Pembroke 2nds round off a great season in style

 
Venue: Neyland Community Hub:
Umpires: Rob Bellerby & Jon Willington
Scores: Ffion Ashman & Ginny Davies
 
Pembroke Seconds were deserved winners of the divisional play-offs as they eased home against both Cresselly and Burton after topping the league table with only one defeat – but all three games were ultra-competitive, with the results in doubt until the final few overs, with Cresselly runners-up after beating Burton in the first match.
 
If Pembroke and Burton were favourites to reach the play-offs almost from the start of the campaign it was Cresselly who made the greatest strides over the season as experienced cricketers Steffan Jenkins, Tom Arthur and Tom Rowlands were joined by talented youngsters in Griff Jenkins, Ollie Rowlands, Archie Hillier-Wood and especially Charlie Arthur’s indoor play came on in leaps and bounds, which not only showed on this occasion but also when they beat the Pembs Seniors to edge out those experienced players in their final league fixture to qualify by just two points.
 
One of the amazing facts that emerged in three games was the inordinately high number of extras conceded as all three teams struggled with the swing on offer from the new balls used for the play-offs so that there was an unbelievable tally of 113 extras – with 53 in the first game, 40 in the second and only 20 in the third as both balls had been used a fair bit by then!
 
In the post-match presentations it was Martin Jones, the vice-chairman of the Pembroke CCC who led the way, ably assisted by league organiser Patrick Hannon , who rightly deserved the praise heaped on him by all the teams, officials – and PembrokeshireSport.co.uk!
 
Will Davies received the silverware on behalf of his Pembroke colleagues, who had looked the best team in the division all season and completed a great indoor season for the club since the first team had come third in the play-offs.
 
The ‘Most Runs in the Season’ award went to Will Ridge (Burton) who shaded out Billy Wood (Pembroke) by three runs and it was even closer in the
‘Most Wickets of the Season’ category as Tom Rowlands (Cresselly) and Charlie Perkins (Pembroke) were the recipients, although Charlie was unable to attend the evening and will receive his trophy at a later date.





 
 

SCORECARDS AND MATCH REPORTS:
 
Match One

 

Burton  (118 for 4) lost to Cresselly (119 for 4) by 2 wickets

 
Burton started match one as clear favourites after their powerful performances over recent weeks and although they lost Dan Ridge early they were soon in the groove via Will Ridge and Morgan Scale before both retired and at the half-way stage were 64 for 1 – but Cresselly bounced back with the speedy removal of Dan Llewellyn, Dan John and Nick Jones.
 
But that brought back their ‘big guns’ in Will Ridge and Scale, who belted 23 runs in their last two overs as ‘Mr Extras’ also chipped in with a massive 27 runs in the innings as Tom Arthur and Griff Jenkins were the pick of the Cresselly bowlers.
 
Stefan Jenkins, Tom Rowlands and Charlie Arthur gave Cresselly a decent start as 43 runs accrued in four overs but then they also suffered a mid-innings blip so that they needed 42 runs from their final overs - where Tom Arthur and Archie Hillier-Wood got on top of the Burton bowling and there were fielding errors as both ran well between the wickets and punished the odd loose ball, as Arthur did with a cracking straight six to level matters – and a wide delivery took their extras tally to 26 and earned Cresselly victory!
 
Burton Batting
Will Ridge not out 33
Dan Ridge run out 5
Morgan Scale not out 38
Dan Llewellyn run out 5
Nick Jones ct Stefan Jenkins b Tom Arthur 0
Dan John run out 10
Extras 27
Total (4 wickets) 118
 
Cresselly Bowling:
Charlie Arthur 3-0-35-0, Tom Arthur 3-0-21-1, Archie Hillier-Wood 2-0-17-0; Tom Rowlands 1-0-14-0, Griff Jenkins 3-0-23-0
 
Cresselly Batting:
Tom Rowlands run out 23
Stefan Jenkins ct & b Morgan Scale 10
Charlie Arthur b Dan Ridge 22
Archie Hillier-Wood not out 16
Griff Jenkins run out 5
Tom Arthur not out 17
Extras 26
Total (4 wickets) 119
 
Burton Bowling:
Nick Jones 3-0-42-0, Morgan Scale 3-0-21-1, Dan Llewellyn1-0-5-0. Dan Ridge 3-0-29-1, Dan John 1-5-0-5-0




 


 

Match Two

 




 

Cresselly (112 for 5) lost to Pembroke 2nds (116 for 4) by 2 wickets

 
Cresselly had been the only team to beat Pembroke in the league season and for  short while they were actually favourites to repeat the success as they set Pembroke a challenge and their opponents looked comfortable at 38 for 0 but three balls later were 38 for 3 to have their large band of supporters biting their nails!
 
