Sport
Neyland through to Duggie Morris last eight
DUGGIE MORRIS cup holders Neyland are through to the last eight of this year’s competition after they beat Cresselly at the Athletic Ground on Monday night (May 22).
The game was a repeat of the final last year and Cresselly brought a strong team looking to avenge that defeat.
Neyland were asked to bat first after Cresselly won the toss and they made a good start as Paul Murray and Ashley Sutton shared 28 for the first wicket.
Sutton was the first man out as he was caught by Ryan Lewis off the bowling of Neil Gregory for a score of 5.
Murray was joined in the middle by Andrew Miller and the pair put on 41 runs for the second wicket.
Miller played well for a score of 20 but was stumped by Neilson Cole off the bowling of Matthew Lewis and that left Neyland 69-2.
From then on the home side were unable to get any real partnerships going as Nick Koomen, Steven Murray and Henry Durrant all fell cheaply to the bowling of Mike Shaw (4-14).
Shaw then picked up his fourth wicket as he has opener Murray caught by Ryan Lewis. Murray had played brilliantly for his knock of 56, hitting six fours and two sixes.
That left Neyland on 89-6 but they were indebted to Greg Miller who finished the innings not out on 28 to guide Neyland to their total of 134-8.
Cresselly made a similarly good start to their reply as they shared 29 for the first wicket before Adam Chandler was caught by Ashley Sutton, at the second attempt, off the bowling of Nick Koomen.
Geraint Rees then bowled Alex Bayley to reduce Cresselly to 35-2.
Izzard and Matthew Webb then shared 33 runs for the third wicket to put Cresselly in a good position after 13 overs.
However, Webb was then run out in comical circumstances as Izzard chose to run after a shot but Webb chose not to leaving Sean Hannon with the easiest of tasks to knock the bails off.
Ryan Lewis was then caught by Greg Miller off the bowling of Jamie Smith for a duck as Cresselly slipped to 68-4.
Cresselly’s task got even harder soon after as Izzard, who had played well for a score of 46, was caught by Hannon at the second attempt off the bowling of Smith.
Cresselly continued to play their shots but continually lost wickets and another run out left them on 91-7.
Nick Koomen then picked up another wicket to leave the visitors on 104-8 off 18 overs and they were eventually all out for 122.
The win sees Neyland into the quarter final where they will play Pembroke Dock at home on June 6.
The other quarter final ties are; Lamphey v Carew (June 6), Narberth v Whitland (June 7), Lawrenny v Haverfordwest (June 8).
Sport
Swifts eyes on double.
Monkton Swifts reserves have blown away the second division this season and now have the double in their sights. They face Merlins Bridge reserves in the semi final of the second division cup and lived up to their favourites tag.
Swifts won comfortably with key player Butland getting three assists and Josh Sture grabbing a brace. Waterman and Rhys Sture added the other goals as outstanding Monkton won 4-0.
Herbrandston and Johnston played in the other semi final and this was a much harder fixture to call. The promoted Herbie a younger and perhaps less physical outfit in comparison to the Tigers. Johnston quickly took control of the game when they found themselves two up after just 29 minutes.
However when Scott Murray was shown a red card just eight minutes later, Herbie would have been confident of staging a comeback. Despite being a man light, Johnston held Herbie until the final minute of the 90, when Alex Ouzman gave Herbie late hope. The Tigers held firm however and progress to the final where they will be underdogs. A tag that I’m sure the players and manager Steven Allen won’t mind too much.
Sport
Tenby hit five against downbeat Bridge
On a beautiful day in Tenby, the hosts welcomed Merlins Bridge to The Clicketts, fresh from their West Wales semi final defeat midweek.
The Bridge squad was missing some influential players after picking up some injuries and the visiting team asked questions over the fitness of the pitch, which, according to the Bridge management, was too hard.
The referee waved these away and the game was on, with the Tenby squad clearly thinking they were already in the heads of the Bridge team.
Almost straight from Kick off Tenby set their stall out with some great attacking play, which Jerome Mansbridge benefitted from in just the second minute putting the home team ahead.
The bridge players weren’t at the races and Tenby capitalised scoring a further 4 first half goals, including a Mansbridge hat trick, leaving the away team bewildered and 5-0 down at half time.
What could have been a hugely embarrassing defeat for a team that harboured title hopes at the beginning of the season, turned around somewhat at half time, when Dai Davies, the club captain, almost singlehandedly dragged them to a much higher level in the second half, ensuring his players kept their discipline and worked hard against a very good Tenby team. Undoubtedly Merlin’s Bridge were the better team in the second period, but the damage had already been done in the first half, and despite Bridges best efforts, the score remained 5-0 to the home team.
In a game which saw Tenby jump to 4th in the league, they can be hugely proud of their season and will look to build on that for their next in Division one.
A fantastic game on a beautiful day with a good home crowd watching, the team from the Clicketts will be justifiably happy with their afternoons work.
Tenby 5-0 Merlins Bridge.
Sport
Preseli poses a challenge for novice crews
THE END of April will see the popular novice night rally organised by the Teifi Valley Motor Club being held in Pembrokeshire. On the weekend of 27th and 28th April, Rali Bro Preseli will see 75 novice crews tackling the winding and challenging roads that Pembrokeshire has to offer.
Clerks of the Course, father and son Richard and Jason Davies along with Aled Richards have a terrific route lined up for competitors. Starting as usual at the Crymych Mart, the route will appeal to all novice drivers and navigators.
“It will offer a bit of everything. It will be challenging but easy to follow with some whites thrown in the mix. Aled has designed the whole route and we’ve done the donkey work,” said Jason, now in his second year as Clerk of the Course.
As regular competitors, Jason and Richard wanted to give something back to the sport and they enjoy being on the organising side of the things.
Jason, who won the Bro Preseli with his father in 2013, explained: “We’ve competed in the Preseli on several occasions, and we decided to give something back to the sport and that’s why dad and I thought it would be a good idea to help.
“It’s interesting to see how it all comes together and the work involved, and there’s a lot of that,”
He also won the event with Tim Hand in 2016 and was fourth overall in 2019.
Aled Richards, Joint Clerk of the Course, knows the routes of Rali Bro Preseli like the back of his hand having only ever missed it once since its formation in 2003. He’s driven on four of them in 2005 – 2008 with the best result of a 4th place with Arwel Jenkins in the navigator seat.
Aled has been Chief Marshal on Rali Bro Preseli since 2013 before moving on to being Clerk of the Course this year and competitors can look forward to a great event.
Aled told the Herald: “This is the first time I’ve been Clerk of the Course, but we have a good team with Dylan Davies as Chief Marshal and Olwen Davies as Secretary.
“I live some 30 miles away from the actual route, but we’ve been around it twice and I’m confident it will be a good yet challenging night. Some of the whites are currently waterlogged but the farmers have been brilliant and offered to help clear the tracks before the event and we are very grateful.”
The rally, kindly sponsored by Arjay Factors and Home James Taxis, will have four official Spectator Points on the night and the locations will be available at signing on.
The Clerks of the Course and the Teifi Valley Motor Club would like to thank all those who have helped to organise the event – landowners, homes en route, petrol at Brian Llewellyn a’i Ferched, and the start and finish venues – Crymych Mart and the Teifi Waterside Hotel.
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