National Village Cup Semi-Final:

 



 

Neyland (102 all out) lost to Alvanley (188 for 9) by 86 runs

 
Umpires: Bob Spitz & Phil Haines
Scorers: John Laugharne & Chris Jones
Venue: The Athletic Ground, Neyland

 
 

Neyland’s players and supporters’ dreams of a trip to London for an appearance in the National Village Cup Final at the home of cricket were ended at The Athletic Ground as they were well beaten by a very strong and street-wise Alvanley side with that coveted prize firmly in their grasp as they made their way back to Cheshire.
 
They arrived with a reputation as a side whose bowling was stronger than their batting and Neyland were given early hope after the visitors won the toss, elected to bat first and promptly found themselves at a perilous 1 for 2 as opener Alex Reid was adjudged lbw to Patrick Hannon and then No 3 Lee Ainsworth was well caught in the slips by Nick Koomen off Hannon, both without scoring!

 

Alvanley fight back steadily . . .

This forced Alvanley into using up valuable overs so that skipper Mike Rowlands and keeper Simon Gee, batting at No 4 could start a fight back but as Neyland fielded well and kept things tight via Hannon and Nathan Banner (0 for 16 in six overs) at the half way mark in the innings Alvanley stood at 56 for 2.
 
But this experienced duo then began to increase the tempo and Neyland were unable to keep their stranglehold on, and when Rowlands finally departed for 45 in 51 balls (six fours), well caught at square leg by Ross Hardy off Nick Koomen’s slow stuff, it was evident that the visitors were ready to go on a hunt for runs.
 
But as they tried to go after Koomen they lost the further cheap wickets of Chris Wright (to a diving catch by Sutton) and Steve Charles (neatly stumped by Sean Hannon) – and when Gee (five fours and a six in his 55 from 72 balls) was coolly pouched by Patrick Bellerby on the mid-wicket boundary it gave Koomen figures of 4 for 38 from his seven overs.

 

. . . But attack with gusto late on!

At this stage Alvanley were still a little rocky on 124 for 6 with only eight overs to go but with a few fielding errors and an unusual 24 extras in Alvanley’s final tally there was a flurry of runs as Andy Bennion belted a six and four in his 14 (bowled by Brad McDermott-Jenkins) and  No 9 Chris Charles belted 17 runs in only nine balls – and suddenly Alvanley had finished their 40 overs with a score of 188 for 9 that many local pundits was about 25 runs over par in the circumstances.

 

Neyland lose early wickets . . .

And that is just the way it played out because Alvanley opening bowlers Chris Charles and Jimmy Ecclestone looking pacy from the outset, with Nick Koomen dropped from Charles’ fourth delivery by keeper Gee.
 
Ecclestone wasn’t quite as quick but was a model of consistency and he had Koomen caught for 4 in 12 deliveries and the very next ball trapped Ashley Sutton lbw first ball to have Neyland a little shaky at 10 for 2.
 
But it became a very serious 31 for 4 as Patrick Bellerby departed for 6 in 12 balls, including one of only six boundaries struck by Neyland throughout their entire innings - and Scott Jones, who had dropped anchor with 12 from 32 balls, including one four, saw Ecclestone finish his eight over shift with two maidens and four wickets for only 15 runs.

. . . And never recover!

Ross Hardy had been held back to the No 6 berth but the biggest hitter in the Neyland camp was run out for three – a decision that he, and large numbers in the crowd, felt was a little unlucky to say the least, plunging Neyland into crisis at 38 for 5.
 
Nathan Banner showed typical grit with 24 (one four) alongside Gregg Miller (8 in 24 balls) but both departed at 65, followed on the same score by Brad McDermott-Jenkins, who became Steve Charles third victim.
 
Andrew Miller put his wealth of experience to good effect as he stroked three boundaries in his 23 not out, made at almost a run a ball, and there was token defiance from skipper Sean Hannon as his 12 (30 deliveries) included a massive six to fine leg, to give slow bowler Charles a 4 for 19 haul – but when Patrick Hannon was run out without scoring it ended Neyland’s brave battle in this competition after 33.2 overs.

 

And finally . . .

Perhaps it was a game too far against such quality opposition because, along with similar success in the Welsh Cup, they have played almost every Saturday and Sunday for many weeks and travelled many, many miles.
 
But Sean Hannon and his players, club officials and supporters can take immense credit for the way that they have quite literally flown the flags of the town, Pembrokeshire and Wales with real pride and quality performances in their epic journey which sadly fell just short at the final hurdle.

 

SCORECARDS:

Alvanley Batting:
Mike Rowlands ct Ross Hardy b Nick Koomen 45
Alex Reid lbw b Patrick Hannon 0
Lee Ainsworth b Patrick Hannon 0
Simon Gee ct Patrick Bellerby b Nick Koomen 55
Chris Wright ct Ashley Sutton b Nick Koomen 8
Steve Charles st Sean Hannon b Nick Koomen 7
Charlie Fletcher ct Brad McDermott-Jenkins b Ross Hardy 9
Andy Bennion b Brad McDermott-Jenkins 14
Chris Charles ct Ashley Sutton b Ross Hardy 17
Jimmy Ecclestone not out 9
Ben Tumulty not out 0
Extras 24
Total ( 9 wickets) 188
 
Neyland Bowling:
Patrick Hannon 8-1-17-2; Nathan Banner 6-2-16-0; Andrew Miller 8-0-35-0; Ross Hardy 6-0-45-1; Nick Koomen 7-0-38-4; Brad McDermott-Jenkins 5-0-22-1
 
Neyland Batting:
Nick Koomen ct Alex Reid b Jimmy Ecclestone 4
Scott Jones b Jimmy Ecclestone 12
Ashley Sutton lbw b Jimmy Ecclestone 0
Patrick Bellerby ct Mike Rowlands b Jimmy Ecclestone 6
Nathan Banner lbw b Stephen Charles 24
Ross Hardy run out 3
Gregg Miller ct Lee Ainsworth b Stephen Charles 8
Andrew Miller not out 23
Brad McDermott-Jenkins b Stephen Charles 0
Sean Hannon b Stephen Charles 12
Patrick Hannon run out 0
Extras 10
Total (all out) 102
 
Alvanley Bowling:
Chris Charles 8-1-26-0; Jimmy Ecclestone 8-2-15-4; Ben Tumulty 8-0-26-0; Steve Charles 7-1-19-4; Leer Ainsworth 2-0-15-0