Ormond Youth Cup Final: Whitland Youth (133 for 1 & 66 for 4) beat Haverfordwest Youth (93 for 4 and 105 for 8)

Umpires: Les Hastings and Keith Edwards

Scorers: Richard Merriman and Keith Thompson

Venue: Carew

Whitland retained the Ormond Youth Cup, using their experience to good effect against Haverfordwest.

The runners-up didn't have any players who had appeared in this final before but played their hearts out before eventually admitting defeat by six wickets.

Leading the way for Whitland was skipper Owen Edwards, playing in his third final, who was rightly adjudged by Martyn Cole and Gary Brace (Carew stalwarts) to be the man of the match.

He scored a scintillating 61 not out in the first innings and 20 runs after tea, as well as grabbing three wickets and taking a good catch.

He also won the toss, asked Haverfordwest to bat first and struck an early blow as he trapped Jonathan Morgan lbw with only a single on the board.

Town skipper Julian James and Mike Jones advanced the score to 33 before James was run out for 13 as Martin Thomas showed his fielding prowess for Whitland.

Jones followed four runs later but Adam James and Matthew Thomas led the Town fight-back in a stand of 31 which would have been greatly increased but for some superb boundary fielding by Bobby Webb and Iestyn Scourfield and Alex Pickersgill at the short Gardens End in Carew.

Thomas had a six in his 14 and James hit three fours in his 24 not out.

He was joined by Sean Harries in a late charge for runs where Harries struck two sixes and a four in his unbeaten 20 and this pair contributed 28 runs in the final four overs to leave them on a respectable 93 for 4.

Whitland's greater experience was shown in their excellent running between the wickets as openers martin and Jonathan Thomas put on 41 in seven overs before Martin Thomas was out for 21, including two boundaries, with Chris Phillips as the bowler.

It brought skipper Edwards to the crease alongside Jonathan Thomas, who showed great maturity for a 14-year-old in adopting the anchor role and letting Edwards take the strike.

They raised the tempo even further as Edwards blasted three beautiful sixes and four fours as he sped to 61 not out in 41 deliveries, with Thomas finishing undefeated on an excellent 42 in only 45 balls. They added a vital 37 runs in the last three overs that gave Whitland a huge lead of 40 runs.

Haverfordwest hopes of a good start to their second innings were soon in tatters as Julian James was run out by Daniel Newton, Morgan fell to Jonathan Davies and Adam James was caught by Davies off Edwards' bowling.

Matthew Thomas was shifted by Newton, and Harries was caught by Edwards to give Davies his second scalp.

At 27 for 5 it seemed as if the end was nigh for Haverfordwest since they still trailed by 13 runs after seven overs.

But Mike Jones showed true grit with some strong stroke play and Ian Lloyd provided sensible support, hitting two good straight sixes into the gardens and adding two fours as he kept the innings going as wickets fell at the other end.

Jones finished unbeaten as Haverfordwest finished their allotted 20 overs on 105 for 8, with Davies (2 for 19), Edwards (2 for 33), Newton (1 for 9), Webb (1 for 15) and Carl Smith (1 for 3) as their wicket-takers.

It left Whitland needing just 66 runs for victory but they received a few early scares.

James Davies was caught by Simon Williams off Jonathan Morgan for a single and Jonathan Davies was bowled by Josh Wilment to leave them at 7 for 2.

But Bobby Webb (17) and Edwards (20) restored their advantage, using the wealth of experience gained at first-team level this season.

Both eventually fell to Julian James, who had discarded his keeping gloves to bowl a 2 for 19 spell, but Newton and Martin Thomas both finished on nine not out to ease Whitland home by six wickets with 6.5 overs to spare.

Both sides deserve credit for their part in a highly entertaining cup final.