Abergavenny slipped to a narrow 19 run defeat against Tondu in the South Wales League Premier Division in another close encounter. Tondu won the toss and had no hesitation in batting. Steve Pope quickly got into an aggressive mode and was particularly severe on an unusually out-of-sorts Abergavenny bowler Gavin Heritage. Mike Beacham claimed the first wicket, catching Pope off his own bowling and this brought the home captain Wayne Butler to the crease who then embarked on a stand of 106 with Matt Morgan. The latter treated James Schofield with great respect but Butler took full advantage off his short length and took 32 of his 52 runs off him. Kyle Holmes clean bowled Morgan and Butler and had Rowe caught behind by Lilly. Andrew Coles chipped in by bowling Williamson for a duck and Tondu had lost four wickets for nine runs. Only one more fell and that was off the last ball of the innings by Holmes as Tondu scored 239-6. Andrew Jones, last year's leading batsman for Aber, was out for three and John Phillips was bowled for just one. Steve Brown and Keith Newell slowly rebuilt the innings and the total was 79 when Bussey removed them both in a space of five balls, each for 29. Heritage tried to inject some urgency into the game but fell to a catch on the square leg boundary for 12. James Schofield joined Craig Barnsley and they batted very sensibly pushing along the score at six per over, but then Aber suffered a blow when a misfield led to a run out. Beacham and Lilly were quickly out but Holmes proved a useful partner to Barnsley who by now was forcing players back onto the boundary in an attempt to cut off his powerful stroke play. But another misunderstanding led to the run out of Holmes. Barnsley continued to try and win the match and a further 22 had been added when he was finally caught off a strong shot to deep extra cover for an excellent 85, and Abergavenny lost the match by 19 runs. ABERGAVENNY SECONDS suffered their second successive defeat after a five run loss to Tondu. After last week's defeat to Sudbrook, getting back on track against Tondu was a must, and losing the toss on a scorching hot day at Avenue Road wasn't the start Abergavenny would have wanted. However, Lee Fury and Andy Atkinson kept Tondu's openers in check with some accurate bowling, with Fury picking up the first wicket. Stenner for Tondu was in excellent form and the fast outfield gave full value for all shots as he raced to 50. Skipper Andy Timpson picked up a wicket to continue his good season, and when both Hrastelj and Skelton picked up a wicket apiece with Tondu at 145 for four off 35 overs, the Beavers had a chance to contain the away side. The important wicket of Stenner wasn't forthcoming, and he went on to complete an excellent 100. Hrastelj finally picked up the prized wicket, although Close smashed a quick fire 73 to send Tondu up to 268 off their 50 overs. In reply, The Beavers got off to a slow start, with Morris in particular struggling to find his recent form. Hrastelj went cheaply caught at mid wicket, but Greg Fury added some impetus to the reply with a hard hitting 25 before losing his wicket very rashly. Morris continued to battle away and with Alan Dewfield taking over the scoring role, the required rate began to reduce. Morris (35) finally fell with the score at 131, finally losing patience, and was soon followed by Viveash. With Ryland Wallace injured in a freak accident, run over by the sight screen, Lee Fury came in to join Dewfield. Dewfield passed 50 and it seemed if he stayed in, the home side would reach their target. However, he went rather unfortunately for 79, and this left the home side struggling needing 83 off the last 11 overs. Fury and injured Wallace (with a runner Jon Viveash) made a great fist at reaching the target with some excellent shots and running between the wickets. Fury was unlucky to be adjudged run out as the Beavers closed in on the target with two overs remaining, and this proved to be the vital wicket as Tondu won a nail biter by just five runs. This defeat seems to leave the Beavers again looking at a mid table finish, maybe worse if results don't improve, starting with next week away at Pentyrch. LLANARTH visited fourth placed Christchurch in an absorbing match and just managed to come away with victory to maintain their place at the top of Welsh Conference Division Four. Batting first on a very hot day, Christchurch lost one of their opening batsmen almost immediately, but the next three batsmen, Edwards (42), Morgan (86) and Thomas (48) batted steadily and managed to recover the situation. The home side took the score to 135 for three against some lacklustre Llanarth bowling and fielding which was not up to the usual standard. Fortunately for Llanarth, the middle and lower order did not maintain the standard of