Alec Colley Cup final: Carew (95-8 and 103-8) beat St Ishmaels (64-9 and 106-8) by 29 runs

Carew Seconds’ mixture of experienced and talented youngsters saw them collect the Alec Colley Cup for the first time since 2000 as they fended off St Ishmaels at Pembroke on Sunday.

Carew first innings (95-8):

Asked to bat first by Tish skipper Robbie Thomas, the Rooks struggled to make headway as they lost Brian Hall to an excellent catch at point by Ieuan Hawkins in Danny Flynn’s first over and fell to 45-6 in the 15th over.

But even before that there was drama and a vital miss by Tish as Kevin Bowen bowled the first over of the match and Flynn downed a catch that gave Nick Scourfield a first-ball escape. He responded by anchoring the innings to score a vital 45 not out, although he needed a runner for the latter part of his innings after pulling a hamstring.

There was some terrific Tish bowling by Stuart Carpenter, who finished with 4-33 alongside Steve Williams (1-13 in five economic overs), Bowen (1-19) and Flynn (1-27).

At one stage Carpenter had 3-5 but then was hit for three big sixes by Dai Rees, who came in at No 8 and contributed 24 before Flynn took an excellent catch in the deep – but by then Carew had added 40 runs as Scourfield also chipped in with four of his six boundaries.

St Ishmaels first innings (64-9):

It seemed that Tish were facing a challenging tally in the conditions and that is just how it turned out as teenager Tudor Hurle and all-rounder Kerry Waters bowled tight five-over stints of 1-14 and 1-10 alongside Simon Wood’s 1-23.

Thomas (12), Steve Williams (16) and Flynn (10) were their only batsmen to reach double figures as key run-makers Bowen and Carpenter departed for ducks as they also limped to 44-4 in 15 overs but, unlike Carew, they had no redeeming partnership as Rook’s skipper Barry Evans left-arm stuff yielded 4-13 from five overs.

He was assisted by another teenager in Morgan Grieve, who claimed three neat stumpings.

Carew second innings (103-8):

It meant Carew had a first-innings lead of 31 and this was soon increased as Grieve was moved up the order alongside Hall and they shared a stand of 28 in five overs before the latter departed to Steve Williams for 16 (two fours and a six).

But Tish clawed their way back after Hall was well caught by 13 year old Thomas Williams off Bowen for 20 and only eight runs came from the next five overs.

Ashley Smith, Haydn Shapcott, Rhys Grigg and Scourfield, batting at No 7 after being unable to field came and went quickly as Bowen (2-19) and Steve Williams (3-16) bowled their hearts out.

But again Carew found a redeeming partnership as Wood was joined by Rees to add a vital 40 runs in the last five overs of the innings, the former hitting two boundaries in his 40 not out and ending the innings with a straight six.

Rees again played a terrific supporting role with a hard-hit 16 before he fell to a superb running catch by Karl Rhead and there was a comical end to the innings as Evans looked to be run out by miles but a Tish error gave him, relief until he suffered the same fate a few balls later in a late search for more runs.

St Ishmaels second innings (106-8):

Tish were left with a tough run chase as135 was needed to win and after reaching 18 they lost Flynn (8), caught by Rhys Grigg to give Wood his first of three wickets - but Rhead struck three beautiful boundaries in his 15 to raise hopes before he also fell to Wood from a Dai Rees catch with the score on 32.

Kevin Bowen produced a hard-hitting 25 (including a four and a six) before he fell to Evans but they lost Carpenter to a run out and the pressure mounted as Wood finished on 3-27 and Hurle supported with 2-30.

There was a glimmer of hope for Tish as Steve Williams and another talented young player in Ieuan Hawkins added 28 runs but both fell victim to Hurle as Hall claimed a catch in the gully and Ashley Smith took a juggling catch in the outfield.

From there was no real way back for Tish but they grafted until the end, with Steve Hastings defiantly hitting the last ball of the match to the boundary.

County Club chairman Richard Merriman thanked both teams, officials, scorers and especially Pembroke Cricket Club for managing to get the game on after inclement weather. He introduced Martin Jones, the chairman of Neyland Cricket Club, who are new sponsors of the man of the match trophy in memory of the late Martin ‘Ceefax’ Rees. He spoke warmly about why they had decided to pay this tribute. It was decided by umpires Allan Hansen and Jon Willington that Simon Wood (Carew) was man of the match.

FIRST INNINGS:

Carew Batting:

Brian Hall ct Ieuan Hawkins b Danny Flynn 1

Nick Scourfield not out 45

Ashley Smith ct Steve Williams b Kevin Bowen 13

Simon Wood lbw b Steve Williams 2

Morgan Grieve b Stuart Carpenter 0

Haydn Shapcott b Stuart Carpenter 1

Rhys Grigg st Steve Hastings b Stuart Carpenter 3

Dai Rees ct Danny Flynn b Stuart Carpenter 24

Barry Evans run out o

Tudor Hurle not out 0

Extras

Total (for 8 wickets) 95

St Ishmaels Bowling: Kevin Bowen 5-1-19-1; Danny Flynn 5-0-27-1; Steve Williams 5-0-13-1; Stuart Carpenter 5-0-33-4

St Ishmaels Batting:

Karl Rhead lbw b Simon Wood 7

Robbie Thomas st Morgan Grieve b Barry Evans 12

Kevin Bowen ct Kerry Waters b Tudor Hurle 0

Stuart Carpenter run out 0

Ieuan Hawkins b Kerry Waters 6

Steve Williams st Morgan Grieve b Barry Evans 16

Danny Flynn run out 10

Josh Beer st Morgan Grieve b Barry Evans 4

Thomas Williams  ct and b Barry Evans 0

Steve Hastings not out 0

Julian Forster not out 0

Extras 9

Total (for 9 wickets) 64

Carew Bowling: Simon Wood 5-0-23-1; Tudor Hurle 5-1-14-1;  Kerry Waters 5-1-10-1; Barry Evans 5-0-13-4

SECOND INNINGS:

Carew Batting:

Brian Hall ct Thomas Williams b Kevin Bowen 10

Morgan Grieve b Steve Williams 16

Ashley Smith b Steve Williams 7

Haydn Shapcott run out 0

Simon Wood not out 40

Rhys Grigg ct Stuart Carpenter b Kevin Bowen 0

Nick Scourfield lbw b Steve Williams 0

Dai Rees ct Karl Rhead b Robbie Thomas 16

Barry Evans run out 2

Tudor Hurle not out 3

Extras 9

Total (for 8 wickets) 103

St Ishmaels Bowling: Kevin Bowen 5-1-19-2; Steve Williams 5-1-16-3; Stuart Carpenter 3-0-16-0; Danny Flynn 5-0-34-0; Robbie Thomas 2-0-12-1

St Ishmaels Batting:

Karl Rhead ct Dai Rees b Simon Wood 15

Danny Flynn ct Rhys Grigg b Simon Wood 8

Kevin Bowen ct Haydn Shapcott b Barry Evans 25

Stuart Carpenter run out 8

Steve Williams ct Brian Hall b Tudor Hurle 10

Ieuan Hawkins ct Haydn Shapcott b Tudor Hurle 15

Robbie Thomas run out 2

Josh Beer b Simon Wood 4

Thomas Williams not out 2

Steve Hastings not out 6

Extras 11

Total (for 8 wickets) 106

Carew Bowling: Simon Wood 5-0-27-3; Tudor Hurle 5-0-30-2; Barry Evans 5-0-25-1; Karry Waters 5-0-21-0

Umpires: Allan Hansen and Jonathan Willington

Scorers: Julie Davies and Jane Richards