Following last weeks victory over Radyr, Llanarth travelled to Cardiff in confident mood looking for the back-to-back victory that would take them clear of the bottom of the table.

An early start at noon was agreed to allow the majority of the Wales football match to be viewed post cricket.

Cardiff won the toss and chose to bat and Dave Lomax (2-30) gave the Trees a great start by removing both openers, one to an incredible catch at point by Andrew Spencer who stuck out a Mr Tickle-like left arm to pouch a rocket.

However Ricketts and McAndrew settled the home team and progressed the score to 74 before A Spencer (3-33) found the edge of the former to have him caught behind by Tom Vaughan.

The Cardiff middle order couldn’t cope with the spin of Chris Powell (4-42) as he took four quick wickets to see the innings subside to 101-7. McAndrew (64), though, was proving troublesome but some of that trouble was self-inflicted by Llanarth as they dropped him four times in an innings total of six dropped catches. That profligacy enabled Cardiff to add some useful runs down the order and although the final score of 164 all out was well within the Trees scope, in truth, the total should have been under 100.

Post-tea Llanarth’s reply didn’t start well as Ed James departed for a single but Mark Baxter (33) and Lomax (70*) made slow but assured progress, taking the score to 75, before Baxter missed a straight one and walked off looking for the hole in his bat that the ball must surely have passed through. When Vaughan and Elis Willbourn both departed for ducks the score had slipped to 90-4 and Cardiff were sniffing a chance.

Enter skipper Dennis Heath (38*) who took the match by the scruff of the neck and, in conjunction with Lomax, counter-attacked wonderfully as further runs came at a useful lick. In a bid for a break-through Cardiff tried to use their youngsters but no mercy was shown as the last rites were delivered in a flurry of boundaries with Lomax capping the victory, by six wickets, with a smartly biffed maximum.

Last Saturday Usk were involved in two good games as the firsts beat Newport Fugitives, and the seconds lost to the same opponents.

Over at High Cross, Fugies Captain Matthew Evans won the toss and elected to bat. Despite the loss of an early wicket, the hosts’ top order did well as Tom Cleeve (33), Nathan Millichip (56), Huw Wilcox (77) – playing against his former club – and Gareth Thomas (30) all contributed. The Fugies finished on 231-6 from their 50 overs.

Usk in reply also suffered an early loss; however, Owen Watkins (30), Iain Clayton (71) and the on-form Richard Rees (53) with his second consecutive half-century put the visitors on course for victory. Joe Peacock (22*) and Alex Head (21*) guided Usk over the line as they finished on 235-7; a victory by three wickets with just six balls remaining.

Meanwhile, over at the Athletic Club Ground it was a similar story as the Fugies won the toss and elected to bat. This proved a wise decision as their batsmen flourished. Gareth Tyler (86) top scored as the visitors posted a challenging 282. For Usk, Greg Peacock picked up four wickets.

Usk’s reply started well with openers Mark Tamplin (30) and Matthew Cook (68) playing well. Unfortunately plenty of the middle order made starts without going on. Usk finished short off their target on 226-8 from their 45 overs; a defeat by 56 runs. For the Fugies, Shane Crook finished with the impressive figures of 7-0-26-5.

This Saturday, the firsts will look to continue the winning habit as they travel to Blackwood, while the seconds will hope to return to winning ways when they entertain Lisvane. The firsts’ match will begin at 12:30pm (a 50-over contest), while the seconds will commence their 45-over game at 1pm. On Sunday, Usk play a friendly away to Creigiau beginning at 2pm.