Indoor Cricket :

Neyland Seconds lose twice

Venue: The Meads Leisure Centre, Milford Haven.

Umpires: Allan Hansen and John Williams.

Scorer: Kirsty Hughes.

NEYLAND ‘B’s unbeaten run was brought to an abrupt halt as they lost heavily to their first team and Haverfordwest with a side which has some very promising players but lacked the vital experience of both opponents, writes Bill Carne.

They took on Haverfordwest at the start of the afternoon and after limiting The Town to a steady 116 for 3 were shot out for only 46 runs to lose by 70 runs.

It was a similar story when they took on their senior team as Sean Hannon’s side, which was minus two key players, but still rattled up a huge tally of 139 for 4.

Scott Jones batted really well to score 30 for the seconds but they were restricted to 90 for 4 and so went under by 49 runs.

Match One:

Haverfordwest v Neyland ‘B’

Haverfordwest were asked to bat first against Neyland ‘B’ and were quickly into their stride as Simon Holliday and Nitin Mathias put on 47 for the first wicket before Holliday was out in the fifth over, having just smashed a four and six to reach 22 but was then well caught near the back wall by Tom Pritchard off Phil Keen’s bowling, seeking a third six before he would have had to retire.

Ben Field was well caught by Scott Jones at mid on for 14 and Kieran O’Connor was bowled by Nathan Banner for 12 as Mathias retired with a classy 26 to his name, having scored seven threes an a four. Huw Scriven also rattled up a speedy 26 not out and skipper Danny Potter was undefeated at the finish as The Town sailed into three figures.

The importance of having a top wicket-keeper was soon highlighted when Neyland 2nds went in to bat as their ace batsman Nathan Banner was stumped by Scriven off Potter for only three runs, with Phil Keen suffering the same fate as he failed to score against Ben Field, who bowled Scott Jones for a useful 21 in the same over.

Luke Ryan was run out cheaply and then Simon Holliday finished off the innings with two wickets to a splendid catch by 14 year old Kieran O’Connor and keeper Scriven as Field finished with 2 for 6 and Holliday 2 for 12.

Haverfordwest Batting:

Simon Holliday ct Tom Pritchard b Phil Keen 22

Nitin Mathias retired 26

Ben Field ct Scott Jones b Luke Ryan 14

Kieran O’Connor b Nathan Banner 12

Huw Scriven not out 26

Danny Potter not out 3

Extras 13

Total (3 wickets) 116

Neyland ‘B’ Bowling:

Luke Ryan 2-0-16-1; Tom Pritchard 2-0-19-0; Scott Jones 2-0-29-0; Phil Keen 2-0-24-1; Nathan Banner 2-0-15-1.

Neyland ‘B’ Batting:

Nathan Banner st Huw Scriven b Danny Potter 3

Scott Jones b Ben Field 21

Luke Ryan run out 7

Phil Keen st Huw Scriven b Ben Field 0

Jason Oatley ct Kieran O’Brien b Simon Holliday 5

Tom Pritchard ct Huw Scriven b Simon Holliday 2

Extras 8

Total (all out) 46

Haverfordwest Bowling:

Simon Holliday 2-0-12-2, Danny Potter 1-0-10-1, Kieran O’Connor 1-0-13-0, Ben Field 1-0-6-2, Nitin Mathias 1-0-4-0.

Match Two:

Neyland ‘A’ v Neyland ‘B’

Neyland ‘A’ elected to bat first against their ‘B’ side and got off to an electric start, despite the absence of regular run-getters Nick Koomen and Patrick Hannon, scoring 26 runs in the opening over. Henry Durrant, opening instead of Koomen, rapped three fours and a six in his 29 before he was bowled by Nathan Banner, whilst Paul Murray had two fours and six threes in his 31 before he gave a return catch to Banner late in the innings. Patrick Bellerby belted 21 before he removed by Scott Jones and Andrew Miller put his wealth of experience to good effect in scoring eight threes in his 25 before he had to retire. Sean Hannon and Jake Lewis, in for the other Hannon twin, Patrick, added a few late runs and the ‘A’ team’s total was boosted by 18 extras, 16 of which were wides!

It was always going to be too big a target for the ‘B’ team to chase but they batted batter this time round. They lost wickets at regular intervals, however, as Luke Ryan was run out by Sean Hannon for seven runs before Andrew Miller took a good low catch to shift Banner for 16 off the bowling of Jake Lewis.

Tom Pritchard was run out for 13 as the pressure increased and although Scott Jones looked a class act in compiling his unbeaten 30 (seven threes and a six) there was no way the ‘B’ team could get close, despite being gifted 17 extras (15 of them wides) by a relaxed ‘A’ team who knew they would maintain their 100% record.

Neyland ‘A’ Batting:

Henry Durrant b Nathan Banner 29

Paul Murray ct & b Nathan Banner 31

Patrick Bellerby b Scott Jones 21

Andrew Miller retired 25

Sean Hannon run out 9

Jake Lewis not out 6

Extras 18

Total (4 wickets) 139

Neyland ‘B’ Bowling:

Luke Ryan 2-0-35-0, Tom Pritchard 2-0-26-0, Scott Jones 2-0-20-1, Phil Keen 2-0-28-0, Nathan Banner 2-0-22-2.

Neyland ‘B’ Batting:

Nathan Banner ct Andrew Miller b Jake Lewis 16

Luke Ryan run out 7

Tom Pritchard run out 13

Scott Jones not out 30

Phil Keen run out 4

Jason Oatley not out 3

Extras 17

Total (4 wickets) 90

Neyland ‘A’ Bowling:

Patrick Bellerby 2-0-9-0, Henry Durrant 2-0-15-0, Andrew Miller 2-0-15-0, Sean Hannon 2-0-12-0, Jake Lewis 2-0-16-1.