Cresselly aiming to make the most of cup reprieve

PEMBROKE County League side Cresselly take their place in the quarter-finals of the Gwalia Welsh Cup on Sunday despite being knocked out two rounds ago.

The West Wales club were handed a reprieve after not one but two teams were thrown out of the competition for fielding an ineligible player.

Cresselly thought their campaign was over when they lost to Cardiff by eight wickets at Forest Farm in round three. Cardiff then went on to beat Sully and should have been facing Newport in the last eight.

However, competition officials discovered that Cardiff had a player in their line-up against Cresselly who wasn’t eligible and Sully did the same in the next round.

That meant Cardiff and Sully were both ejected from the tournament, giving Cresselly an unexpected place in the quarter-finals.

And they received a further bonus this week with the news that the tie will now be played at Cresselly rather than Newport because the latter’s ground is unavailable on Sunday.

In the other matches, holders Swansea host Ammanford at St Helen’s just three wins away from defending their trophy, while Ynystawe face a long trip north to Llandudno as do Usk who go to Mochdre.

Usk were the last team to seal a quarter-final berth on Monday and they did it by the finest of margins. Their win over Pontypridd came courtesy of losing fewer wickets after drawing level on runs off the last ball of the match.

In other knockout competitions, Tata Steel host Carmarthen Wanderers for a place in the semi-finals of the Thomas Carroll KO Cup.

Whoever wins will join Gowerton, Ynystawe and Mumbles in the hat for the last four. Those three beat Skewen, Dafen and Ynysgerwn respectively in the quarters.