South Wales Cricket Association
Division 1
Llandysul continue to hang on in division one by a very thin thread and their feat will be decided this weekend at Cowbridge in the final match of the season. The Parc Tir Dref men put themselves in a very strong position against champions Llanelli on Saturday after they bowled the table toppers out for 142 and they will have fancied their chances of getting out of jail with a win.
However a sticky patch midway through when wickets fell in quick succession followed by a run out that came at a crucial time in the match saw them slide to a very vulnerable position at 119-8 and they were forced to bat out for a losing draw.
Skipper Andrew Edwards won what looked to be a very important toss and he put the visitors in to bat and opener Iwan Rees fell early when he was clean bowled by Ian Marsh and Craig Howells was next to go on 12 when he was caught by Gareth Chapple off the bowling of Rhidian Harries. Fellow opener and skipper Marcus Leaf was next to depart when he was superbly caught and bowled by Colin Tucker and Llanelli were in trouble at 41-3 and the decision to field looked to have been a good one.
However the visitors rallied and made quick progress following a swashbuckling innings from Mathew Roberts who hit four 4’s and three 6’s in an entertaining knock of 55 but Llanelli were in trouble once again at 119-8 but their tail wagged defiantly for six overs and Alex Symmons with 12 and Kyle Griffiths took the score along to 142 before Mike Turner took the final wicket.
Ian Marsh, Rhydian Harries and skipper Andrew Edwards claimed three wickets apiece for the hosts.
Llandysul were quietly confident of chasing down the target after the interval especially with a decent batting line up but they made a disappointing start when Meurig Jones was bowled without scoring but skipper Andrew Edwards held things together and led by example once again before he was unlucky to go lbw when he looked set for another high score at 24, but the partnership between the captain and Ben Edkins who made 32 had put Llandysul back on course to chase the runs down.
However Llandysul went from 58-2 to 64-4 in very short time to halt the good progress made but Llewellyn Hughes with 26 helped steer the team back on track and with Tom Harris starting to time the ball well and crossing the boundary ropes Llandysul looked in control.
Harris though was run out on 11 by a quick throw from Steven Devonald and what had seemed a winning position at 96-4 quickly fell away to a losing one at 119-8 and the relegation strugglers were forced to hold out for a losing draw. The nine points secured though could well prove to be very valuable come Saturday afternoon.
Llandysul are currently twelve points ahead of second from bottom Merthyr and a win at Cowbridge would guarantee safety and send down their relegation rivals who host fourth in the table Bronwydd.
Should they lose at Cowbride, Llandysul can still edge out Merthyr although it may well be academic as heavy rain is forecast for some parts of eastern Wales on Friday and Saturday and maybe the gods will intervene and rescue the Ceredigion men!
