Sport
Dock fall short in mammoth chase
PEMBROKE DOCK fell just short chasing 301 on Saturday (Jul 13) as their game with Johnston finished in a draw.
Johnston batted first and racked up an outstanding score of 300-9, the highest of any side in the five Divisions.
Things did not start well for Johnston however, as openers Stephen James and Gino Cleal departed early as they were reduced to 25-2.
That became 74-4 as Liam James and Nicholas Davies deaprted cheaply also.
Josh Hicks and Liam Boswell then shared a good fifth wicket stand worth 81 runs as Johnston began to cut loose.
Boswell hit nine fours in his score of 48 but he was then stumped by Scott Griffiths off the bowling of Jake Griffiths.
John Summons and Curtis Hicks were then run out for single figure scores as the Dock hit back.
Hicks and Keegan Codd then shared another good stand before Codd was out on a score of 27 when he was bowled by Nick Daley.
Hicks hit fifteen fours and ten sixes in his superb knock of 157. He was eventually bowled by Niall Brunton but the damage was done as the Dock were set 301 to win the game.
The Dock knew they would need to make a good start if they were to chase that down but they lost Luke Murray early to the bowling of Keegan Codd and Jake Griffiths to the bowling of Liam James on a score of 24.
Nick Daley was also stumped off the bowling of James as they slipped to 44-3.
Scott Griffiths and Archie Wood then shared 57 runs for the fourth wicket but Curtis Hicks struck to have Wood caught by Liam Boswell on a score of 38.
Peter Kingdom was also out to Hicks before Griffiths and Craig Butland shared 82 runs for the sixth wicket.
Butland made a score of 30 and although he was out to the bowling of Liam James, Griffiths carried on to reach his century.
Nicholas Davies ran out Tom Grimwood and had Jamie White as the Dock began to run out of time.
Griffiths hit 25 fours as he finished not out on 126 but it wasn’t enough to see the Dock to victory.
They finished short on 278-8 as both sides settled for an entertaining draw.
Sport
Clarby stand in the way of Goodwick double
Two thrilling semi finals last weekend has meant Goodwick United and Clarbeston Road will meet in the senior cup final this coming Saturday.
Goodwick faced Pennar Robins in their semi final who pushed the champions very hard. Carl Vincent will be disappointed but proud of the Robins as they gave a great account of themselves. However in the end Goodwick’s quality and experience just was too much for Vincent’s team.
The other semi was an absolute thriller, and after a nail biting game Matthew Fox’ Clarby progressed to the final. A offside call has sparked a lot of debate around the county. However it seems that linesman Jenkins made an absolute perfect call so credit to him for that.
Both teams would have wanted a nice week of preparation for the final, maybe without any games to play. Unfortunately this hasn’t been possible due to the fixture backlog and both outfits have played already this week.
Goodwick will be favourites of course, however if anyone can upset the apple cart Saturday it’s this Clarbeston Road team. Fox’ outfit have impressed over and over this season. Without too much pressure on them, they are in a good place going into the final.
The double at one staged looked like the minimum Goodwick would be aiming for this season. However losses in other cup competitions, means its Senior Cup success or just the league title for the outstanding team of the season. Oddly becoming champions with no cup success maybe seen as a huge disappointment considering their dominance this season. A unique pressure. However if anyone can handle that pressure it’s O’Sullivans outfit.
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.
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