NEYLAND once again claimed the Duggie Morris Cup as they beat Lawrenny by seven wickets in the final on Sunday (Jul 21).

A good crowd gathered at Oatfield Park in Burton and they saw the top two teams in Division 1 put on an exciting game.

At the interval, Neyland held a 13-run lead and they then bowled Lawrenny out to set themselves 104 to win.

Ashley Sutton and Andrew Miller were the heroes for Neyland as they saw them to their target and afterwards, Nick Koomen was named as man of the match.

Neyland decided to bowl first on winning the toss and that proved to be a good decision as Henry Durrant had Harry Thomas caught by Andrew Miller for a duck.

Kurtis Marsh got the scoreboard ticking but after he reached a score of 20, he was caught by Patrick Bellerby off the bowling of Miller.

Bellerby then took a superb catch on the boundary to give Patrick Hannon his first wicket and, more importantly, dismiss Brad McDermott-Jenkins.

That left Lawrenny on 41-3 but James Phillips and Steve Lewis shared 90 runs to give their side a decent first innings total.

Lewis finished unbeaten on 38 while James Phillips hit seven fours and two sixes in his score of 68 not out.

That saw Lawrenny to their total of 131-3 and they very nearly picked up a wicket as Neyland began their reply.

Koomen edged behind but keeper James Phillips could not take the catch.

He and Bellerby went on to share 47 runs for the first wicket but Koomen was then bowled by Jamie Lewis on a score of 37.

Bellerby and Ashley Sutton then shared 68 runs for the second wicket but Brad McDermott-Jenkins struck as he bowled Bellerby on a score of 47.

Lawrenny began to hit back as Henry Durrant was trapped leg before by Ryan Morton and the same bowler then had Nathan Banner caught by Joe Kidney.

Sutton finished unbeaten on 34 as Neyland reached 144-5 in their first twenty overs, giving them a 13-run lead at tea.

Lawrenny knew they would need to bat well to set Neyland a challenging target and they made a good start as openers Harry Thomas and Kurtis Marsh shared 54 runs for the first wicket.

Marsh made his way to a score of 23 but he then hit the ball to Geraint Rees off the bowling of Patrick Hannon.

Thomas was then bowled by Andrew Miller on a score of 24 and Hannon then had Brad McDermott-Jenkins caught by Nick Koomen.

Nick Koomen dives forward to take a catch

Hannon then had Ryan Morton caught by brother Sean who then stumped Thomas Cole to give Patrick his third wicket.

Nick Koomen then bowled Joe Kidney for a score of 20 and with the last two balls of the same over he bowled James Phillips and had Rob Williams caught by Sean Hannon for a golden duck.

With the first ball of his next over he had bowled James Buckle to claim an excellent hat trick.

Steve Lewis made a late score of 18 before he was caught by Koomen off the bowling of Nathan Banner but Lawrenny were bowled out for 117.

That meant they Neyland would need just 105 to win but Lawrenny made the breakthrough early on as Jamie Lewis bowled Patrick Bellerby.

Koomen made a score of 18 but he was then caught by James Phillips off the bowling of Jamie Lewis and when Brad McDermott-Jenkins bowled Nathan Banner, Lawrenny had hope with Neyland on 47-3.

However, Neyland had other ideas as Ashley Sutton and Andrew Miller steered their side towards victory.

Miller finished unbeaten on 30 while Sutton was not out on 36 as Neyland won the Duggie Morris for the sixth time in seven years.

Afterwards, Pembroke County Cricket Club Chairman Paul Webb thanked Burton for hosting the final as well as the scorers, umpires, sponsors and press and praised both teams for putting on an excellent final.

Speaking to the Herald, Neyland Captain Sean Hannon said: “Obviously delighted with the win, although we’ve won it a few times recently we don’t get bored of winning.

“Lawrenny are a good side so we were wary of the their threat. Being experienced in finals helped us I think as we knew how to handle the occasion, our players once again stood up in a big game.

“We fielded really well all day and that together with our running between the wickets was a big factor in the win. Lawrenny did well to restrict us to a 13 run lead as we were heading for a 20-30 run advantage so credit to them for that.

“The third innings was always going to be key and although their openers started well once the first wicket fell we knew we had to keep the pressure on and we did as the bowers done their job to leave us with a getable target.”