Cresselly had suffered an early blow when they lost Stefan Jenkins and co-opener Tom Rowlands didn’t get his customary number of runs, both well-caught off the wall by Jack Davies – but Charlie Arthur batted well to reach retirement on 25, with Archie Hillier-Wood supporting with good runs so that although Ollie Rowlands and Tom Arthur went cheaply, Charlie Arthur returned and blitzed his was past the half-century mark.
 
They were again assisted by extras aplenty as he took his team to a reasonable 112 for 5 in their allotted 12 overs, despite tight bowling by Wood and Davidson-Randell, who took two wickets apiece.
 
Pembroke openers Billy Wood and Ceri Brace gave their side an excellent start with 38 on the board but then they had a bad dose of the collywobbles as they lost Will Davies to a run out and Will Davidson-Randell and  Andrew Price followed in the next two balls so that Cresselly sniffed a chance, especially when Jack Davies soon followed.
 
But their demise saw the return of the Pembroke openers in Wood and Brace, who had survived a very close lbw appeal earlier on – and they finished with 23 extras and both having big unbeaten scores to take Pembroke home in 10.5 overs, but with Cresselly having pushed them all the way in an exciting tussle.
 
Cresselly  Batting:
Tom Rowlands ct Jack Davies b Will Davidson-Randell 12
Stefan Jenkins ct Jack Davies b Billy Wood 0
Charlie Arthur not out 52
Archie Hillier-Wood ct Will Davidson-Randell b Billy Wood 21
Ollie Rowlands ct Andrew Price b Will Davidson-Randell 0
Tom Arthur ct Andrew Price b Ceri Brace 4
Extras 23
Total (112 for 5)
 
Pembroke Bowling:
Andrew Price 3-0-28-0, Billy Wood 3-0-32-2, Ceri Brace 3-0-26-1, Will Davidson-Randell 3-0-23-2
 
Pembroke Batting:
Ceri Brace not out 35
Billy Wood not out 41
Will Davies run out 15
Andrew Price b Tom Arthur 4
Will Davidson-Randell b Charlie Arthur 0
Jack Davies ct Archie Hillier-Wood b Tom Rowlands 4
Extras 17
Total (4 wickets) 116
 
Cresselly Bowling:
Tom Arthur 3-0-27-1, Charlie Arthur 3-0-20-1,  Tom Rowlands 2-0-27-1, Archie Hillier-Wood 1.5-0-23-0, Ollie Rowlands 1-0-17-0





 
 

Match Three

 

Burton (84 all out) lost to Pembroke 2nds (85 for 4) by 2 wickets

 
The final game saw Burton needing to win well to have any chance of taking the silverware and Pembroke to go through in style with two victories – and that is just what they did as they restricted Burton to a fairly low score and although they lost four wickets in reaching their target they were always in control as long as the outstanding Billy Wood was at the crease.
 
Will Ridge again got Burton off to a good start to confirm himself as the most consistent batsman in the division but brother Dan again went cheaply before Morgan Scale and Dan Llewellyn shared 40 runs but both got out at key times before Dan John and Nick Jones were quickly removed – and it meant that Burton were dismissed having used only nine of their allotted 12 overs and after scoring 47 for 1 in their first four overs.
 
Pembroke again started well through Wood and Brace as they contributed 44 from four overs but again Pembroke lost the wickets of Will Davies, Davidson-Randell and Jack Davies for next to nothing - but Wood returned to finish on 31 not out alongside Andrew Price, who also bowled well throughout the evening and took some excellent catches.
 
Burton Batting:
Will Ridge run out 24
Dan Ridge ct & b Andrew Price 7
Morgan Scale ct Billy Wood b Ceri Brace 20
Dan Llewellyn ct Jack Davies b Will Davidson-Randell 20
Dan John b Ceri Brace 3
Nick Jones st Will Davies b Will Davidson-Randell 4
Extras 6
Total (all out) 84
 
Pembroke Bowling:
Andrew Price 2-0-30-1, Billy Wood  1-0-3-0,  Ceri Brace 3-0-22-2, Will Davidson-Randell 3-0-24-2
 
Pembroke Batting:
Ceri Brace ct Will Ridge b Dan Ridge 19
Billy Wood not out 31
Will Davies b Dan Llewellyn 1
Andrew Price not out 16
Will Davidson-Randell b Dan John 4
Jack Davies b San John 0
Extras 14
Total (4 wickets) 85
 
Burton Bowling:
Dan Llewellyn 2-0-15-1, Dan Ridge 2-0-21-0, Nick Jones 2-0-11-0, Dan John 2-0-23-2, Morgan Scale 2-0-9-0