ABERYSTWYTH 1sts welcomed Porthcawl 2nds for the first home league game of the season at the Geufron on Saturday.

After considering the threat of rain later in the day, Aberystwyth skipper Adam Shaw elected to bowl first upon winning the toss.

A youthful Aberystwyth side set about their business in good consistent fashion. The opening bowlers Emlyn Mainwaring (1-31) and Aron Bishop (0-15) did well to restrict the top order and limit the runs from flowing, however chances were seemingly few and far between.

Nonetheless, the first wicket of T. Richards (23) came courtesy of a sublime catch in the short covers by Jim Vaughan off the bowling of Mainwaring.

However, the persistent approach from the opposition meant that Aberystwyth had to work hard throughout to stop the scoring and to try to force errors, with change bowlers Graham Saunders (2-34) and Vaughan (3-30) getting their just rewards for their own perseverance.

Special mention goes to youngster Wil Jones who bowled a tidy spell of 4 overs for 18 runs. Top scorer for the opposition was B. Driscoll (29) helping them to a respectable total of 171-7 in their allocated 40 overs.

In reply, Aberystwyth looked to attack in order to get above the run rate. Having lost the early wicket of Saunders, Mel Jones and Steffan Roberts exploited the gaps and put pressure on the opposition bowlers with the runs starting to flow after 6 overs.

Their partnership of 73 in 13 overs was broken when Roberts rather unfortunately stepped back far into his crease to cut a wide ball, leading to the rare dismissal of “hit wicket” for a well-made 29.

This brought Ted Jones to the crease, who after a steady couple of overs looked settled in support of his father who quickly accelerated through his 50 and onwards with some forceful hitting scoring 12 boundaries in all.

The younger Jones played with maturity and skill, hitting graceful drives through the covers off both front and back foot, and generally looking at ease against all 5 of the opposition bowlers.

The pair put on 96 in total when Ted hit the winning runs accordingly through the covers.

Ted finished on 37 not out, his father Mel just short of a century with a superb 92 not out as Aberystwyth reached their target in 29.5 overs just 30 minutes before the rain came.

A fantastic result for Aberystwyth who now sit top of Division 8 with 2 wins from 2, and a proud day for the Jones family. The club would like to thank match sponsors Aber Letting for their ongoing support.