Ormond Youth Cup Final:

Haverfordwest (132 for 9 & 114 for 6) beat Carew (62 for 7 & 80 for 9) by 104 runs

Haverfordwest Youth were worthy winners of the 2016 Ormond Youth Cup as they outplayed their gritty counterparts from Carew, who rightly earned praise from county club chairman Tony Scourfield for their part in an entertaining final.

But it was Kieran O’Connor and his talented team from Haverfordwest who won by one of the biggest margins on record as they put their wealth of experience in senior cricket to good effect, with O’Connor earning the man of the match plaudits for his bowling, which earned him match figures of 4 for 13 in eight overs, three of them maidens, alongside innings of 23 and 9 runs.

Haverfordwest batted first and got off to an excellent start via Nikhil Mathias (19) and Archie Thomas (35, including six fours) before the former was run out with the total on 46.

O’Connor, Jake Merry (18), Jack Scriven (10) and Jonathan White (11) kept the scoreboard ticking over despite useful bowling by Carl Thomas (4 for 19) and Rhys Grigg (2 for 28).

132 for 9 was a useful score but it suddenly assumed mammoth proportions as White had Max Brindley caught by keeper Jack Scriven from the very first ball of the Carew reply – and then key batsmen Morgan Grieve and Iori Hicks fell to O’Connor as part of his four-over stint which produced just three runs’ Lewis Rhead (2 for 5) and Jack Wilson (1 for 6) maintained the pressure as Carew lurched to 19 for 6 and it was only a battling 23 not out by Harry Cook, supported by Dan Rossi (13) that allowed their side to finish their 20 overs on 62 for 7 – a tea-time deficit of 70 runs.

It says much that Carew refused to cave in and when they went on the attack they soon had The Town Youth in a spot of bother at 19 for 3 and then 24 for 4 in eight overs from Max Brindley (1 for 11) and Iori Hicks (3 for 10).

But Haverfordwest have real depth in their batting and Jake Merry (26) and especially Jack Evans (44 not out, including five fours) went on the counter-attack in stand of 69 runs that swung the game back in their team’s favour.

Jonathan White chipped in with a late 11 and at 114 for 6 it meant that they had set Carew the almost impossible task of scoring 185 runs for victory.

Carew needed very big scores from their ‘big guns’ but White’s left-arm over the wicket caused problems from the outset as he claimed three wickets in an over, clean bowling Cook, Hicks and Morgan Grieve in his splendid stint.

O’Connor grabbed two wickets at the other end before Jake Merry (1 for 5) and Jack Wilson (2 for 14) wrapped things up, despite some good batting from Carl Thomas, who was run out by a direct hit from Chloe Hood on 14, and Dan Rossi (14), who was well caught by sub Max Adams, whilst two late boundaries gave Fin Bowie 14 not out in the late stages.

Skipper Kieran O’Connor received the Ormond Cup from Carew president John Donnachie, representing sponsor Tony Pidgeon , and then made a quick return to collect the man of the match award presented by Nick Evans of the Cricket Shop.

FIRST INNINGS:

Haverfordwest Batting;

Nikhil Mathias run out 19

Archie Thomas ct Carl Thomas b Harry Cook 35

Kieran O’Connor b Rhys Grigg 23

Jake Merry ct Iori Hicks b Carl Thomas 18

Jack Scriven ct Tudor Hurle b Max Brindley 10

Lewis Rhead ct Tudor Hurle b Rhys Grigg 0

Jonathan White ct Iori Hicks b Carl Thomas 11

Jack Wilson b Carl Thomas 6

Jack Evans ct Rhys Grigg b Carl Thomas 0

Jack Blockwell not out 1

Chloe Hood not out 1

Extras 8

Total (9 wickets) 132

Carew Bowling:

Max Brindley 4-0-25-1; Iori Hicks 4-0-16-0; Harry Cook 4-0-42-1; Rhys Grigg 4-0-28-2; Carl Thomas 4-0-19-4

Carew Batting:

Max Brindley ct Jack Scriven b Jonathan White 0

Morgan Grieve ct Nikhil Mathias b Kieran O'Connor 3

Iori Hicks lbw b Kieran O'Connor 3

Harry Cook not out 23

Tudor Hurle b Jack Wilson 1

Rhys Canton ct Jack Scriven b Lewis Rhead 1

Carl Thomas st Jack Scriven b Lewis Rhead 0

Dan Rossi b Jonathan White 13

Rhys Grigg not out 1

Extras 17

Total (7 wickets) 62

Haverfordwest Bowling:

Jonathan White 4-0-12-2; Kieran O'Connor 4-3-3-2; Jack Wilson 4-1-6-1; Lewis Rhead 3-0-5-2; Archie Thomas 2-0-15-0; Chloe Hood 3-0-19-0

SECOND INNINGS:

Haverfordwest Batting:

Nikhil Mathias ct Tudor Hurle b Iori Hicks 1

Archie Thomas ct Iori Hicks b Max Brindley 0

Kieran O’Connor b Iori Hicks 9

Jake Merry ct Max Brindley b Harry Cook 26

Jack Scriven ct & b Iori Hicks 4

Jack Evans not out 44

Jonathan White b Harry Cook 11

Lewis Rhead not out 2

Extras 17

Total (6 wickets) 114

Carew Bowling:

Max Brindley 4-0-11-1; Iori Hicks 4-0-10-3; Harry Cook 4-0-29-2; Carl Thomas 3-0-21-0; Tudor Hurle 4-0-24-0; Rhys Grigg 1-0-10-0

Carew Batting:

Harry Cook b Jonathan White 3

Max Brindley lbw b Kieran O’Connor 7

Iori Hicks b Jonathan White 0

Morgan Grieve b Jonathan White 0

Rhys Canton ct Jack Evans b Kieran O’Connor 6

Tudor Hurle ct Archie Thomas b Jake Merry 0

Carl Thomas run out 14

Dan Rossi ct sub (Max Adams) b Jack Wilson 14

Rhys Grigg ct Kieran O’Connor b Jack Wilson 0

Fin Bowie not out 14

Tom Harding-Jones not out 2

Extras 20

Total (9 wickets) 80

Haverfordwest Bowling:

Jonathan White 3-0-12-3; Kieran O’Connor 4-0-10-2; Jack Blockwell 4-0-12-0; Jake Merry 3-0-5-1; Jack Wilson 3-0-14-2; Lewis Rhead 1-0-8-0; Chloe Hood 2-0-12-0

Umpires: Tony Waldeis & Robert Ridge

Scorers: Julie Davies (Carew) and Nitin Mathias/Warren Evans (Haverfordwest)

Venue: The Recreation Field, Carew

Man of the match adjudicator: Richard Howell (Narberth)

Man of the Match: Kieran O’Connor (Haverfordwest)