NEYLAND opened up a 19-point lead in division one after beating top table rivals Cresselly at the weekend.
Neyland won the toss and put Cresselly into bat, bowling out their opponents for 181.
In Cresselly’s innings, Simon ‘Snowy’ Cole was the star making 73 off 106 balls, hitting nine fours. Ryan Lewis also scored well for Cresselly, making 47.
When Neyland came to bat it was man of the match Nathan Banner who won it for the defending champions. Banner had already taken 3-24, then he made a fantastic 89no, with 9 fours and 2 sixes, to help Narberth (184-2) chase down Cresselly’s total with 8 wickets to spare.
Ashley Sutton helped turn the screw making 66no, sharing an unbroken stand of 168 with Banner.
Title contenders, Lawrenny’s game against Carew didn’t go ahead.
Narberth were the biggest scorers in division 1 at the weekend. They set Llechryd a huge target of 282.
Jamie McCormack made 96, smashing 11 fours and 5 sixes before being bowled by Johnny Lewis and caught by Andrew Fletcher just 4 shy of a century.
Richie Adams made 66 (8 fours and a six), Loui Davies 42 and 3-21, and Ben Hughes 25 and 2-41, with Saturday being a points bonanza for Narberth.
Whilst John Curran couldn’t complete his bowling spell due to injury, he did manage to do some damage with the bat, top scoring for Llechryd with 53, including 8 fours and a six. Sadly it wasn’t enough, leaving the newly promoted side rooted to the bottom of the table.
Whitland’s position in the division continues to look more artificial each week as summer rolls in and the Borderers start chalking up games – and wins.
Whitland (208-6) beat the Town (188ao) in a close match, securing victory by just 20 runs.
Jonathan Thomas was the star of the show with 13 fours and 3 sixes in his impressive haul of 110no.
There were also good bowling figures for Whitland with Gethin Scourfield (2-28), Scott Newton (2-32), and Luke Owen (2-45) all taking two wickets each.
The Field brothers tried to rally for Haverfordwest with Dan making 39 and Ben 37. Danny Potter (35), and Ashley Jones (34no) also got solid scores.
Saundersfoot (109-1) beat St Ishmaels (108ao) by 9 wickets with the bowling display of Sam Franklin dominating the game.
St Ishmaels were put into bat first and they could only muster 108 runs as Franklin decimated their bowling attack, taking 6-22.
The Tish had no reply as the Seasiders sauntered to victory with Danny Caine marking his return to action with a 60no which included 6 fours and 3 sixes.
Division 2 saw Pembroke Dock continue to control the show while favourites for promotion Llangwm remain second.
It’ll be a titanic struggle when the two sides meet in week 10 in a match that could decide the fate of division as the Dock and Llangwm’s only other encounter in the league was abandoned in week 2.
Pembroke Dock (106-1) beat Kilgetty (102ao) and Llangwm (76-0) swept aside Haverfordwest Seconds (75ao).
The Town won the toss and elected to bat however the decision might have been different in hindsight as they could only stay at the crease for 30 overs.
Llangwm’s Joe Phillips tore through Town’s attack taking 4-9, then, in the batting department Luke Brock (50no), and Ollie Davies (22no) finished the win off leaving Haverfordwest Seconds with just one point from the game.
There was also a gulf in class between Pembroke Dock (106-1) and Kilgetty (102ao).
Tom Lewis (30), and Christian Phillips (28 and 1-31) put in good performances for Kilgetty, whilst for the Dock, Jake Griffiths made 47 and Jake Davies (33no), but it was their bowling department that shined with George Smith (4-28), Owen Hughes (2-21), and Rob Hearn (2-5) all exhibiting quality.
Pembroke versus Herbrandston and Burton versus Hook saw the big scores come in.
Both matches were decided by six wickets with Herbrandston (185-4) beating Pembroke (184-6), and Burton (184-4) beating Hook (183-8).
Leigh Marchant top scored for Herbie (75no) and produced the performance of the division, also taking 3-26. Marchant’s 75 was made with an impressive 52 points coming from boundaries.
For Pembroke, Jack Harries made 65 including 7 fours and a six, whilst Kevin Jenkins took 3-23.
At Oatfield Park, Burton’s match came down to the brilliant batting of Jon Venables (109) and the bowling of Morgan Scale (4-36), and Luke Hayman (3-39).
Venables' score included 11 fours and 3 sixes, while for the Rooks, Owen Phelps (44), and Craig Nutty (43) built some heat with the bat, whilst Callum James (2-36) took wickets.
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