DAFEN EDGE CLOSER TO A TITLE TRIUMPH
DAFEN Welfare moved closer to the Peter Lynn & Partners Solicitors South Wales Cricket Association division one title after beating Tata Steel by 51 runs.
The Llanelli side made 233-8 after being asked to bat first, with Scott Phillips top-scoring with a rapid 66 that featured four sixes.
David Jones took 4-48 for Tata. The visitors got off to a bad start in reply with Matthew Donoghue removing both openers with just 12 on the board.
Rohan Herbert stood firm with a defiant 73, but Tata were all out for 182. Simon Holliday cleaned up the tail to finish with 4-28, with Donoghue taking 3-28.
Aberdare are still giving chase in second after they won by seven wickets at Baglan.
Llangennech’s title hopes were dealt a huge blow as they lost by two wickets at home to Gowerton.
Having decided to bat first, Llangennech were all out for 168. David Williams scored 46, while Adam Bond claimed 4-33.
It was not all plan sailing for Gowerton in their reply, but a knock of 62 from opener David Gascoyne proved vital as they claimed victory in the 45th over.
James Taube took 3-34. Bronwydd suffered an 83-run defeat at Maesteg.
Home skipper Ashley Colston scored an excellent 102 and Matthew Rogers chipped in with 60 as Maesteg made 279-7. Tom Gleeson and Rhufon Phillips both took two wickets.
Bronwydd were then dismissed for 196 in the 43rd over as Callum Walters took 4-29. Oli Furneaux scored 47 and Luke Swift 44.
Llandysul eased to an eight-wicket victory over bottom side Maesteg Celtic.
After choosing to bat first, Celtic were all out for 206, with skipper Rhodri Thomas leading the way with a blistering 73 that included three sixes and 10 fours.
They also benefited from a lastwicket partnership of 82 between Daniel Wyatt (49) and Joshua Turner (13 not out).
Afron Jones took 3-24 for Llandysul.
The home side had little trouble chasing down the target and they eased home with more than 14 overs to spare.
Skipper Ben Edkins top-scored with 76, opener Rhys Jones was unbeaten on 64 and Llewelyn Hughes finished the job with a whirlwind 44 not out from 18 balls. He smacked two sixes and seven boundaries.
The battle of the Gwendraeth Valley clubs in division two went the way of Drefach, who beat Pontyberem by 25 runs in a low-scoring contest.
Drefach were all out for 126 after opting to bat. Finn Brownless topscored with what proved to be an important 35 and late-order batsman Harry McBryde added 25.
Pontyberem opener Rhodri Evans gave his side hope with a knock of 41, but he received little support as they were all out for 101.
John Cartwright took 4-26 and McBryde’s day continued on an upward curve as he claimed 3-12 from 10 tight overs.
Dafen threw the third division promotion race wide open with a comprehensive win at Pontardawe.
Dafen openers Chris Curtis (66) and Jonathan Wastell (39) got the Llanelli side off to a good start but they were all out for 207 in 47.5 overs. Neil Jones took 3-45.
Pontardawe succumbed to 117 all out in 41.3 overs. Andrew Randell’s seven overs yielded 1-3, and spinners Chris Hudson (3-37) and Ioan Roberts (5-28) did for the rest of the batsmen.
Leaders Llanwrda are red-hot favourites to win the division after their 81-run win at Tata Steel Seconds. The Towy Valley side are 20 points clear of Dafen with just three Saturdays of the league season left to go.
Llanwrda skipper Adrian Davies hit 81 and No. 9 Sion Nicholas 77 off 69 balls as the Llandovery-based side were all out for 241 in 47.4 overs. Damien Williams took 3-43. Tata openers Sama Volety (38) and
Raj Tilak (56) put on 108 for the first wicket, but after their departure only Lloyd Williams (18no) defied the bowlers as James Morgan ended with 5-36.
Felinfoel nudged ahead of Pontardawe in the table with a 33-run win at Bronwydd Seconds.
Opener Andrew Thomas hit 80 and Isaac Thorne 88 as Foel made 219-5 in their 50 overs. All five wickets fell to Richard Taylor (5-51).
Bronwydd’s James Brown then made 58 not out and Chris Phillips 33, but that wasn’t enough as the hosts fell to 186 all out in the 49th over.
Thorne rounded off a good day with 3-39.
Gowerton Seconds lost by four wickets at home to Dyffryn. After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Gowerton top order struggled to come to terms with the bowling of Lewis Day (3-25) and slumped to 595. However, 37 from Rhys Hughes and 61 not out from Ceri Rowlands allowed Gowerton to recover and close on 177-7.
Dyffryn were up against it when they stumbled to 114-6, with Rowlands (2-24) and Will Portway (2-30) putting Gowerton in the box seat, but aided by 46 wides, the visitors got home thanks to a seventh-wicket partnership of 65 between Mike Jones (34no) and Day (18no).
Llangennech Seconds are third in division four after they made 112-4 in reply to GWR’s 109 all out.
And Dunvant still lead the way in division five after a nine-wicket win at home to Llandysul Seconds.
The Ceredigion side were bowled out for 46 in 26 overs, John Welch taking 4-12 and Lee Tucker 2-4. Dunvant then raced to 47-1 in just 6.2 overs, with Gareth John hitting an unbeaten 31.
Ammanford Thirds were beaten by seven wickets at Pontarddulais Thirds in division six.
Batting first, Ammanford could only manage 125 all out thanks to opener Toby Davies (42), Steffan Williams (26) and Llyr Morgan (26).
They were destroyed by the bowling of Thomas Edwards, who took 6-7 in five overs.
Bont made short work of passing Ammanford’s total for the loss of just three wickets, with keeper Cai Gealy scoring an unbeaten 69.
In division seven, Gowerton Thirds travelled to Llandeilo Seconds and returned home with a 43-run victory.
Captain Phil Griffiths (44) and Rob Hopkins (47) were the only batsmen to reach double figures as Max Munday (3-7) and Hugh Towns (2-20) restricted the visitors to 128 all out.
In reply, Llandeilo struggled against the spin of Sanjey Pradeepan (4-15), Ellis Williams (2-20) and Steve Cable (2-22) and they were tumbled out for 85, with only Phil Harries (29) offering any serious resistance.