HUNDLETON v LAMPHEY 26/7/08                                                                    match sponsored                                                                                                                                                    Hundleton (157 for 5) lost to Lamphey (158 for 6) by 4 wickets     The Stags clinched a priceless victory against a determined Hundleton side on Saturday. The 4 wicket win was down to a true team effort with the bat which saw no less than 5 players score 25 plus to ensure a valuable 27 point haul. As usual White had the rub of the green with the toss and asked the home side to bat, opening together were the experienced Vale and Cole who were relishing the lively surface. With the score on 13, Tysoe at the non strikers end called for a risky single to the debutante Gethin Llewellyn who promptly returned the ball to leave the batsman a good 3 yards out of his crease. Arthur in at 3 could only help his team add 6 runs before he gloved a lifting delivery from Cole to the waiting gloves of Johnson. 19 for 2 and then the game went through a lull as both Cole and Vale continued to bowl well but without further success and after 20 overs the home side had reached 60 for the loss of no further wickets. Allen and Williams continued to play with patience which saw the pair add 76 for the 3rd wicket, Allen claiming his 50 along the way. However with the score on 95 Williams (19) played across the line to Oatley and only succeeded in mistiming his shot to White who at mid on had time to turn and run before taking a fine catch over his shoulder. With the wicket proving good for both the bowler and batters another good partnership ensued as Allen and young Richards added 46 before Cole returning to bowl at the death tempted Allen (86) to mistime a drive to Jon Mathias at mid off, who swooped low down to take a excellent catch which has become something of a trade mark this season. As the overs wound down the home side lost a further wicket as Richards (20) become the second victim run out this time from Gibbs and the home side finished their innings on a respectable 157 for 6. Chasing runs has not always been a given for the Stag this season and seeds of doubt began to creep in as the wily Arthur tempted White to play a loose shot first ball which was snapped up at second attempt by mid off. 0 for 1 soon became 9 for 2 as the inform McGilloway was another Arthur victim. However any hope of an early finish for the home side was put on ice as both Rob Mathias and Nic Johnson set about the bowling, whilst Arthur had the better of the pair early on, the scoreboard ticked over as the other bowlers were being milked for runs. The pair saw the Stags reach 50 off 12 and things were going well until Mathias became Arthurs 3rd victim as he too like the others was out caught, for 32 and the visitors had reached 68 for 3. Johnson was joined in the middle by the destructive Oatley and as the pair set about rebuilding, disaster struck just 5 runs later, Johnson (34) was judged LBW to become Arthurs 4th. Once again a rebuild job was needed as Gibbs joined Oatley and the pair took the score to 95 by the half way mark, Oatley hitting some big maximums as Gibbs played the anchor role. The score had reached 107 with both players looking comfortable but Arthur wasnt quite finished, Oatley looked to play across the line only to miss the shot, the ball hit him on the side then rolled onto the stumps and his innings of 29 was over. His departure saw the arrival of promising teenager Gethin Llewellyn, batting for the 1st XI for the first time. With Gibbs he added 11 to the total before he top edged a delivery from spinner Strydom which was taken by gully. The stags had reached 118 for 6 still another 40 runs needed and the game finally balanced, Cole came to the crease and promptly dispatched his first ball square for 4. With Gibbs playing his way into form with several nicely timed 4s, Cole was free to play in his usual attacking style and struck Williams for a straight 6 as he soon found his rhythym. As the score ticked down it was left to Cole to hit the winnings runs off Strydom and the Stags had earned a hard fought victory, with Gibbs (29no) and Cole (25no) there at the end. An excellent confidence boost against a resilient Hundleton side who should have enough in the locker to ensure another season in division 3. The Stags knowing promotion is a pipe dream can take satifaction in the knowledge that one more victory should banish any possibility of relegation and will be looking to break into the top four by the end of the season. Star Man - Gethin Llewellyn - Claimed a vital runout on his 1st XI debut and batted with confidence at an important stage   LAMPHEY v ST ISHMAELS II 19/7/08                                                                    match sponsored                                                                                                                                     Lamphey (148) lost by 8 wickets to St Ishmaels (150 for 2) Maybe the writing was on the wall from the moment Skipper White lost the toss for the 1st time this season.Lampheys faint hopes of promotion from division 3 were dealt an almost fatal blow as St Ishmaels came and grabbed a 30 point haul to leave the home side floundering in the league. On a sunny saturday afternoon Lamphey were invited to bat on a good, hard wicket with the usual combo of White and McGilloway opening. Early on the pair struggled to work away some tight bowling from the visitors however they soon managed to free the shackles to take the Stags to 46 before McGilloway departed for a patient 23. All too often this season though Lamphey failed to stem the flow of wickets as White (29), Mathias (1), Johnson (14), Oatley (11), Gibbs (5) and Skeels Junior (1) all departed, leaving the homeside lurching from 46 for 1 to 89 for 7. With the over rate not a problem Lamphey had 15 overs left to post some kind of total and thanks to the last pairing of Cole (30 not out) and Vale (10) a tenth wicket partnership of 31 saw the Stags reach 148. With a good batting wicket the home side knew that a good score would have been 180. It was imperative to make early inroads into the visitors line up if they were to pull off the victory they needed to keep them in with a shout of promotion. The reply started in earnest as with the score on 12 Vale tempted Cockburn to play across the line and top edge a delivery into the waiting hands of Skeels junior. 