Neyland beat Cresselly by 11 runs in DR Morris Cup

Neyland remain on course to continue their recent DR Morris Cup domination as Sean Hannon’s side stifled the run chase of Cresselly last night to prevail by 11 runs in their quarter final.

The home side posted 157-4 in their 20 overs as Scott Jones top scored with 38, and although the Doves kept wickets in hand for the bulk of their reply, they left themselves too much to do at the death despite opener Dan Sutton finishing 70 not out.

It means the cup holders will now face Haverfordwest in the final four for the right to meet Whitland or Lawrenny in the final.

Neyland openers Nick Koomen and Scott Jones, playing his last game before a stint abroad this summer, gave their side a smooth start as they took 14 off a Tom Murphy over on route to posting 36-0 in five overs.

That moved on to 46-0 until an eventful eighth over from Matthew Lewis, which saw Jones dropped by Sutton and one ball later Koomen rubbed salt into the wounds with a reverse sweep for four.

But he went for the same shot off the next delivery and was trapped LBW for 27 (four fours), but it didn’t stem the momentum as Henry Durrant joined Jones in pushing things on.

In the 12th over the pair shared three boundaries as they took 15 off Lewis, and then Jones promptly took Tom Arthur for two fours straight after only to be then trapped LBW by the same bowler for 38 (four fours).

The introduction of talented young spinner Josh Lewis helped swings thing further towards Cresselly as he bowled Durrant (25) with his second ball - and continued to stifle the home team before No 4 Gregg Miller cut loose by hitting him for a straight six in the 16th over.

The youngster had revenge though when Miller (14) holed out to Murphy, but his brother Andrew continued to keep things with ticking as he made 31 not out (two fours) and was joined by Hannon (7 not out) who capitalised on a Murphy no ball to launch a free hit for a one bounce four.

That helped take Neyland to 157-4, with Josh Lewis finishing 2-32, Matthew 1-29, Sam Harts 0-22, Arthur 1-31 and Murphy 0-36 off four over stints.

It was Patrick Hannon who then set the tone for a disciplined Neyland display in the field by starting with a maiden over, but then Phil ‘Taffy’ Williams got things moving with two fours off Durrant.

And it was Williams who was the aggressor early on as he scored 27 (five fours) of his side’s first 32 runs, before in the seventh over he was cruelly run out at the non-striker’s end when Sutton’s drive deflected off bowler Hannon and onto the stumps.

That brought in Simon Cole and he began to get going by twice taking Andrew Miller to the fence but after 10 overs, the Doves were 55-1 and still well behind the rate.

But Sutton began to accelerate with a big six off Tom Pritchard and after Cole was put down by Durrant off Geraint Rees in the 15th over, his partner took advantage to crack successive fours and take his team past three figures.

They progressed that to 126-1 with two overs to go, meaning an equation of 30 off 12 balls.

But although Sutton past 50 it was Sean Hannon who came from behind the stumps to strike a crucial blow, skittling Cole with 10 balls left after he’d reached 35 (four fours).

Alex Bayley came in and had little choice but to swing to the hills, and after a wide first up found the fence with his second ball, only to perish straight after when he was caught on the boundary by Koomen.

It left Cresselly needing 21 off Rees in the final over, but Sutton and Matthew Lewis (4) could only manage nine from the first five balls before the latter was clean bowled off the final delivery, leaving Sutton unbeaten in vain on 70 not out (five fours and two sixes).

For Neyland, who have won the DR Morris Cup every year bar one since capturing in 2013, Patrick Hannon finished 1-11, Durrant 0-30, Andrew Miller 0-25, Geraint Rees 1-47, Tom Pritchard 0-30 and Sean Hannon 2-11.

The dates and venues for the semi finals will be confirmed on Sunday.

Umpires: Dave Brandon and Dave Bonner.

Scorers: Teagan Cartwright and John Laugharne.