Sport
Llangwm hold off Lawrenny to seal place in Harrison Allen Final
LLANGWM booked their place in the final of the Harrison Allen Bowl on Tuesday night (Jul 26) as they beat Lawrenny by 12 runs in Kilgetty.
It was an excellent game with Llangwm posting 198-2 in their 22 overs before Lawrenny fell just short, despite a superb unbeaten century from Kyle Marsh.
Lawrenny had beaten holders Neyland and Cresselly to reach the semis while Llangwm had seen off St Ishmaels and Carew.
Lawrenny won the toss and chose to field and they watched as Llangwm made an excellent start to their innings.
Joe Kiff and Steve Inward shared 106 runs for the first wicket with the former reaching a half century.
Kiff hit ten fours and two sixes in his score of 62 but he was then caught by Troy Purslowe off the bowling of Finlay Lewis.
New man Will Beresford did not last long at the crease as he was bowled by Ryan Morton.
Inward and Steve Mills were then untroubled as they shared 92 runs for the third wicket.
Mills scored 31 while Inward finished just eight runs short of a century on 92.
Needing 199 to win, Lawrenny knew they would to start their reply well but Harry Thomas and Kyle Marsh could only add 21 runs for the first wicket.
Thomas was bowled by Joe Phillips on a score of 11 and soon after Steve Lewis was run out by Noah Davies.
That left Lawrenny on 37-2 but Marsh and Purslowe added 48 runs for the third wicket.
Purslowe added 11 but he was then bowled by Chris Inward. Moments later, Inward trapped Tom Cole leg before for a duck to leave Lawrenny on 85-4.
Marsh had reached his half century prior to those wickets but he was running out of partners as he then saw Ryan Morton caught by Joe Kiff, giving Inward his third wicket.
James Phillips was then bowled by Steve Mills as Lawrenny slipped into further trouble with the score on 112-6.
Marsh and Joe Kidney added 28 runs for the seventh wicket with the former nearing his century.
Kidney was also bowled by Steve Mills as Lawrenny’s hopes appeared all but over.
Marsh had other ideas though as he blasted his way to a century. He hit five fours and 11 sixes as he finished unbeaten on 125.
His last three of those sixes came in the final three balls but it wasn’t enough to secure victory.
It saw them finish just 12 runs short of their target.
The win for Llangwm sees them into their first final since 2013, where they were beaten by Neyland, and they will face the winners of the tie between Haverfordwest and Herbrandston.
The Harrison Allen Bowl final takes place on Saturday, August 27, at Cresselly.
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.
-
News5 days ago
Police issue update on the search for Luke, missing from Pembroke Dock
-
News14 hours ago
Police and air ambulances at ‘serious incident’ at West Wales school
-
Sport6 days ago
Herbrandston Clinch Promotion to Division One
-
News5 days ago
20mph U-turn: Some roads will return to 30mph following public outcry
-
Community5 days ago
Miracle pup finds her forever home after heart-wrenching journey
-
Community2 days ago
County Hall to offer space for community banking
-
Crime3 days ago
Brian Davis: Wanted on suspicion of commercial burglary
-
News7 days ago
First step towards council tax and business rate reform