcolm Thomas.