CRESSELLY Under 11s are the winners of the Pembroke County Cricket Club Under 11s Junior Final after beating St Ishmaels in a good game held at Hook CC.
This year's final was between the top two sides from both zones with Cresselly 11s beating their Under 10s in one semi final and St Ishmaels beating Lawrenny in the other.
The Under 11s game is played in a pairs format starting at 200 runs and Cresselly captain Caden Jones won the toss against his counte part Jack Welch and decided to bowl first.
This was a very strong Cresselly side with the majority of players in the regional squad and the bowling was excellent and very accurate.
It proved very testing for the St Ishmaels openers With Caden Jones taking the first wicket 1-7 and Charlie Walker keeping it tight.
The change bowlers of Freddie Caine, 3-0, and Harry Hayden, 2-3, kept St Ishmaels on the back foot.
Slade Trimby 9, 2 x4, Mollie Thomas 5, and Jack Welch 11, did well to bring the score back over 200, however George Richards, 1-7, struck at the end and St Ishmaels finished on 215.
Unfortunately Mollie Thomas sustained an injury during the game but batted on with resolve but was replaced by Graeme Gudmanz in the secondnd innings.
St Ishmaels needed a good start with the ball and their bowlers rose to the occasion taking three wickets in the first seven balls with George Devonald 2-9, Jack Welch 1-26, and with Seb Vickers 1-19 with a wicket early in the fourth over the game was evenly poised.
Jack Richards 18 and Harry Haden 10 started the Cresselly fight back.
Drizzle descended on the match for a few overs and umpire Allan Hansen did well to keep the game going to a conclusion.
In the middle order there was an explosive 30 by Freddie Caine, 7 x 4, with the later batters Iolo Badham 16, Caden Jones 28 4x4 1x6, and Gethin White, 12, taking Cresselly to 350 and victory.
In between Lilly Mcguire 1-13, Slade Trimby 1-12 and Roux Finlay 1- 12 took wickets for St Ishmaels.
Thus Cresselly ran out winners although an interesting statistic is that St Ishmaels conceded half the extras of Cresselly.
The Evan Martin Trophy (player of the match) a stalwart of Hook CC for many years was picked by Dave Petrie who highlighted all the above performances and awarded it to a jubilant Freddie Caine for his all-round performance with bat and ball.
Again it was great to see a large crowd of knowledgeable spectators who certainly saw some entertaining cricket.
In the presentation after the match junior organiser Martin Jones congratulated both sides on reaching the final with some excellent play by both and Cresselly for their victory.
He thanked Hook for hosting the final and Dave Petrie for preparing the ground.
Afterwards in the club Scott Gregory provided refreshments for the players, which was well received.
He also thanked Allan Hansen for umpiring, scorers Louisa Perridge and Wendy Bradshaw, and sponsors Colin John of Llewelyn Davies & Co Chartered Accountants for his continued and valuable support of Junior Cricket in the county.