DAFEN FINISH IN FINE STYLE
CHAMPIONS Dafen rounded off a magnificent season in division one of the Peter Lynn & Partners Solicitors South Wales Cricket Association with another impressive performance.
They ended the season 25 points clear of second-placed Aberdare after beating Llandysul by nine wickets in Llanelli.
Dafen will play in division two of the South Wales Premier League next season.
Llandysul chose to bat but limped to 124 all out in 38 overs, Steffan Jones their top scorer with 23 – there were also 29 extras.
Jonathan Randell took 3-19, Phil George 3-36 and Scott Phillips 2-41.
Dafen skipper Matthew Evans fell early, but Luke O’Connor (65no) and Abdullah Rahimi (50no) eased the home side to 128-1 in 25.4 overs.
Aberdare finished second after a 32-run win at home to Bronwydd. The Cynon Valley side piled on 199 for the first wicket thanks to Ben Sidney-Jones (91) and Liam Derrick (75) as the hosts ended their 50 overs on 278-7.
Bronwydd then slumped to 59-4 before middle-order resistance from skipper Oli Furneaux (36), Meirion Davies (36), Jacob Jenkinson (27) and Luke Swift (53) took the visitors to a respectable 246 all out in 45.1 overs.
Nathan Spain took 4-33 and Geoff Derrick 3-37.
Three teams are relegated from division one to division two – Gowerton, Baglan and Maesteg Celtic.
Bottom side Celtic notched up only their second win of the campaign, beating visitors Gowerton by 34 runs.
Nick Poole (45), Aron Bird (46) and Huw Kinsella (43) helped Celtic to 227 all out in 48.3 overs, Will Collinson taking 3-21.
Gowerton were then all out for 193 in 42.4 overs, Bevan Daniels topscoring with 59 as Glen Lawler took 4-14.
Llangennech finished fourth and rounded off the season with a comfortable win at Tata Steel.
Nathan Richards (54), James Taube (30), Matthew Jones (83) and Nathan Jones (32) guided Llan to 282-6, Tata’s Matthew Jones taking 4-37.
Rohan Herbert (79), skipper Daniel Melindo (48) and Nathan Ferrell (35) did their best but Tata ended their 50 overs on 231-9. Wakeel Shah took 4-23.
Merthyr Tydfil pipped Briton Ferry Steel to the division two title by two points after both sides won on Saturday. Both are promoted to division one.
Ferry Steel rattled up 265-8 at home to Drefach, skipper Lloyd Clement (70) and Tim Stephens (48) top-scoring, and then bowled Drefach out for 127 in 29.1 overs, Harry McBryde top-scoring with 30. Scott Evans took 4-24.
The three teams to be relegated from division two are Pontyberem, Landore and Margam.
Pontyberem lost at Skewen by five wickets. Pontyberem were all out for 95 in 26.2 overs as Jamie Lewis took 3-26 and Steve James 3-37.
Skewen, after a few hiccups, got to 96-5 in reply, Matthew Thomas (34no) taking them over the winning line.
Felinfoel crowned a fine season by sealing promotion from division three.
The Llanelli side beat Tata Steel Seconds by seven wickets to ensure that they pipped town neighbours Dafen Seconds to second spot and claim the second promotion spot.
Llanwrda had already been crowned champions so the Tywi Valley side’s loss at Porthcawl on Saturday didn’t matter.
Tata elected to bat at Felinfoel but only No. 3 batsman Rhys Owen (55) looked comfortable as they slumped to 129 all out in 44.4 overs. Skipper Craig Richards took 4-31 and Anthony Mathias 2-21.
Felinfoel were themselves soon in trouble at 14-3, but Richards (49no) and Rhys Harries (42no) dug in and took the home side to 131-3 in 47 overs despite David Jones’s 3-19.
Dafen had an amazing seven men out for ducks in their game at Dyffryn and were hugely grateful to Ioan
Roberts (57) and skipper Andrew Randell (38), plus 45 extras, for getting them to 152 all out in 34 overs.
Paul Amphlett (5-35), Jon Lewis (320) and Phil Paisey (2-16) did the damage.
But the Bryncoch side also struggled with the bat as opening bowlers Randell (4-14) and Andrew Herbert (2-21) got among them and they fell to 73 all out in 27 overs. Rory Jones also took 2-8.
Gowerton Seconds avoided relegation by three points, and so gave the club some succour after their first team were relegated from division one.
The seconds lost at home to Pontardawe but the six points gained was enough to keep them above Bronwydd Seconds and Tata Steel Seconds by three and four points respectively.
Pontardawe No, 4 Kael Ace blasted 75 off 87 balls to rescue the Swansea Valley side after a poor start, aided by Neil Jones’s 110-ball 37 and Craig Alliss’s 30 not out as they got to 242-6. Louis Davies took 3-24.
Gowerton then had two men get to 35 (Rhodri Owens and Rhys Hughes) but Jeff Hapgood (4-28) and Jones (331) did the damage and they fell to 142 all out for a 100-run defeat.
Bronwydd Seconds did their best to avoid the drop with an eight-wicket win at home to Briton Ferry Steel
Seconds but it wasn’t enough to save them.
Steel’s first three batsmen were all dismissed for ducks by Owain Rees but skipper Steve Maddock’s 49 helped them to 119 all out. Rees’s eight overs produced 3-12, and Gethin Francis (2-19), Owen Thomas (221) and Steven Phillips (2-9) also had good spells.
Bronwydd openers Philip Howell (40) and Trystan Tyler (31) then gave them a good start and Thomas (20no) and Francis (22no) carried them to 122-2 in 25.3 overs.
Porthcawl rattled up 233-5 against Llanwrda thanks to Mark Dixon (47) and captain Nick Morgan (53).
For once Llanwrda’s batting let them down and they were bowled out for 172, Tom Corcoran top-scoring with 36, though that was overshadowed by a massive 51 extras, 46 of which were wides. Brad Griffiths took 6-24.
In division six, Ammanford’s third XI finished with a fine 71-run victory at Pontardawe Seconds.
Batting first, Ammanford reached 141-7, nearly half of which were scored by skipper Josh Davies (67).
Pontardawe had no answer to the bowling of Aron Matthews (3-12) and Dafydd Wyn Jones (3-30). Paul Hicks took a creditable 2-6.
The home team collapsed to 70 all out in 30 overs.