IT’S the one they all want to win. The Harrison Allen Final takes place this Saturday (Aug 28) with Neyland taking on Carew.

As always the game will be played at Cresselly Cricket Club and it promises to be another exciting final.

Neyland won the competition in 2020, beating Haverfordwest in the final, and having won the league last weekend, they will be keen to make it a double-winning season.

Carew though are playing in their first final since 2012 and will be looking to lift the trophy for the first time since 2010.

Carew beat Haverfordwest in that final but you have to go all the way back to 1971 for the last time Neyland played Carew in the final.

That occasion saw Neyland come out on top with Stuart Watts putting in a man of the match performance in that game.

50 years on and the two are set to do battle once again and with both teams evenly matched it is hard to choose a winner.

Division 1

In the league, Neyland finished top while Carew finished in fourth place after their final game of the season was abandoned.

The league games between the two produced similar results with Neyland winning on both occasions.

In May, Carew were bowled out for 122 before Neyland reached their target with seven wickets in hand.

Henry Durrant and Ross Hardy starred on that occasion for the hosts and there was a similar result when the two sides met in the reverse fixture in July.

Carew scored 171-9 in their innings with Hayden Shapcott scoring 45 and James Hinchcliffe scoring 32.

Hardy was again amongst the wickets before Nick Koomen scored 54 and Nathan Banner finished unbeaten on 57 to see Neyland to another seven-wicket win.

Although the results may have been the same, cup cricket is never the same.

Route to the final

Carew began their route to the final in May with a trip to Saundersfoot. Carew were kept to a low total of 122-9 in their innings but they were able to restrict Saundersfoot to 113-7 in their reply to win by nine runs.

In the second round, Carew beat Narberth in another close game.

They scored 151-4 first up before Narberth fell only two runs short in their chase on 149-8.

In the quarter finals, Carew made an excellent total of 236-3 in their innings against Kilgetty.

Lewis Hicks scored 65 and Nick Davies added 55 before Carew were able to bowl Kilgetty out for 137 to win by 99 runs.

The semi-finals saw them go up against Division 2 side Burton in Neyland. They successfully chased down Burton’s total of 142-5 to win by eight wickets.

Luke Hicks was again on form scoring 53 to see his side into the final.

Holders Neyland had a bye in the first round and they hosted Hook in the second round.

Neyland proved too strong with Patrick Bellerby scoring an unbeaten 101 in their total of 177-3.

They then restricted Hook to 81-9 in their reply to seal an excellent win.

Neyland played Lawrenny in their last-eight tie and they made it through to the last four with a narrow win.

The home side scored 145-8 in their innings with Ross Hardy scoring 58.

A score of 52 from Kurtis Marsh wasn’t enough for Lawrenny though as they could only reach 138-5 in reply, Brad McDermott-Jenkins taking three wickets for Neyland.

That set up another big clash against Cresselly in the semi-final which was played at Kilgetty.

Neyland batted first again and scored 160-5 in their innings with Ross Hardy scoring 41 and Ashley Sutton finished unbeaten on 52.

Cresselly pushed Neyland all the way with Iwan Izzard finishing unbeaten on 98 but they fell just two runs short on 158-4.

In their run to the final, Carew have shown they have the firepower to post a big total whilst also being able to defend a smaller one.

Neyland have also shown their ability to build a total and that they can restrict their opponents.

This season has also seen Neyland reach the Village Cup semi-final and Welsh Cup quarter finals and whilst they were beaten in both of those games, Sean Hannon’s team will have taken a lot from those experiences.

Having played on Saturday and Sunday for much of August and throughout the season, Saturday’s title win will have given them a big boost ahead of the final.

The Harrison Allen will represent their 36^th game of the season and they will look to end on a high.

Carew also reached the Duggie Morris final earlier this year where they were beaten by Lawrenny and they will be keen to avoid another final defeat.

Their final game of the season was abandoned last Saturday but the team did take part in the Aled Davies Memorial tournament on Sunday.

Carew won that and they will look to follow that up this weekend.

What the captains say

Carew captain Shaun Whitfield said: “We’re definitely looking forward to it, especially after losing the Duggie Morris final.

“It should be a good game against a good team. They are the best team in our league, well captained, and well drilled so we know it’s going to be a tough game.

“You normally have to beat the top teams to win the Harrison Allen so this Saturday will be no different.

“We’ve got a full team to choose from, there should be a big crowd and a good atmosphere and we’re just really looking forward to it.”

Neyland captain Sean Hannon said: “We’ve had some good contests with them over the years. We had a very close game at the quarter final stage last season so we are not underestimating them, they are a good side with some dangerous players.

“It’s a great day out and you never get bored of taking part in it so I’m really looking forward to it.

“With our win last weekend it’s sort of taken a little bit of pressure off us next week as we’ve already got one trophy in the cabinet. It’s not going to distract us from the Harrison Allen though as that’s the trophy everyone talks about.”

A final word

Both teams are expecting a tough game and are keen to get their hands on the trophy so it promises to be another exciting final.

With spectators allowed in to sporting events once again, it will only add to the atmosphere.

The two teams are evenly matched so we won’t be predicting a winner. We’ll let the cricket do the talking.

May the best team win.