Lampeter beat champions of the East to seal title

LAMPETER won the Clean Rescue SWCA Division 10 trophy as they defeated the champions of the East, Glynneath Miners Welfare, in a title shootout, writes Arif Saad.

Facing perhaps their toughest test of the season, Lampeter raised their game and put in a comprehensive team performance to secure the Division 10 title.

At the toss, captain Ceri Thomas elected to bowl first, backing his strong bowling line up against Welfare’s batting, which had been dominant all season.

Richard Thomas and Daryl Davies have established themselves as the regular openers for Lampeter as the season has progressed and they showed why with immaculate lines and lengths from the off.

After a maiden over from Thomas and just a single from Davies, the pressure was immediately on Chris Newport and David Noall.

Rich T was at his best, swinging the ball both ways at pace to leave the batters floundering, and he struck in the 3rd over, bowling Newport for 1.

Noall and Chris Vermaak battled away but were unable to make much progress.

Daryl thought he had picked up a wicket when Noall bottom edged a pull behind, but the Lampeter appeals were in vain, Daryl having to settle for a maiden over.

The decision did not prove costly as Rich made amends three balls later bowling Noall for 2 with another unplayable delivery.

Tom Gill joined Welfare Chairman Vermaak with the Lampeter team buzzing as Biscuit’s bowling inspired the side- every delivery looking like it may find an edge or sneak through the defence.

Daryl maintained the pressure with another maiden over as the batters prodded at the pitch distrustfully.

With the ball spitting occasionally off a length and some skidding through low, the Welfare players were in two minds how to approach setting a total.

Vermaak looked to have been shaken up by one that popped, as he nicked off next ball to a delivery that got big on him, to depart for 9.

Wayne Booth came out at 5 and decided attack was the best form of defence, however he found the pace and swing of Rich too much to handle, as his stumps were shattered first ball.

Booth stormed off, the tree on the boundary welcoming his discarded bat, with Rich T on a hat-trick and Welfare in big trouble at 15/4.

After another tight over from Daryl, Rich ran in looking for his hat-trick.

Gill managed to keep out the delivery however 5 balls later, with Iain Burns on strike, Rich struck again- yet another impeccable swinging delivery clattering into the stumps to give Rich his 5-fer for only 7 runs.

Ben Woodhead came out at 7, in a line-up that batted deep, to join Gill.

Gill decided that, with the score at 19/5, throwing the bat was the only way forward.It proved effective briefly, as he managed three boundaries from one Davies over and two from Thomas’ final one.

Despite those costly overs, the pair finished with incredible figures of 5/15 for Thomas and 0/25 for Davies.

The batters were overheard to be targeting the change bowlers, however they would have been unaware that Jason Thomas was fresh from a 6-fer the previous week and Carwyn Gregson offered possibly even more pace and bounce than the opening pair.

Gregson struck in his first over, with a lifting delivery finding a thin bottom edge to give Saad his second catch- Gill departing for a valuable 34 in the context of a low total.

At drinks, Welfare had limped to 60/6, with young Adam Burns joining Ben Woodhead.

The break saw a change in approach from Burns, as he looked to take the attack to the bowlers.

However at the other end Woodhead fell victim to the pace of Gregson, bowled for 10.

This brought captain Chris Harland to the middle. He belied his position of 9 in the line-up as he unfurled powerful drives and pulls to get the scoreboard accelerating.

As overhead conditions changed, the ball finally began to respond for Jason. Having been targeted early on, he suddenly looked threatening with every delivery.

Burns continued to look to attack but was done by the movement as he edged behind to Saad to give Jason his first wicket.

The experienced Steve Moul supported his captain as the pair advanced Welfare past 100, with Harland looking like he might be able to single-handedly carry his team to a competitive total.

Just as the partnership began to look dangerous and, for the first time the momentum started to swing slightly towards Welfare, Jason demonstrated lightning reflexes to take a return catch over his head and dismiss Moul for 6.

A wicket maiden to finish for Jason left him with 2/43.With Emyr Richards and Eifion Davies warming up, Gregson began his last over with Welfare on 128 and Harland on strike.

