Neyland Match Report
Cresselly vs Neyland. League fixture, 4th June 2011. Umpires: Tony Scourfield & Huw Davies.With 1/3rd of the league fixtures now gone, and Neyland lying third, narrowly behind Cresselly and Carew, this away trip to Cresselly had all the makings of a key fixture. It was a glorious Summer day with a nice breeze to take the edge off the heat. Neyland entered the game without Scott John and Patrick Hannon (who was opeining a new Asda store in Bradford), but received welcome news on the morning that Cresselly's Simon Cole would also be absent as he was working until 3pm. Though well placed in the league and the current League and Harrison-Allen bowl holders, Cresselly were coming into the game on the back of a poor loss to Llangwm in the Harrison-Allen midweek.
The warmup started badly for Neyland as their fine figure of a captain bent forward to take a catch only to find the entire length of the back of his shorts split wide apart. Nick Koomen then arived a little late from work, showing off his newly bronzed guns. He claimed to have been on a roof for 11 hours the previous day in the sun, but the general concensus was that Nick had been on the fake tan.
Neyland proceeded to lose the toss and were invited to bat. Paul Murray and Sean Hannon took to the crease to face Lyn Richards from the clubhouse end and Steffan Jenkins. Murray took a single from the final ball of the opening over, and then played out a watchful maiden against Richards, whereas Sean raced off the mark with a single from the first ball of the third over. However by the end of the fifth over Murray had raced to 20, taking a particular liking to Steffan Jenkins' bowling who ended his opening spell after conceding 23 runs off 4 overs.
Steffan's was replaced by his brother Sion, and this brought the effect Cresselly were hoping for as a little away movement took took the edge of Hannon's bat, and after checking the ball had carried Neyland were 39 for 1 in the 9th over, Hannon departing for 3.
Andrew Miller joined Murray but after hitting the fielders with a number of good shots he missed a straight one from Sion and departed for just 5. Nick Koomen came in at 4 and clipped a couple of balls in the air though the gaps in the Cresselly field for boundaries. At the other end Murray was now flying, driving beautifully and smashing Sion for a flat six over mid-wicket before he mis-timed one and was caught on 52 in only the 19th over.
Gregg Miller clipped one nice boundary before a very short ball failed to rise as might be expected and took the top of off stump, giving Sion his fourth wicket, with Neyland still well placed at 97 for 4 after 21 overs.
Ashley Sutton then joined Koomen, and the pair took Neyland into a commanding position, reaching 130 after 30 overs, before Neyland slumped to 146 for 7 after 35 as Koomen departed for a good 39, and was soon followed by Patrick Hannon (1) and Paul Miller (9).
Henry Durrant restored order with a timely 15 runs from the number 9 berth. Ashley Sutton was also playing a crucial role, working the ball around well before late cutting for 4 and then depositing the cany Ryan Lewis for a couple of boundaries before the bowler exacted his revenge when Ashley had reached 34.
Gary Lloyd and Scott Jones then did the necessary task of seeing out the final 4 overs, whilst also picking up a useful 8 runs to conclude the Neyland innings in the final over on 187, when Lloyd was run out for 5.
Over tea the rest of the Neyland team were to discover that while Koomen likes the reverse sweep, Ashley Sutton has a penchant for the reverse cowboy. Ashley blushed as the members of the team more knowledgeable in such matters explained to Ashley what he had said. However the damage had been done, and his team-mates wasted no opportunity to remind him of this during the rest of the day, and it is expected that this will probably now be a recurring theme for the rest of the season.
Cresselly certainly impressed with their efforts at tea, and asking for a score they were awarded a deserving 9.5/10. Sean Hannon remarked several times during the ensuing Cresselly innings that he had overindulged and was feeling the consequences.
The second half started well for Neylandas Andrew Harries played around a straight one from Henry Durrant second ball (as he had done first ball of their midweek defeat), and was given lbw. Gary Lloyd was then given the task of bowling from the shorter clubhouse end as Julian Arthur joined captain Phil Williams in the middle. Julian was quickly off the mark with a boundary, and continued to attack Durrant only to find Paul Murray and Gregg Miller in scintilating form at point and cover respectively, each pulling off a couple of brilliant driving stops. At the other end Gaj was keeping things tight, conceding just one run off his first three overs. Finally Julian advanced down the wicket to smash Durrant over long on for six, and suddenly Neyland were faced with the prospect of bowling 40 overs with a much older spare ball. Thankfully stalwart supporters Martyn Rees, Brian Phelan and Ian Miller continued to search for the lost ball, and succesfully returned it a couple of overs later, just in time for Gaj to then take the top of Julian's off stump, leaving Cresselly 18-2 off 8 overs.
Adam Chandler joined Williams at the crease and Cresselly's best period with the bat followed as they advanced the score to 46 off 13 overs, as Williams found the boundary 4 times, including one particularly good drive just wide of mid-off. Andrew Miller's leg spin then replaced Lloyd's off spin (despite an excellent spell of 6 overs 1 for 10), and Cresselly were only able to muster one run from the following 3 overs before Durrant struck again, this time with the prize scalp of Williams, caught behind by Sean Hannon for 22.
Four overs later and Chandler mis-timed a pull off Durrant to Scot Jones at mid-wicket, Neilson Cole was caught behind by Hannon off Miller for 4, and Miller struck again, removing Matthew Morgan lbw for a duck, and Cresselly had crashed to 69 for 6 in the 24th over. A Cresselly victory looked unlikely, and with 19 overs remaining Neyland now stood a good chance of winning the game as close fielders were employed to add further pressure. Durrant finished with fine figures off 3 for 44 off 12 overs and was replaced by Nick Koomen, who started with a maiden and then clean bowled Damian Arthur in his second over (the 14 runs conceded off the over now appearing irrelevant). Sion Jenkins joined Lyn Richards in putting up some stubborn resistance from the number 10 berth, seeing our 6 overs before he perished in the 34th over, again caught behind by Sean Hannon off Miller, giving Miller his 4th wicket of the afternoon.
Miller finished his 12 over spell with 4 for 30, and was replaced by a far more talented leg-spinner in young Scott Jones. Jones and Ashley Sutton then bowled maidens from each end, striving for the final wicket before the temptation became too much for Richards as he came down the wicket, missed and was stumped by Hannon off Jones for 21 in the 40th over. Neyland celebrated in style, lifting Jones high into the air and carrying him off the pitch in triumph.
The 30 points for the victory liften Neyland temporarily to the top of the table, only for Carew to narrowly reclaim the top spot the following day with a 2 wicket victory over Herbrandston (the match having been postponed by a day due to a funeral taking place in Herbie on the Saturday). ... match report:
Match Scorecard:
