LLANRWST 134 for 3 beat DOLGELLAU 129 by 7 wickets

Dolgellau slumped to a seven-wicket defeat at Llanrwst on Saturday, the hosts lifting themselves off the foot of the Division 1 table with their win.

Winning the toss and inserting their opponents Llanrwst made the most of a bowler friendly surface, which was ideal for their plethora of slow bowlers. Runs were hard to come by on an unpredictable strip with inconsistent bounce, although it did get better for the batters later in the day as it warmed up and the sun appeared from behind the clouds.

Dolgellau could only muster 129, being all out in the last of their 45 overs. Llanrwst proceeded from 66 for 3 to 134 for 3 with 9 overs to spare as the visitors’ largely inexperienced bowling attack could not make further inroads, Phil Leeds not bowling due to injury. Skipper Aron Hughes made 54 not out for the home side.

Only four of the visiting batters managed to make it to double figures, the bowlers making good use of their own strip. After the early wicket of Jack Williamson bowled by Alwyn Williams, opener Sion Francis and number three Sam Williams had a partnership of 51 for the second wicket in 18 overs.

Williams scored 19, including a six, before he was bowled by spinner Scott Thomas.

Francis stayed at the crease for 31 overs but found runs hard to come by in his uncharacteristic stay in the middle for 18, given out lbw to Alwyn Williams.

Lee Thomas had removed Morgan Yorke and Stuart Evans and when Francis was dismissed it stood at 95 for 5 with 14 overs remaining. Skipper Jonathan Lloyd with 21 and Leeds 20 contributed some useful runs, but wickets fell regularly and the innings closed on 129 off 44.4 overs, the hosts donating 36 extras.

All five bowlers used had some success, Iwan Edwards claimed 3 for 25, Alwyn Williams 2 for 21, Scott Thomas 2 for 22, Lee Thomas 2 for 24 and Jack Parry 1 for 37.

Llanrwst also lost a wicket early on when Joe Williamson bowled Aled Hughes. It became 31 for 2 from 12 overs, Nick Bould caught at slip by Leeds off Sam Williams.

Opener Iwan Edwards and Aron Hughes added 35 in 10 overs, Edwards making 38 with 5 fours and a six until Williams beat his defences to rearrange the stumps.

Stefan Horan came in to join Hughes and together they had an unbroken alliance of 68 to carry their side to a winning 134 for 3, Hughes sealing victory with his third six. Hughes was undefeated on 54 having also hit 5 fours while Horan made 19 not out with 3 fours.

In the end Dolgellau’s lack of bowling firepower came to the fore, although youngsters Joe Williamson and Moc Llywelyn bowled five good overs apiece at the start, but surprisingly were not used in the latter stages.

Joe had 1 for 15 and Moc only went for 9 runs. Sam Williams was his consistent self with 2 for 20 from his 9 overs and Jack Williamson had 2 maidens in his 6 overs for 23.

Llanrwst’s seven wicket success earned them 14 points to Dolgellau’s consolation of 1 point. Dolgellau entertain Gwersyllt Park on Saturday as the second half of the season begins.

DOLGELLAU 2nds 61 lost to HALKYN 2nds 62 for 2 by 8 wickets

Put in to bat Dolgellau 2nds were all out for 61 at the Marian on Saturday, Halkyn 2nds responding with a winning 62 for 2 in Division Four.

For the home side skipper Richard Rees scored the bulk of the runs, making 30 with 3 fours, being the last wicket to fall.

Llio Parry made 9 opening the batting but the remaining batters hardly troubled the scorers.

Halkyn’s bowling mixture of experience and youth proved to be too good for the hosts who had six juniors in their ranks. Gareth Thomas took 3 for 5, Ciaran Sweeney 3 for 9, Anthony Green 1 for 5, Sion Barnes 1 for 5 and captain James Beresford 1 for 11. Gareth Hughes then struck an undefeated 40 for Halkyn after Iwan Parry had caught and bowled Aaron Thomas and Ellis Rogers had Beresford caught by Iwan.

Halkyn got to 62 for 2 in the 9th over for an 8 wicket success, Rogers 1 for 11 and Iwan Parry 1 for 19.

Saturday’s match balls were sponsored by Eleanor Davies, Opticians (Plas Yn Dre St) and Plas Isa Guesthouse (Lion Street)

• On Friday Llio Parry played for Cricket Wales Girls Under 18s away to Cornwall Girls U18S. Llio had a good game, taking 2 for 5 off 3.3 overs and holding a catch, although Cornwall won by 3 wickets.

At Carmel, Dolgellau Ladies team lost to Llandudno but beat Carmel in the North Wales Women’s League. S

ioned Mair Jones had 2 for 20 and scored 19 runs against Carmel, Meryl Jones scored 12 and Ffion Gittins took 3 for 8.

Phil Leeds played in two wins for Wales Over 50s 1sts scoring 17 not out while beating Staffordshire in Cardiff and taking 1 for 26 as they defeated a West Indies Over 50s team at Pontardulais. Jonathan Lloyd made 13 for a Wales Over 50s Friendly XI in a losing cause at Newport against the Wales District Forty Club. To complete Dolgellau’s international flavour, Morgan Yorke was in the Wales Under 16s squad at Newport on Sunday.