THE Beavers defied the driving rain and travelled to Sully on the weekend, where they found the ground dry, the sun shining, and only a keen wind whipping in of the sea to hinder their progress as they put the seasiders to the Abergavenny sword.

The two captains agreed to reduce the overs per side to 45, and Sully duly won the toss, but surprisingly decided to bat.

Aber got off to a good start with Chris 'no nickname yet' Hartland removing one of Sully's openers.

However Sully's Clitheroe was in fine form, scoring in excess of half his team's runs, as the opening spells from Hartland and Skelton came to an end with no further wickets.

The introduction of spin twins Andy 'Shippers' Timpson and Owain 'Obiwan' Bradley paid immediate dividends with Bradley picking up a wicket with his first ball, brilliantly caught behind by Ioan "Tiger" Lilley.

This wicket quickly brought two more, another for Bradley and one for Timpson, although Clitheroe should also have gone, but he was missed stumped when on just 35.

Sully consolidated with a partnership between Clitheroe (87) and Jones (30), but when Lee 'Steptoe' Fury came on, he winkled out Clitheroe bowling him off his pads.

Then skipper Mark 'Stan' Winstanley ran out Jones with a direct hit, as Sully limped to 155 for six.

Sully then hit out in the remaining few overs to set a target of 193 for 7, which never looked enough.

Bradley finished with two for 25 off his nine overs, with Timpson one for 34 and Hartland one for 37 off their respective nine overs.

In reply, Aber got off to the worst possible start as Jon 'Ferret Features' Viveash was dismissed in the second over.

Ioan Lilley was joined at the crease by Chris Hartland. Lilley looked in great form as he raced to 12 including a six, but he misjudged a shortish delivery and spooned a catch to point.

This brought in Ryland 'Mouseman' Wallace who played his usual steadying role, whilst Chris Hartland smashed the Sully attack to all parts.

The Beavers raced along at more than five an over, and Hartland soon reached 50.

Hartland continued to take the attack to Sully, and despite a chance dropped on the boundary when on 56, looked set for a hundred.

Wallace himself reached 50, punishing the Sully slow bowlers by using his feet and punching boundaries.

However, with just 36 runs required for victory, Hartland misjudged a drive and was caught at extra cover for an excellent 82.

Wallace was then joined by Dan Hartland, and he continued his impressive start to the season with a quick 17 not out.

Wallace steered the Beavers home with an unbeaten 71 and eight overs to spare.

This was an excellent victory for the Beavers, and was a performance in which all aspects of the game clicked.

Next week the Beavers host local rivals Chepstow at Avenue Road and will be looking to continue their good start to the season.