SULLY Centurions 1st XI made the trip to Ynysygerwn with a few 2nd XI regulars, due to unavailability and came away with a huge victory in a match that essentially secured Centurions' Premier League status and condemned the hosts to relegation.

The home side won the toss and invited Centurions to bat first, but the plan backfired, thanks in no small measure to Lloyd Smith, who hit a century. The opening pair of Ryan Sylvester and Mike O'Shea took the score along to 24 before Ryan was out for 11, being caught off the bowling of former Centurion Liam Woolls. Smith and O'Shea then shared a half century partnership and when Mike was stumped for 34 off the bowling of Davies, the score had reached 78. Lloyd continued to have fun, with partnerships of 34 with Shaz Rehan (14), 22 with Tom Evison (9) and a great stand of 80 with Roger Clitheroe, who made 24. By the time he was out Lloyd had reached 111, with 9 fours and a six to his name. The innings closed on 256 for 7 after the 50 overs. T Davies, with 3 for 53, was the best Ynysygerwn bowler.

The reply never really got going, with some accurate bowling by the Centurion attack restricting the home batsmen and forcing errors. Mike O'Shea picked up 4 wickets for 29 off his 12 overs to set the standard.

With 2 for Daniel Rowe, an impressive 3 for 28 from Tom Evison and 1 for 6 from the ever improving Lloyd Bruce, the innings was wrapped up in the 32nd over with the score on 92. Only three home batsmen reached double figures, with G Davies top scoring with 23.

Ynysygerwn 92 all out; Sully 256-7.

SECONDS The 2nd XI lost a game they really should have won against Ynysygerwn at Burnham Avenue. The West Wales side batted first and only former Sully man Mike Haswell made anything like a decent score at the top of the order with a nice 31, which included a six and 4 fours. His team mates found the accuracy of veteran Terry Williams (1-32 off 12 overs) and Laurence O'Sullivan (1 for 9 off 7) difficult to live with. But the undoubted star of the day for Centurions was Ben Callow who bowled 9 overs for only 26 runs, taking 6 wickets in the process.

With 3rd XI regulars Nathan Cuddihy (0 for 21) and 12 year old Tom Edwards (1 for 20) bowling well at the death the Ynysygerwn total of 155 all out looked to be too little and Centurions could feel satisfied that the hard part of the job had been completed satisfactorily.

But it is always dangerous to assume anything in cricket, as Sully found out to their cost. Players at the top of the order made a good start and even when a few wickets went down there didn't seem to be any danger, as at 106 for 5 there seemed to be plenty of time to get the runs.

Ben Callow followed up his great performance with the ball by being Sully's top scorer with an obstinate 30, but the run rate slowed down dramatically and the later order batsmen found themselves trying to play catch up with the inevitable consequence of wickets falling. None of the batsmen below number 4 reached double figures as Centurions slumped to 125 all out.

Sully 125 all out; Ynysygerwn 155 all out.

THIRDS Sully Centurions 3rd XI produced a fine performance at Aberdare on Saturday and came away with a 53 run victory after being put in to bat on yet another very damp wicket.

Although losing Pryce early on and with runs very difficult to come by, skipper Green bowled 10 overs for just 13 runs.

Centurions stuck in there with skipper Dave Sylvester providing the anchor role, while Nick Jones played what was for him a subdued innings.

Centurions ground out a more than useful total of 146 for 9 at the end of their 45 overs. Jones, with an excellent 41, was backed up by the later batsmen who found batting a little easier as the pitch dried out.

22 from Ben Spear and a fine 30 from Don Thacker with Griffett weighing in with a quick 12 at the end of the allotted overs gave Sully a very competitive total in the conditions.

Lewis Doel, making his first appearance of the season after his long holiday in Leeds and Ireland, struck an early blow when he had Jones caught for 0.

Liam Bennett had the dangerous Green caught at square leg for 10, and Doel bowled Jablunsh for 7.

The two Davies's then produced a stand of 25 before the introduction of the spin twins Sam Banga and veteran Don Sylvester swung the game Centurions' way.

Don Sylvester, in his first over, claimed two lbw victims with his creeper ball and Banga had a fine spell of 4-16. Don Sylvester finished with 3-21 as Centurions reduced the home side to 93 all out - an excellent performance.

Centurions 146-9. N Jones 41, D Thacker 30, B Spear 22, R Griffett 12, D W Sylvester 11. K Griffiths 2-47, G Jones 2-16.

Aberdare 93 all out. T Davies 18. S Banga 4-16, D P Sylvester 3-21, L Doel 2-27.

FOURTHS The 4th XI lost against high flying Brynmawr by the margin of 9 wickets. Batting first on a windy day at Rhoose the opening pair of Terry Sylvester and Luke Burnett found it hard to make any inroads against the accurate bowling of Williams and O'Connell and both fell cheaply.

Daniel Chaulk, making his first appearance of the season, fared better and was able to get the runs flowing, eventually making 23 before becoming the first of Newman's three victims.

Other notable contributions came from Josh Bryan (28) and David Sharpe (42) along with a spirited 14 from Reece Bennett at the end. But with four batsmen failing to score, the total was never going to be a big one and Centurions finished on 139 all out after 43 overs.

The Brynmawr response was devastating, as the impressive Cecil followed up his 3 wicket haul with a fine display of dominant batting. His 88 not out included 13 fours and 4 sixes as the target was reached in the 30th over with only wicket down - the run out of O'Connell via a direct hit from Tom Davies.

Sully 139 all out; Brynmawr 140 all out.

TEAMS Fixtures for Saturday: 1st XI v Cardiff, at Sully, from: J Sylvester, R Sylvester, L Smith, T Evison, D Eskins, R Clitheroe, M O'Shea, C Thorne, G Sullivan, JJ Haswell, D Rowe, S Rehan, L Bruce.

2nd XI v Cardiff, away: M Thomas, H Williams, T Williams, S Ellis, L O'Sullivan,,, B Callow, G Davies, T Williams, O Sullivan, R Jones, A N Other, A N Other.

3rd XI v Croes/Wood, at Wenvoe, 12.45pm, from: J Wooden, D W Sylvester, S Banga, N Jones, R Griffett, L Doel, B Spear, D Thacker, N Cuddihy, D P Sylvester, C Bruce, H Miller, T Edwards, L Bennett.

4th XI v Croes/Wood, leave Sully Inn, at 11.45am, from: M Fisher, S Morse, J Bryan, P Harrison, J T Sylvester, L Jones, D Chalk, R Bennett, L Burnett, M Burnett, G Stone, D Edmunds, G Kingston, L Cuddihy.

Sunday v Abercarn, leave Sully Inn 12.45pm: D W Sylvester, b Spear, B Callow, S Ellis, N Jones, R Griffett, L Bruce, J Haswell, M Hayes, N Cuddihy, C Bruce, P Goodway, J Bryan, D Edmunds, L Doel.

Tuesday, August 2 v Crowcombe. All players to contact DWS re availability.