Gregson delivered another rocket first ball, that angled in and beat Harland for pace- bowling him for a top-score of 42 and ending the innings.

Defending a low total, the Welfare players knew they would have to be on top form in the field and they went out full of energy.

The players were buzzing around in the field, and full of vocal support for opening bowler Steve Moul as he opened up with a maiden to Elgan Evans.

Sam Stanwick took the second over and backed up Moul with accurate bowling, Ceri Thomas and Elgan both getting off the mark with singles, but Stanwick finding enough to give Welfare encouragement.

When Moul got the first ball of his second over to nip back and bowl Elgan, the Welfare players were ebullient.

Every ball was loudly backed as Moul delivered 5 dots, Geraint Thomas taking his time to get his eye in, to give the opener a wicket maiden.

Stanwick backed up his partner with a maiden over of his own as Ceri demonstrated classical technique, defending straight with a high elbow, but with Lampeter 2/1 after four overs Welfare sensed that they had a chance.

Ceri had used the early overs to get his feet moving and assess the bowling and from the fifth over he delivered an assured performance.

Watching the ball and striding out to it, driving through the off side with crunching power, he took two boundaries from Moul’s next over to quieten the Welfare chatter.

Giving Geraint time to settle in, Ceri took the initiative early on, punishing anything over pitched and working singles to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Geraint got off the mark from his twelfth delivery faced, slapping Stanwick through the off side and then repeated the trick four balls later to get his innings going.

From then on, both batters looked comfortable, as Welfare turned to Woodhead and Burns for a second breakthrough.

Although both delivered the occasional dangerous delivery, the pitch still providing plenty of assistance for the bowlers, with no scoreboard pressure the Lampeter batters were able to ride those out and wait on the balls in their favoured areas.

Both Ceri and Geraint ran hard, with several 3s in between the regular boundaries.

The score ticked past 50 in the 14th over and by drinks had raced on to 78.

As the players took a break in the heat, Lampeter knew a further 51 runs was all that was required in 20 overs and Welfare desperately needed wickets.

Ceri had pushed on to 44 at the interval, with Geraint on 26.

Two over later Geraint had almost caught Ceri, as he plundered 17 runs, punishing anything that drifted on to the leg side.

Ceri had been starved of the strike since drinks and having taken a two from Woodhead was one stroke from yet another half century.

However it wasn’t to be, as he chopped a wider delivery onto his own stumps to depart for a fine 46- a captain’s innings which dealt with the early pressure and turned it back onto the bowling attack.

Jason Thomas joined Geraint as Lampeter looked to wrap things up, with Welfare turning to the spin of Chris Vermaak to offer a different challenge.

Geraint swiveled on the first delivery to send another four to the leg side boundary and bring up his half century, raising his bat to the applause from the sidelines.

Jason fell to Woodhead, looking to go over the top, however it was too little to late as Carwyn Gregson and Geraint quickly advanced Lampeter to 125 after 27 overs, requiring four to win.

With Vermaak bowling the next, Geraint carved through the offside and as the ball headed towards the boundary roared in celebration, knowing that the trophy had been secured.League chairman Neil Hobbs was on hand to congratulate both teams on a successful season, with both gaining promotion and to present Lampeter with the Clean Rescue SWCA Division 10 trophy.

After an early finish, there was plenty to time to retrieve Booth’s bat from the tree and for both sides to reflect in the Nags Head.

Captain Ceri Thomas congratulated the team and the wider squad before awarding man of the match to Richard Thomas for his game breaking 5/15, although Geraint Thomas, with 61* to see home the chase, was also in the running.

With this victory, Lampeter conclude their debut season in the SWCA and their first as a stand-alone club since their rebirth in 2024. The club has come a long way, in a short period of time.

There are many challenges ahead, as it looks to secure its long term future, however the support from the town, local businesses and the growth of the youth section and midweek league are all huge positives.

Planning for the next season will begin in earnest soon, however before that, the whole squad will enjoy a rest and celebrate a successful year.