the earlier batsmen and continued to get themselves out. Wickets fell steadily including three run outs, as Christchurch managed to provide Llanarth with maximum bowling points when the last wicket fell with the final ball of the innings. In reply, Llanarth openers Peter Francis and Mark Baxter appeared to be untroubled by the Christchurch bowling, taking the score to 121. But an uncharacteristic mix up in the calling saw Baxter run out for 65. Doug Spencer (26) and Francis (85) put on another 57 before Spencer departed, leaving Llanarth on 180 for two and requiring only 27 more for victory. But there then followed several overs of madness as five more wickets fell, including two more run outs and leaving six runs required from the last over. But with more than a little relief, Gareth Edwards hit the winning runs with two balls to spare to give Llanarth maximum points in their quest for promotion. LLANARTH SECONDS continued their winning ways with a fine three wicket win over the counterparts from Newport side Christchurch. Batting first, Christchurch were slow against the accurate bowling of Chris Dewfield and Rhys Hinton. After 27 overs they had been reduced to 71 for six with Len Wilcock taking 3-34. Some great batting by Francis (59) and Hurton (48) led Christchurch to a revival and only some fine bowling from Andrew Spencer (3-29) reduced Christchurch to a respectable 207 all out. Llanarth started well with Mike Woodward (26) and Sam Dolphin (17) laying the foundations for victory. Some forceful batting by Craig Whistance (46) and a great knock from Dave Griffiths (50 no) saw Llanarth run out easy winners by three wickets. The win continues Llanarth's challenge for promotion. LLANARTH'S under nines squad won the highly competitive Newport Softball Tournament last Sunday, playing some excellent cricket against the best juniors in South East Wales. Teams from Newport, St Fagans, Pentyrch, Sudbrook and Croesyceiliog also took part. In the round robin section, Llanarth played Newport A and produced some splendid all round team cricket to win by over 50 runs. The second match was against a strong Pentyrch side. Llanarth lost a couple of early wickets but batted rather negatively to score only 236. They then bowled and fielded well, helped by excellent wicket keeping from Gareth Ansell, to win by four runs. This took them to the semi finals where they met Newport A again. This was a different match with Newport bowling and fielding extremely well to hold Llanarth to a meagre 227. It required a great effort from the youngsters to win and they produced it. Llanarth captain Lewis Holley led by example, taking two superb catches off his own bowling. There was then last over drama as Jake Groves conceded successive fours to tie the score with one ball remaining. Jake then produced a magic moment as he delivered a perfect ball to bowl the batsman out and give Llanarth a magnificent victory. In the final Croesyceiliog batted first but Llanarth were playing inspired cricket, with the bowlers producing great line and length and fielders supporting extremely well. Seven wickets fell to reduce the Croesyceili-og score to 203. Llanarth wanted to win in style and every batsman was aggressive and scored well. Charles Griffin top scored with 26 not out and there was delight for Henry Breeze as he scored his first six. GLANGRWYNEY finally claimed their first victory of the season in Division One of the Marches League on Saturday, recording a four wicket win over fellow strugglers Canon Frome. For once, Glangr-wyney made a good start to the match, Canon Frome finding themselves 31 for three after 12 overs. The Herefordshire side found the going tough against the Glan opening attack of Ben Bowker and Steve Croucher. But after a period of consolidation, Frome's middle order managed to edge their side up past the hundred mark by the 35th over. However, Glan were determined not to lose the initiative and let the game slide out of their control, and a late flurry of wickets saw Canon Frome dismissed for 141 in 43 overs. Phil Bowker (4-48) and Steve Croucher (3-27) were the pick of the home side's bowlers. In reply, Glangr-wyney made a tentative start, and at 21 for two after ten overs victory seemed a long way off. Matthew Lennox (50) and Ben Bowker (14) got the home side back on track, pushing the score past 50 in the 15th over. A controversial lbw decision saw the end of Bowker, but this brought Paul Daniell to the crease, who together with Lennox took Glangrwyney within sight of victory. However, Glan were not home-and-dry yet, and a mini collapse, including the dismissal of Lennox, threatened to ruin the home side's day. Daniell stood firm at the crease, though, an remained there to hit an unbeaten knock of 44 that guided Glangr-wyney home with four overs to spare.