Sport
Burton seal title and return to Division 1
BURTON sealed their return to Division 1 on Saturday (Aug 20) as they beat Johnston by 56 runs.
The result also secured the Division 2 title for Burton and afterwards they celebrated a successful season which saw their ladies win the Cup and their second team win Division 4.
Going into the game, Burton were just two points ahead of nearest challengers Herbrandston and knew if they didn’t win their game, Herbie could have won the title.
Johnston won the toss on Saturday and they chose to field. Burton went on to score 226-8 from their 45 overs.
Toby Hayman and Richard James opened up with 45 runs but Gary James made the breakthrough as he had Richard James caught by Lewis Boswell on a score of 25.
Hayman and Jonathan Venables added another 40 runs for the second wicket before Venables was also caught by Boswell off the bowling of James on a score of 21.
Toby Hayman had hit seven four in his score of 38 but he was then caught by Darren Lewis off the bowling of James.
Luke Hayman scored 10 but he was bowled by James and soon after Lee Summons had Martin James caught by Boswell.
That saw Burton slip to 99-5 and it was soon 123-6 as Morgan Scale was caught by Josh Hicks off the bowling of Nick Davies on a score of 14.
James Davies scored 15 but he was then bowled by Summons as Burton were reduced to 142-7.
However, Robert Webb and Dan Ridge batted well, sharing 84 runs for the eighth wicket.
Ridge cracked two sixes and six fours in his score of 46 but he was then caught by Chris Fitzpatrick off the bowling of Johnny Summons.
It left Webb unbeaten on a score of 44 that included seven fours. That meant that Johnston would need 227 to win the game.
Chris Fitzpatrick and Lee Summons shared 46 runs for Johnston at the start of their reply but Fitzpatrick was the first to fall as he was bowled by Luke Hayman.
Summons and Josh Hicks added another 41 runs for the second wicket but Hicks was then trapped leg before by Morgan Scale.
Summons then reached his half century but Lewis Boswell was bowled by Scale on a score of 11.
Gary James then fell to the bowling of Dan Ridge who then also bowled Keegan Codd.
Inbetween those wickets was the wicket of Summons who had reached a score of 85 after hitting eight fours and three sixes. Morgan Scale bowled him and the wicket of Codd soon after left Johnston on 154-6.
That soon became 155-7 as Johnny Summons was run out by Iestyn Evans.
Gethin Bateman was then caught by Toby Hayman off the bowling of Ridge who then also took the wicket of Emma Summons.
James Davies then bowled Darren Lewis to bring the game to a close and the Burton celebrations could begin.
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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