Town stay top as Field fires on all cylinders

HAVERFORDWEST stay top of the league table with just weeks to go in the championship race as they beat a Whitland side who at one stage looked to set more of a challenge but suffered a major batting collapse before Ben Field’s fine 76 helped The Town to achieve a far easier win looked likely when Whitland’s score stood at 147 for 3.

Whitland had been taken there by Dylan Blain (six fours and a six in his 50), Paul Davies (64 including eight fours and a six) and Iestyn Scourfield (36) but then Adam James grabbed four quick scalps and Whitland’s last seven wickets fell in the space of ten runs as James (4 for 40), Simon Holliday (3 for 36) and AJ Revu (2 for 20) did the bulk of the damage.

Ben Field showed his full array of shots that included a beautifully-timed early straight six off Mark Lee before he fell lbw late on to Leighton O’Connor but by then there was little doubt who would win, barring another batting collapse, as Danny Potter (36) and Holliday (26) were the other major battling contributors to The Town’s vital success.

Umpires: Denis Chiffi & Allan Hansen.

Scorers: Jayne Cole & Janice Webb.

Lawrenny spring a huge surprise

Lawrenny (172 all out) best Neyland (108 all out) by 64 runs

LAWRENNY played really well to cause one of the shock results of the season as they beat a makeshift Neyland side whose hopes of winning the league three years on the trot, and a treble of all the top silverware for 2015 in the process, suffered a mortal blow as a result

But Lawrenny deserve every credit since they recovered from 73 for 5 to reach a healthy 172 all out thanks to Steve Lewis (42), Rob Williams (47), James Buckle (34) and Hugh Griffiths (18), with a partnership of 56 between Buckle and Lewis followed by 50 runs shared by Buckle and Williams.

Nick Koomen (2 for 32), Nathan Banner (3 for 40), Andrew Miller (3 for 35), Geraint Rees (1 for 26) and Gary Lloyd (1 for 17) were the successful bowlers for Neyland but when they went in to bat only Banner (45 before he was caught in the slips by Andrew Cole off Alistair Edwards), James Smith (15) and Andrew Miller (12) managed double figures against Rob Williams (1 for 36), Jamie Lewis (3 for 25), Steve Lewis (2 for 25) and Edwards (4 for 12) – and Lawrenny’s reward was an assurance that they will play division one cricket again next season!

Umpires: Steve Blowes & Richard Merriman.

Scorers: Malcolm Thomas & John Laugharne.

Carew in cruise mode as Tish take a tumble

Carew (62 for 3) beat St Ishmaels (61 all out) by 7 wickets

CAREW cruised to an easy home win over St Ishmaels as good bowling by Neil Gregory, Rhys and Tom Davies bundled out Tish for a paltry 61 before Carew changed their batting order to give chances to those lower down the order – and still finished the game in only 14.2 overs.

Tish struggled almost from the outset as Gregory bowled really well to claim fine figures of 5 for 34 in cahoots with Rhys Davies (2 for 8) and Tom Davies (3 for 19), so that only Peter Bradshaw (11), Dan Howells (11) and Dean John (11) managed double figures for Tish in their 24.4 overs.

Wicket keeper Tom Scourfield (27) led the Carew reply with 27 runs but was caught by Dan Howells off Andrew Williams’ bowling with the winning post in sight – but it mattered little because Shaun Whitfield (14) and James Hinchliffe (17 not out) helped Carew win with comparative ease.

Umpires: Huw Davies & John Williams

Scorers: Julie Davies & Wendy Bradshaw

Cresselly stay in championship contention

Llangwm (137 all out) lost to Cresselly (141 for 3) by 7 wickets

CRESSELLY stay in contention for the championship as they easily accounted for a Llangwm side again short of some players and paying the price despite good knocks from Gary Phillips (45), Phil Llewellyn (27) and Joseph Kiff (28) in a tally of 137 all out that seemed unlikely to trouble a powerful Cresselly batting line-up.

And that is just what happened because Cresselly cruised to 141 for 3 in only 28 overs to keep the pressure on Haverfordwest at the top of the table.

Harry Thomas was the key bowler for Cresselly as he grabbed 6 for 14 in eight overs, helped along the way by the combined slow stuff of Matthew Lewis (2 for 39) and Simon Cole (2 for 17) – and in the batting stakes Adam Chandler set the seal on a comfortable Cresselly success with an undefeated 71 despite 2 for 31 from Gary Phillips.

Umpires: John Austin & Rob Cousins.

Scorers: Janice Brick & Tegan Cartwright.

Wounded Sutton still slams bewildered Llanrhian

Llanrhian (190 for 6) lost to Johnston (191 for 3) by 7 wickets

DAN Sutton showed what a class batting act he can be for Johnston as he scored a scintillating 121 not out for Johnston in their win against Llanrhian at Llandigige Fawr – with almost half of them scored on one leg since he pulled a muscle on 68 and had to use Gary James as a runner.

As a result, the tally set by Llanrhian, originally thought to pose a threat, was reached for the loss of just Mikey Jones (20), who shared in a stand of 113 as further proof of Sutton’s fire-power. Steve Mills also smashed an undefeated 30 as Johnston reached their target with over seven overs in hand, with Sutton having smote nine fours and three sixes – and runner James being teased that he had helped score more runs than he had managed all season!

Gareth Davies had earlier launched Llanrhian to their useful score with 72 (12 fours) before he went for a risky single with Richard Read (36) and was run out, but cameos from Henry Wright (22), Paul Lewis (16) and Ben Jones (21) had Llanrhian looking the happier team at tea as only Chris Fitzpatrick (2 for 30), Kevin Roberts (1 for 24) and Steve Mills (1 for 42) claimed wickets for Johnston.

Umpires: Dave Brandon & Dai Morris.

Scorer: Delyth Summons.