MCCC - Maesteg Town Away Report

Result: Maesteg Celtic won by 3 wkts
Date: 3rd May 2008
Venue: Away
Toss: Won by Maesteg Celtic who chose to bowl
Highlights: Roger Barnes (4-25), Phil Poole (3-29), Gareth Hopkins (34), Roger Barnes (28*)
Points: Maesteg Celtic 24, Maesteg Town 5

Match Report

Roger Barnes guided Celtic to a 3 wicket win as they successfully chased down 122 against local rivals Maesteg Town in the seasons opener.

Barnes hit an unbeaten 36 and picked up four wickets with the ball as Celtic got home despite a few scares. Celtic made hard work of chasing a relatively small total, losing wickets at vital times throughout their chase. In the end it was left to last seasons player of the year and new captain, Lyndsey Harris, batting with a dislocated thumb, to see celtic home.

Earlier the new look Celtic attack had done an excellent job restricting a strong batting line-up to under 130. Along with Barnes, 14 year old debutant Alex Griffiths and new found bowling talent Phil Poole were the pick of the bowlers. Poole picked up 3 wickets and Griffiths, who had an excellent day in the field, grabbed 2, including the prize wicket of superstar all-rounder Martin Wiltshire.

Only Luke O’Connor and Ryan Parry seemed to get to grips with the slow pitch, but both threw their wickets away when well set. Parry slashing at a shoulder high full toss from Harris which went straight to Phil Poole at point. A smart catch by Poole but Parry could argue he was a little unlucky as it should probably have been called a no-ball. From then on wickets tumbled and the away side were more than pleased with their efforts at tea.

Their reply got off to a bad start, losing opener Nick Poole and youngster Griffiths for just 32 runs. However, with newly promoted opener Gareth Hopkins and returning journeyman Ian Herbert stabling the ship, celtic looked in good shape.

An excellent piece of fielding from Nathan Carter run out Hopkins and with Barnes on just 4 celtic hearts were in their mouths, as the all-rounder mis-timed a pull straight to mid-on. Amazingly the simple chance on offer was shelled by the usually reliable Darren Morris.

That could have been the turning point of the game but Herbert and Barnes, making the most of his second life dug in to take the score up to 92. Both players looking solid and punishing the odd bad ball on what was a difficult pitch. As they inched Celtic to within 30 runs of their target the game turned on its head as Herbert was needlessly run-out for 16. This triggered a minor collapse as celtic lost 3 wickets for just 9 runs. Excellent bowling from Town skipper Leighton O’Connor polishing off Phil Poole and Cirrotto in successive balls.

However the skipper and Barnes were not going to let the fantastic bowling effort go to waste and eventually got the visitors home with more than 7 overs to spare.

Scorecard

Maesteg Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Bowler	Runs
Luke O'Connor	Ct. G.Evans	R Barnes	29 (65)
L Wiltshire	Ct. A Griffiths	R Barnes	12 (40)
C Parry	LBW	A Griffiths	3 (10)
M Wiltshire	Ct. L Harris	A Griffiths	10 (35)
R Parry	Ct. P Poole	L Harris	20 (46)
N Carter	Ct. G Cirrotto	P Poole	14 (20)
Leighton O'Connor	Bowled	P Poole	2 (20)
J Hood	Bowled	P Poole	16 (42)
A King	Ct. N Poole	R Barnes	3 (19)
J Davies	Bowled	R Barnes	0 (3)
D Morris	Not	Out	0
		Extras	6
	46.1 Overs	(all out)	119

F.O.W: 34-1, 39-2, 44-3, 57-4, 91-5, 92-6, 96-7, 113-8, 119-9

Celtic Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Bowler	Runs
G Hopkins	Run	Out	34 (55)
N Poole	Ct. L O'Connor	N Carter	4 (20)
A Griffiths	Ct & Bowled	M Wiltshire	3 (14)
I Herbert	Run	Out	16 (53)
R Barnes	Not	Out	28 (41)
A Whelan	LBW	J Davies	0 (4)
P Poole	LBW	L O'Connor	1 (7)
G Cirrotto	LBW	L O'Connor	0 (1)
L Harris	Not	Out	7 (8)
		Extras	20
	45.5 Overs	(for 7 wkts)	120

F.O.W: 20-1, 32-2, 52-3, 94-4, 98-5, 107-6, 107-7

Maesteg Celtic - Lyndsey Harris (Capt), Gareth Hopkins, Nick Poole, Alex Griffiths, Ian Herbert, Roger Barnes,
Andrew Whealan, Phil Poole, Giovanni Cirrotto, Lee Hicks, Geraint Evans (wkt).

Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts
J Davies	9	3	17	1
N Carter	8	2	15	1
M Wiltshire	12	5	12	1
D Morris	4	0	14	0
L O'Connor	10.5	3	35	2
Luke O'Connor	2	0	15	0