Saturday brought both joy and disappointment to Brecon Cricket Club. The first team were able to play and notched up a vital victory but unfortunately the second team game fell victim to the weather.

Report by by Derek Osborne

Due to the Jazz Festival the second team were having to play Porth away for the second time this season. A late ground issue switched the game to Cefn Fforest but then the inclement weather meant that skipper JK had to make a long distance call to avoid both teams travelling for another afternoon of sitting and hoping that the skies would clear.

It was a tad brighter on Barry Island where the first team decamped to, for their Division 2 clash with Barry Athletic.

Barry batted first and found the conditions and Brecon bowling difficult to cope with. Openers Hopkins (14) and Baker (31) made a steady start but when they were out wickets fell relatively cheaply at regular intervals. Wicket keeper – batsman Rhys Pritchard showed remarkable versatility again with a bowling spell in which he took 4 for 21 from his 7 overs. Sam Williams and Jac Kenchington both took a pair and James Mitchell one, with the most economical spell coming from Rich Lovering who bowled 5 overs for 12 runs but no reward. An excellent result as Barry were all back in the pavilion for 117 after just 34 overs.

In reply Brecon got off to a good start with openers Greg Webber (24) and Jac Kenchington (18) laying a solid foundation and Rhys Pritchard (23) and Rich Lovering (15) pushing the team into a very strong position. There was a bit of a twist to come though as Brecon had a slightly longer tail than normal. The cries of the seagulls changed to a loud quacking sound as Stewart Thompson, Dan Marshall and James Mitchell all departed for ducks and suddenly there was an element of squeaky bum time as the weaker batsman were almost being called to the crease.

It was the experience and calm of Sam Williams and Andy McDonald who stopped the rot and guided the team home to a 3 wicket victory which lifts the team into 4th place with 2 matches left.

There is a big gap to 3rd but equally the bottom 3 should be too far below for relegation to be a possibility.