AMMAN MISS A GREAT CHANCE
AMMANFORD lost an opportunity to position themselves near the top of the South Wales Premier League as they lost a high-scoring encounter by eight wickets to second-placed Neath at the Park.
Put in to bat, Ammanford got off to a good start with an opening stand of 74 between Elis Richards (29) and Matthew Roberts, who made an excellent fist of his first stint as an opener with 70.
The momentum was maintained by the in-form Rhys Davies with 79, and Craig Maloney, whose unbeaten 44 came off just 29 deliveries.
Ammanford reached 284-6 in their 50 overs, a creditable total considering they were missing several of their front-line players.
But Neath, in the form of their opener Richard Grant, had other ideas.
The former Glamorgan man approached the crease with a runner due to an injury sustained in the field. That runner never broke sweat since the ultra-destructive Grant was determined to deal almost exclusively in boundaries.
When he was finally caught on the boundary for 138, which contained a ridiculous 10 sixes and 16 fours, Neath’s total was 173-2.
Grant had basically won the game on his own, though the job still needed finishing and that was done efficiently by Lorenzo Machado (60no) and Sean Griffiths (67no).
It was ironic that such a fine fielding side as Ammanford managed to drop Grant twice, the first time being the most crucial as the Neath opener had barely got into his stride at 33. They paid the price.
All is not lost for Ammanford. In this topsy-turvy league season they remain just 21 points behind leaders St Fagans, who they visit next in a crunch clash.
Meanwhile, Ammanford Seconds, having lost some of their players to the first team, were beaten by 155 runs by Neath at The Gnoll.
Neath batted first and posted a huge total of 337-4 thanks to a century from opener Ryan Thomas and half-centuries from Lee Rhys Williams, Oliver Burrows and Thomas George.
Ammanford never looked like getting anywhere near that score despite 61 from opener Rhys Jones and 36 from Eirian Morgan.
The visitors eventually folded on 182 all out.
And Ammanford Thirds remain fourth in division six of the South Wales Cricket Association despite a 39-run defeat at the hands of Morriston Seconds at Tir Canol.
Electing to field, Ammanford restricted the home team to 165 all out. Opener Libby Thomas made an excellent 68.
For Ammanford, Callum Fuge took an excellent 5-19.
Despite a battling 60 from Dale Westcott and 23 from skipper Josh Davies, Ammanford could only reach 126 in reply, being all out in the final over.
Player of the match Thomas again played a key role, this time as wicketkeeper by taking two stumpings and two catches.