North Wales Cricket Round Up – Saturday 1st June

The First day of June brought not only sun, but excitement too in a day of thrilling finishes. The game of the day in Division One saw top of the table Bangor travel to fourth placed Llay Welfare and it did not disappoint.

After being asked to bat, Llay suffered the early loss of opener Michael Paletta. Jamie Beale followed soon after, but Dave Phennah struck his 3rd half century of the season and with Damian Bryan (61) began to dominate the Bangor attack. Simon Murley then struck twice for Bangor removing Bryan and skipper Daniel Parry, but a late charge from Mike Phennah (32) and Tom Crewe (21) meant Llay could declare on 215/9 from 45 overs and secure maximum batting points.

This meant that Bangor had 55 overs to chase down Llay’s tot al. The Welfare made early inroads; Paletta had Colin Meek trapped lbw before Daniel Parry dismissed Robert Marshall in the same way for a duck. Jack Edwards also removed Gwilym Lloyd Jones to leave Bangor in trouble. Bangor rebuilt with three batsmen passing 40  and were in the driving seat with their score close to 200 with 2 wickets remaining. However, Daniel Parry struck twice late on to win the game for Llay by just 11 runs. Parry lead from the front with 3-46 from 11 overs with Dave Phennah, Jamie Beale and Jack Edwards taking two wickets each. Llay have allowed only one batsmen (Alex Ellwood 123) to score a fifty against them this season. The result sees Llay a point behind both Bangor and Gresford with a game in hand on each.

Below – Division One Table

In the Premier Divsion, Brymbo were looking to bounce from last week’s defeat as they hosted Connah’s Quay. Brymbo’s seamers were once again in excellent form, Benjamin Hilliard led the way with 4 wickets and the crucial run out of Martin Burger. James Claybrook took 3-40 and Ben Roberts with his 1-24 off 8 overs kept the Quay batsmen in check. Matthew Turner bowled economically to return figures of 1-12 as Connah’s Quay were bowled out for 143.

Claybrook work for the day wasn’t finished as he scored 42 not out to take Brymbo home. Joss Roberts with 39 and Greg King with 29 provided good support as Brymbo reached their target in the 48th over to record a much-needed win. The result lifts the Wrexham club above their opponents and out of the relegation zone, next week they host Mold and will look to put further distance between themselves and the bottom two clubs.

Back to Division One where Gresford also saw a tight finish in their match with Llandudno 2nds. After electing to bat first, Gresford captain Chris Ellwood along with Matthew Cree set about the Llandudno attack scoring 45 apiece. Sean Richards also passed 40 as the Clappers’ Lane side declared on 208/5 off 45 overs, their 5th score of over 200 in their 7 games so far this season. In reply, 7 Llandudno batsmen reached double figures as they lost wickets at regular intervals. John Bell took 3-29 from 13 overs to remove the Llandudno danger men. Gresford then met some resistance as the lower order set their sights on a draw. This looked likely before Chris Ellwood called on opening batsmen Daniel Williams to bowl the last over with Gresford needing one wicket to win. Williams left it to the last ball removing Jamie Grimshaw to ensure a dramatic win.

Chirk also left it late with a 9 run win over Buckley. Gareth Partridge continued where he left off last week top scoring with 68. Mark Shaw (51) and Shaun Walker (31) saw Chirk to a score of 206/7 declared off 45 overs. Buckley had 55 overs to chase the runs and were in a good position thanks to Paul Rambaldi (76) and Mike Price (34). Left Arm Spinner Jonathon Phillips removed both to claim figures of 3-40 but it was Nick Flack (4-40) who held his nerve at the death to bowl out the Flintshire side for 197 with just 2 overs remaining.

The other game in Division One to feature a Wrexham club saw Marchwiel’s unbeaten start to the season come to an end. They faced Conwy on what was a glorious day at Marchwiel Hall. Batting first, Marchwiel posted 161 all out. Anthony Morris (33), Dave Ward (31) and Nick Husbands (30) the main contributors. Marchwiel will have felt they were 40 or 50 runs short of a good score and this proved true as opener Phillip Davies (67no) batted throughout the innings for Conwy as they won in the 44th over.

In Division Two, 381 runs were scored at Gwersyllt Park, as the park played host to Ruthin. Batting first, Gwersyllt hit 189 all out from 44.2 overs. Darren Jones top scored with 62. In reply, Ruthin reached Gwersyllt’s total in just 33 overs, with the Powerful Nathan Aldridge hitting 67. Elsewhere in Division Three, Brymbo 2nds had Wayne Smith and Andrew Patterson to thank for an impressive 9 wicket win over Llangollen. Smith took 3-22 and Patterson 3-21 as Llangollen could only muster 97 all out. Michael Edge with 64 not out made short work of the run chase as Brymbo won in just 15 overs.

Gresford 2nds continued their good run with a 10 wicket victory over Bala. James Williams has 11 wickets for the season after taking 4-28. Danny Griffin will also be pleased with his days work, recording the remarkable figures of 12 overs for 7 runs which included 8 maidens. In reply, Gresford passed the total without losing a wicket, Jack Bunkell (50no) and Ian Weaver (43no) securing a 10 points to 0 victory. Llay Welfare 2nds lost by 55 runs against St. Asaph 2nds. Tom Davies (3-46) helped to restrict St. Asaph to 130 but Llay were bowled out for 75 in reply.

Gwersyllt Park 2nds were involved in a low scoring thriller at Dolgellau. Liam Partyn (23no) batted through the Gwersyllt innings as they made 69 all out from 39.2 overs. Gwersyllt fought back with the ball thanks to Kyle Jones who recorded his best ever figures with 5-32. Dale Jones and Michael Griffiths each took two wickets as Dolgellau managed to get over the line with a wicket to spare.