Guilsfield record biggest ever win

 

County selectors must surely be thinking about the crop of new talent emerging from the village which was in commanding form at the weekend, registering a 10-wicket victory over Acton Reynalds II and being back on the road to Mid Wales by 3pm.

 

Young pace bowler Dan Brown again set the scene. His blistering spell produced 3-15 but it was veteran campaigner Dave Harris that inflicted the biggest damage, taking 5-17 which included his first ever hat-trick in an unplayable exhibition of line and length.

 

And they were in no mood for hanging around. Captain and opener Sam Griffiths, who must also be in line for Montgomeryshire nudge soon, blitzed 25 quick fire runs with Dave Hughes also unbeaten on nine for the 10-wicket victory off just 21 deliveries to secure 20 Division Five points.

 

In Division One, rain frustrated Welshpool who found themselves struggling on 64-7 off 29 overs. But the tail end provided resistance led by Llyr Thomas who was unbeaten on 37 and Nick Davies scored 38 as Pool battled through to 146-9.

 

Rain reduced the number of overs available to Forton to 23 making an abandoned match or a Welshpool win the only probable result. Further rain interruptions saw the game peter out, ending with Forton on 83-5 and being declared ‘abandoned’, with Forton unable to use all of their allotted 45 overs.

 

Also in Division One, a tremendous knock of 89 from Mike Crawshaw helped Alberbury chalk up a nine-wicket win over Montgomery who had set a decent target of 177-7.

 

Rob Kinsey led the way once again for Monty with an opening 59 with Sam Davies (35) and Ed Davies (26) weighing in.

 

But Crawshaw was in the mood for runs and once fellow opener Charlie Bourne was run out for 24, Mark Jones came to the crease and remained unbeaten on 46 for a nine-wicket win.

 

In Division Four, Welshpool II’s batsmen faced a frustrating afternoon after being dismissed by Overton-on-Dee for 128, but their bowlers salvaged the day to remain unbeaten.

 

Skipper, Dan Chodecki top scored with 22 but no-one else could get to grips with the attack as defeat looked likely. But Welshpool are made of sterner stuff this season with the bowlers producing a fine display.

Damon Preston took 3-30 and Jonno Penrose 3-19 to restrict Overton to 114-8 for a draw.

 

Montgomery II’s suffered defeat as Alberbury posted a healthy 194-8 with Jonathan Williams taking 4-17. But, despite Keith Griffiths (46) top scoring, Montgomery could only reach 133-7 off their 40.

 

In Division Six, Welshpool III suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Forton II.

 

Batting first, only Mat Whitehouse and Keiran Evans were able to prevail against the accurate Forton bowling attack, scoring 33 and 25 not out respectively as Welshpool were restricted to 116-8 off 37 overs.

 

Welshpool’s bowlers, led by Ben Aldis (2-22) and Alan Williams (1-27), made a fight of it but Forton won with three overs and six wickets to spare.