Neyland Match Report

Neyland vs StIshmaels. League, Saturday 30th May 2009.
The great Roman Gaius Julius Caesar famously said ‘Veni Vidi Vici’ which translates into ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ and this wonderful little phrase was certainly apt for the Neyland Jackals as they welcomed St Ishmaels to the Athletic Ground which was bathed in splendid sunshine.
Captain Andrew Miller won the toss and invited his opposite number Peter Bradshaw to bat on a track that looked in great nick.
Tish were without a number of players including the dangerous James Salter and this seemed to spur the Neyland team on in the knowledge that another win would put them back in the title mix.
The opening duo of Henry ‘Victor Conte’ Durrant and Patrick Hannon ripped through the top order with an opening spell that was more than matched by the efforts in the field, indeed the way that Jackals hunt their pray in the wild was matched by the efforts of the fielders as nothing was let through all day (with the exception of a certain A. Sutton – although as the author of this article has displayed the catching tendencies of a paraplegic leprechaun this season he is no position to comment).
The opening duo for Neyland succeeded in rocking Tish to 60-4 with only the dangerous Jon Pawlett left of the recognised batsmen. He seemed to be relishing the bowling of skipper Miller as he hit 3 massive maximums, one of which NASA are still keeping an eye on from their space shuttle programme. However in this game of clichés, Pawlett went to the well one too many times and danced his way back a turning leg break to be stumped by Sean Hannon, much to the delight of Miller who no doubt was beginning to feel like Malcolm Nash at the hands of Sir Vivian Richards.
However Tish haven’t been as successful as they have been in recent years for nothing and their fighting qualities were once again demonstrated by the wagging of a tail that brought their total up to a respectable 131.
With the twin towers esque collapse from the week before firmly in their minds, the Neyland team were taking nothing for granted against a very strong opposition attack. The opening duo of Murray and John took no risks in an opening stand of 45 that acted as the bedrock of the Neyland reply before both falling to the bowling of Pawlett. However the middle order of Miller and Kooman both oozed class with some stroke play of the very highest order and looked in no trouble at all and eased their way to the 132 total needed to pick up 29 points and see the Jackals surge up the league table.