LAMPHEY v STACKPOLE 28/6/08
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                                                            Lamphey (85 for 8) drew with Stackpole (148 for 6)


Lamphey knew that anything short of victory on saturday would have all but ended their chances of promotion and despite a good performance in the field, the once too often frailties with the bat, meant the stags could only hold on for a draw. Whilst promtion is not mathematically over their priorities now shift to attaining as respectable a league position as possible.

With skipper White back after having surgery on his broken nose, and several players returning, Lamphey fielded possibly one of their strongest sides of the season. White continued the trend of winning the toss and invited Stackpole to bat on a wet wicket which looked likely to cause a few problems. Cole and Vale continued their partnership with the ball and with only 7 on the board, Cole made the breakthrough dismissing the Stackpole opener with the aid of an inside edge. The visitors soon found themselves two down as Vale got in the act, bowling his oponent middle wicket. Stackpole managed another 9 runs before Cole this time had the batsman caught by Vale and again with the score on 49 Cole tempted another to be caught by Oatley at mid off. With the score on 49 the experienced Webster was joined in the middle by skipper McKay and the pair patiently played the ball around for singles whilst the stags were content to let them pick up 3 an over. Vale and Cole were replaced by Haydn Cole and Hywel Gibbs both bowling well, containing the opposition without picking up wickets.With the score on 93, Oatley who had replaced Haydn Cole from the Railway End tempted Webster into going for one aerial shot too many and was taken up by Mathias on the long off boundary for 43. As the overs began to tick by and with Stackpole only managing around  3 an over both batsmen tried to push the rate on, however whilst attempting a second run off the bowling of Skeels, Cole (G) swept in from the boundary and delivered a precision return for which all Skeels senior had to do was remove the bails. 112 for 6 and McKay was out for 22. With only 2 overs remaining the visitors had reached 118 but then managed to up the pace and score a valuable 30 runs to finish on 148 for 6.

Lamphey at the interval were happy with a score of below 150 and were in confident mood, However with White and Gibbs opening, the pair were unable to compete with the 3 an over rate and after 12 overs had only managed to take the score to 17. With this putting pressure on the rest of the order as well as good bowling from the visitors, runs were hard to come by and after Gibbs was dismissed for 17, the wicket of White fell without adding to the score. 17 for 2. Johnson in at 3 top scored with 16 and as wickets tumbled at regular intervals the focus shifted from winning the game to holding out for the draw. Wickets fell at 34, 40, 42, 56, 65 and 81. In between Skeels senior defied all that was thrown at him and Skeels junior continued where he left off last week by reaching double figures again. As the game fizzled out it was left to Skeels and youngster Luke Hamilton (4 not out) to fend off the bowing of Mckay and block out the remaining few overs.

Although the Stags only pick up a miserly 6 points from this game they can take a crumb of satisfaction knowing that they have managed to bat a full 40 overs without being dismissed, too often over the last 3 or 4 seasons batting second either resulted in a win or a loss. It is this kind of resolve the Stags will need to find over the remaining 7 league games of 2008 as they aim to finish as high as possible, whilst not ruling out the slim possibility of promotion.

Star Man - Andrew Skeels - his resolve meant the Stags turned a defeat into a draw

LAMPHEY v KILGETTY 21/6/08
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                          THE HOPE INN
                                                                   
                                                             Lamphey 181 for 8  Kilgetty 3 for 0 - Match abandoned due to rain

A frustrating day all round as Lamphey put themselves firmly in the driving seat only to see their hopes of 2 victories in a row quashed by the rain. 8 Lamphey players reached double figures with Grant Cole 36 not out, Nic Johnson 35 and Haydn Cole 22 not out leading the way. In reply Kilgetty could only muster 3 off 5 overs before rain stopped play, things could have been worse for the visitors had it not been for 2 dropped catches within those 5 overs.


CAMROSE & SPITTAL v LAMPHEY 14/6/08

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                                                              Camrose & Spittal (80) lost to Lamphey (81 for 4)

The Stags travelled to Camrose on Saturday in confident mood bouyed by a midweek victory against St Florence. This renewed vigour resulted in an impressive 6 wicket win which lifts the side within one win of the automatic promotion places.

With the usual Skipper, Paul White sidelined due to his broken nose, vice skipper Stephen Vale took over the reigns and in true fashion continued the winning streak with the toss. After much deliberation due to an interesting wicket and even moreso outfield, Vale invited the home side to bat.

