IT was another disappointing result for Abergavenny on the weekend as they slowly subsided to a defeat at the hands of St Fagans.
On a windy day the home team won the toss, elected to bat and got off to a good start as both Aber's new ball bowlers initially struggled to adjust to the blustery conditions.
However, towards the end of his spell, in-form bowler Nathan Byrne removed opener McKenzie for 10, while Jon Denning settled into a testing line and length, bowling his seven over spell for 20 runs.
Spinner Andrew Coles entered the attack, and after a couple of slightly expensive opening overs as he found his form, bowled a good 10 over spell, picking up the wickets of top order St Fagans' batsmen for 43 runs.
At this point, Abergavenny looked well placed to put the pressure on one of the weaker St Fagans' teams of recent years.
Unfortunately, through a combination of some slightly erratic bowling in the windy conditions, which contributed in part to a high extras count, and a frustrating tendency of the St Fagans number four and five batsmen to hit the ball wherever the fielders weren't, the fourth wicket partnership took St Fagans to 184.
However, Abergavenny struck back strongly in the final 10 overs, with Richard Levi bowling a good spell and Gavin Heritage bowling an excellent spell of five overs - taking three for 54 to leave St Fagans 257-8 after their 50 overs.
This appeared be a chaseable score on what seemed to be a good pitch with a fast outfield, and it certainly appeared that way, as for the second week running, Aber got off to an excellent start in reply.
James Schofield and Greg Fury took the score to 57 in the 12th over before Schofield departed for 10.
Fury looked in excellent form, striking the ball cleanly and scoring at a good rate for his 46, before he was caught behind to Hopkins with the score on 75.
Hopkins' introduction turned the game as he picked up three of the Abergavenny top order, including Levi for 27 - just as the batsman looked as if he was taking the game away from St Fagans.
From 90-2 in the 17th over, Abergavenny suffered a collapse in the middle of the innings, and ended up having to adjust their sights for a losing draw.
Abergavenny displayed greater savvy than in the previous week against Sudbrook, as Heritage (41 n.o) and the Abergavenny lower order batted out the 50 overs to finish on 163-9.
Although well placed to win against both St Fagans and Sudbrook, before eventually succumbing to defeat, Aber should take heart from realising that they have the ability to compete with and beat the established Premier league teams if they play to their potential for the full 100 overs and capitalise on favourable situations with both bat and ball.
This Saturday they face another challenging game at home to Sully with a 1pm start.