18 runs later the visitors found themselves 2 down as Gibbs bowling his spin from the road end saw his delivery cut away through point only for McGilloway to dive acrobatically to his left to take a stunning diving catch. With Skipper White mixing up his bowling attack to try and make further breakthroughs a series of dropped catches and half chances saw the visiting pair of Cockburn (P) and Flynn take the upper hand and an unbeaten partnership of 120 saw the pair guide their side home with over 5 overs remaining. A poor performance overall, a game lost after a crazy batting display which saw the stags lose 7 wickets for 43 runs and with several catches going down in the field. Promotion whilst still not mathematically out of the question must be the furthest thought in the mind of those 11 players. A mid table respectability is the target now and with 5 games left, there are at least 3 games which should be there for the taking if the Stags can perform to their abilities   Star Man - Grant Cole - Top scored for the side remaining undefeated on 30 not out. BURTON II v LAMPHEY 12/7/08                                                                    match sponsored                                                                                                                          Burton II (97) lost to Lamphey (100 for 4) by 6 wickets After a week off due to rain Lamphey travelled to across the bridge to Division 3 strugglers Burton determined to get their season back on track after a mostly disappointing season. A weakened Burton side were no match for a fired up Stag side who completed a comfortable 6 wicket win thanks to a maiden 50 from opener Peter McGilloway. White continued the tradition of winning the toss and seeing the opportunity to get amongst a weekened home side invited them to bat. Cole and Vale continued their opening partnership and set about their usual task of restraining the openers. With the score on 17 Cole made the breakthrough as he got one to jag back off the seam dismissing the young opener, 4 runs later and Cole was at it again as he tempted the number 3 to play across the line and in doing so suceeded in playing on. With this White took the decision to replace Cole and bring the spin of Gibbs into the attack and within 12 runs Gibbs made a further breakthrough tempting the young lefthander to top edge one to Nicholas in the covers. A brief partnership between the experienced pairing of Huxley and Davies saw them add 24 until Gibbs struck again tempting Davies to loop one up to Oatley at Mid on. with that the 5th wicket fell as Oatley trapped Huxley LBW for 33. This brought Steve Jones to the wicket and the experienced campaigner took a liking to Oatley and drove him through the on side for several 4s, although Oatley was unlucky not to get revenge as Jon Mathias dropped a relatively simple catch on the boundary. Gibbs continued his magic from the pavilion end and finally got rid of Jones just as he was begining to become a problem bowling him for 20. Oatley took the 7th wicket to fall and with the score on 85 the home side (with 10 men) were in trouble. With the overs running out, Skipper White finally turned to his opening bowlers to finish the innings off as Vale claimed the final two wickets within 9 balls of coming back on. 10 man Burton were dismissed for 97. Wickets were shared around with Gibbs claiming 3 for 25 and Vale, Cole and Oatley claiming 2 each.   After a hearty tea the Stags set about the target, White and McGilloway reformed their opening partnership with runs for once this season flowing from the start. After only 4 overs the Stags were on 28 with White and McGilloway dispatching the bowling to all parts of the field.  In the 10th over and with the score on 45 White cut a ball to gully only to see the ball go straight into the waiting hands of the fielder, dismissed for 13. Gareth Nicholas in one of his rare appearances somehow managed to find himself in at 3 supporting the impressive McGilloway who was in the form of his life, playing several exquisite shots for 4 and one mighty impressive back foot shot for 6. With the score rattling on, McGilloway found himself on 49 and not showing any sign of nerves quickly advanced to his maiden senior 50 with a well timed shot through the gully cordon for 4. This brought rapturous applause from the Stags as McGilloway threw down his bat and kissed the Stag on his shirt. Surely one of the proudest moments of his life?. His innings finally came to an end after making 59 and with the score on 79, maybe it was over confidence or a lack of concentration he suceeded in edging a delivery to the keeper. Rob Mathias in at 4 let Nicholas get on with his own game and the pair added 13 more before Nicholas was dismissed for 13 courtesy of his trademark shot. 92 for 3 soon became 4 as Oatley in at 5 could only score 3 before he took fell to a catch behind. With only 2 to win it was left to Mathias and Gibbs to see the side home, 4 byes sealing the victory as Lamphey finished on 100 for 4.   A win is a win, a weakened Burton side granted but 28 valuable points now sees the Stags 42 points clear of the final relegation place but only 48 points off a promotion place. Lamphey will need to continue to play with confidence and improve with the bat but with 6 games left, all of which can be won and there is still a possibility that promotion cant yet be ruled out. Star Man - Peter McGilloway - His maiden senior 50 was thoroughly deserved, a true Lamphite if ever there was one.