With Vale and Cole in their usual tandem it wasnt long before the Stags started causing problems for the home side, Vale creating the breakthrough with the score on 14 and before long they were 2 down for 29. At this point in the game Gibbs replaced Cole and with Vale caused in-roads into the home sides batting line up. Further wickets fell at regular intervals with two falling on 37 and another two going on 43. With the home side rocking Vale and Gibbs stepped up the pressure which resulted in the home side losing further wickets on 55 and 59. Vale completed his allocated 12 overs to take an impressive 5 for 23. Gibbs continued at his end and with the support of Oatley and James Skeels continued to plough through the home side, with Gibbs finishing on 4 for 21 and James Skeels taking his first wicket in a 1st XI league game. Excellent all round performances and all catches taken resulted in the home side being dismissed for 80 in 33 overs.

With the absence of White who usually opens, stand in skipper Vale took the opportunity to mix things up a bit. 2nd XI skipper Ike Skeels opened the innings with hard hitting Gareth Nicholas who incidentally hadnt opened since doing so for the 2nd XI some years previous. Early signs were good as both players settled into the bowling attack and in particular Nicholas who found the boundary early on. However the home side made the break through with the score on 12 as Nicholas was clean bowled for 6. In at 3 came Pete McGilloway and after a few indifferent weeks, possibly due to exams pressures, proceeded to play possibly his best innings for the Club in several years. With Skeels they played with a confidence which grew as each over passed. Both batsmen played each ball on its merit and before long they had advanced the score past the 50 mark. With the Stags cruising it wouldnt be a true Lamphey performance if something didnt go awry and with the score on 68, Skeels holed out for 22. With the Stags only requiring 13 to win the usually reliable Johnson could only survive for 2 balls before he skied a simple catch and 68 for 2 became 3. In at 4 was Jason Oatley and surprisingly the home side brought the field in!!.....although Jason only lasted 4 balls he scored 10 runs lashing a 4 and a 6 in a brief cameo performance before falling to an impressive forward diving catch from Matthew Williams in the gully. With only 3 to win Gibbs saw out the game with McGilloway, who remained undefeated for an impressive 30, and the Stags had picked up their first victory since May 17th.

An all round performance, good bowling, good fielding, no dropped catches and some impressive batting, the Stags finally showed what the are capable of and will be hopeful of climbing the table starting with a home match against Kilgetty on Saturday.

                                                                  
                                                   Lamphey (84) lost to Whitland II (100) by 16 runs
A sizzling performance from Stags skipper Paul White was not enough to inspire his side to victory in this low scoring encounter. Defeat to Whitland now sees the home side occupying the relegation zone for the first time this season.

With the home side once again winning the toss visitors Whitland were invited to bat. Usual openers Vale and Cole started the game in usual fashion against the experienced batting of Meyrick Rowlands and youngster Shane Morgan. With the score on 17 for 0 after 10 overs skipper White took the choice to mix things up and for only the second time this season brought himself into the attack with devastating effect. With White at one end and Oatley at the other, White proceeded to produce career best figures of 8 for 52, indeed at one stage the possibility of claiming all 10 was possible as he took the first 8 wickets. At the other end Oatley proved to be an able foil and whilst not claiming his first wicket until his 11th over end Whites hopes of taking all 10 with wickets 9 and 10 himself. The last wicket to fall snapped up by an excellent diving catch by Peter McGilloway at point. Whitland had collapsed from 33 for 1 to 100 all out.

101 runs to win - a cinch right? wrong. White and Johnson opened the innings and early signs were promising as Johnson took his aggressive game to the bowling. Such was the extent of Lampheys dominance that after 10 overs Lamphey were coasting on 41 for 0. That however is where things turned on their head. Johnson played a ball straight back to the bowler and the home side were 41 for 1 this soon became 43 for 3 as both Vale and Gibbs departed for 0. The self destruct button was firmly pressed as Oatley departed for 6, McGilloway 0, Mathias 1, Hamilton 0, Lewis 4, Cole 0, with 9 wickets down the home side still required 17 runs to win. Cole (G) joined White in the middle and after just one ball Cole was caught in the gully and Lamphey had capitulated. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory and Lamphey have now seemingly have lost the bottle to chase down targets which should be obtained in their collective sleeps.

This latest setback now sees the Stags occupy a relegation spot. The fielding and bowling performance this season has been faultless, its the same old chestnut - batting - which seems destined to influence Lamphey's campaign. Victory in the last 3 games would have seen Lamphey lead the 3rd division by 2 points - now however they find themselves 2 points from safety.

Star Man - Paul White - A top performance from the skipper only to see the rest of his side fail to perform