DOLGELLAU were not really troubled when they travelled to Carmel on Saturday, winning by six wickets after bowling out the hosts for just 88 in the 39th over.

Victory arrived for Dolgellau in their 24th over for the loss of four wickets.

Carmel opted to bat first and struggled from the start as the visiting bowlers got on top, and indeed the highest contribution for the home side came from 23 extras, 15 of which were wides. Only Oliver Saynor and Alec Davies notched double figure scores, as Eric Herbert took 5 wickets and Mark Edmondson 3 wickets.

Edmondson’s pace in the first few overs was too much for the first three Carmel batsmen who were all bowled, the hosts slipping to 14 for 3 in 13 overs, runs being very hard to come by. Skipper Barry Mcgauty was the first to go, followed by Daniel Owens and Australian Nicholas White, who faced 46 balls for his 3 runs.

It became 17 for 4, Sam Williams getting in to the act by having Daniel Sim caught by Gareth Lanagan, the first of 3 catches for Lanagan. Alec Davies managed to hit 3 fours, but with the total on 45 he was caught Lanagan bowled Williams for 18.

That was in the 20th over and thereafter the wickets fell at regular intervals, with Eric Herbert finishing Carmel off by claiming all of the last five wickets to fall.

Jonathan Fisher was caught by Edmondson and Oliver Saynor made 21, with a six and 2 fours off 38 deliveries, before being caught by Lanagan. Edmondson had a second catch to dismiss Ryan Roberts, while Chris Jones was caught by the wicket-keeper Rob Humphreys for 9.

Connor Hughes was the last man to be dismissed, when bowled by Herbert, with Steve Scooter Jones being the not out batsman when Carmel were all out for 88.

Herbert claimed 5 for 29 from 11.4 overs with 4 maidens. Edmondson’s fiery spell yielded 3 wickets for just 8 runs from 8 overs. 6 of which were maidens, as the Carmel batsmen only had 4 scoring shots from his 48 deliveries. Sam Williams also bowled well, sending down his full allocation of 12 overs and taking 2 for 25 with 4 maidens, while Jason Weaver bowled 7 economic overs, giving away 18 runs.

In reply, Dolgellau’s turn at the crease got off to the worst possible start, Lanagan being dismissed by the first ball of the innings, caught by Sim from Steve Jones.

Opener Sion Francis accompanied by Greg Smithies advanced the total on to 32 before Smithies was caught by White off Jones in the 11th over, having made a watchful 13 runs from 31 deliveries.

It became 34 for 3 when Herbert was caught at mid-on by White for just 1 run, with bowler Saynor taking the wicket.

Edmondson joined Francis to take Dolgellau to the brink of victory, adding a further 41 for the fourth wicket in 10 overs.

With the total on 75, Francis was adjudged lbw in Mcgauty’s first over, after making an excellent 39, with 4 fours from 60 balls on a difficult batting surface

Dolgellau did not have any further alarms as Edmondson and Stuart Evans took them to a winning 89 for 4 in the 24th over. Edmondson completed a good match for himself closing on 25 not out with 4 boundaries, facing 31 balls while Evans was on 5 not out as victory came.

For Carmel, Steve Jones bowled 9 overs and claimed 2 for 23, Saynor had 1 for 40 from 9 overs and Mcgauty 1 for 9 from 2.5 overs as Dolgellau, captained by Phil Leeds, won by 6 wickets, taking 13 points to Carmel’s 2 points. Last Saturday’s Match Balls were sponsored by Aled Rees of Penmaen Bach Caravan Park, Pennal and Roy Evans of Newbury, Berkshire.

Pwllheli (263 for 9) beat Llay Welfare (96) by 167 runs

PWLLHELI produced a superb all-round performance to beat Llay Welfare by 167 runs in the North Wales League division one, after great knocks from Morgan Murray Williams (61) and Michael Hughes (81) had ensured a total of 263 for 9.

After being asked to bat first by the visitors, opener Craig Edwards set them on their way with 17 runs, and despite losing partner Chris Moore cheaply, Murray-Williams at number three took control.

Edwards departed when he offered a catch to Nathan Humphreys from the bowling of Ethan Griffiths, but Murray Williams went beyond his half century, before being caught for 61 by John Lloyd from Tom Parry (1 for 34 from 6 overs).

Jason Underwood provided great support as he got to within six runs of a half century, but he was finally dismissed lbw by Humpreys for 44, whilst Nicholas Butterworth also weighed in with 14 runs, before Jacob Roberts took his catch from David Phennah (1 for 38 from 5 overs).

Captain Michael Hughes entered the fray at number six and he confidently put the Llay bowlers to the sword with some great shots on his way to a top score of 81.

He was finally bowled by Ethan Griffiths (3 for 60 from 9 overs) and despite late successes for Jacob Roberts (2 for 31 from 6 overs), Pwllheli finished on a great total of 263 for 9 from their 50 overs.

Llay’s reply never got going as Murray-Williams (3 for 22 from 9 overs) set about dismantling the top order, dismissing Mike Wright for 4 and Jack Parry for 6.

Opening batsman John Lloyd went on to make a top score of 19, before being dismissed by Michael Hughes (1 for 16 from 5 overs), with Guto Roberts taking the second of his three catches of the day.

Jacob Roberts (10), David Phennah (11) and Huw Jones (14) showed resitance but Llay were eventually all out for a total of 96 in the 38th over, with further wickets falling to Owen Reilly, Chris Moore, Martin Jones, Sean Reilly and Craig Edwards.

• Pwllheli Seconds were all out for just 69 against Holyhead Seconds, despite a defiant knock of 49 from Rhys Griffiths.

The hosts went on to win by five wickets after 23 overs, through Luke Edwards (15), Mike Will (20) and Craig Newey (15).