Sorry Saundersfoot washed away in final day woe

AS the old saying goes; if you’re going to go down, go down fighting.

Sadly for Saundersfoot in the Pembroke County Cricket League, they weren’t even given the chance to show their fighting spirit.

Locked in a titanic struggle to preserve their division one status, Saundersfoot knew a win at Lawrenny would probably be enough to stave off the dreaded drop.

But in Wales there is always the prospect of the weather playing a part in proceedings and that’s just what it did yesterday.

Saundersfoot’s hopes of staying up were washed away as their game was abandoned without a ball being bowled while the other teams around them, like Narberth, got the requisite points to ensure their survival.

At the start of the afternoon it was Narberth who occupied last place but their low-scoring affair against Carew was ended prematurely with the champions only 16 runs shy of their victory target.

Narberth had scored 91-9 with Richie Adams and Jordan Howell each contributing 20 to the total and Rhys Davies recording a five-wicket haul for Carew, who then suffered a few shaky moments due to Ben Hughes’s 4-27 before play was stopped with them on 76-5.

Llangwm consolidated third place in the only fixture to be completed, winning by four wickets at home to Cresselly. Andrew Harries, Ollie Davies and Darren Brick took three wickets each as the visitors were all out for 140.

And it was Gary Phillips, with an unbeaten 43, who saw Llangwm home to round off a successful season with only Carew and Neyland finishing above them in the standings.

Promotion and relegation matters were settled, again mostly by the weather, in the league’s five other divisions.

In a dramatic finish to division two, Johnston survived the drop despite seeing their game at Cresselly seconds abandoned with the former needing just three runs to win. A draw in the match between Herbrandston and Hook wasn’t good enough for either team and both went down.

Lamphey saw off Stackpole to win division three, Camrose & Spitall took the title in division four, Lawrenny seconds did likewise in five and Stackpole seconds were already winners of division six.