A SOLID display with bat and ball brought Penarth a resounding victory over Gorseinon in Premier League 2 on Saturday.

Penarth handed 16-year-old Will Skone an opening batting berth for the first time and once Gorseinon had surprisingly invited the Bears to bat the youngster took his chance with both hands in making a solid 41.

At the other end Scott Matthews picked up his excellent form once again as the untried pair added 130 for the first wicket despite some probing bowling from the Gorseinon spin attack who, although wicketless beyond drinks, never lost control.

In the quest to up the tempo Matthews was first to fall, LBW to Nishaanth Dalavaye for 72 and taking his league total past 500 for the season.

Skone fell to the same bowler shortly after and at 139 for 2 maximum batting points seemed a long way off. Nick Morgan provided the necessary impetus for Penarth and although partners perished in the cause, including Steffan Crimp for a brisk 16, his 55 off just 35 balls guided his team to a strong position at 230 for 7 at tea.

For a few overs after the interval that 230 looked well within reach as Gorseinon got off to a flying start.

Eddy Evans and Kieran Howells wasted no time, taking their score into the 40s inside 4 overs with an aggressive approach against Matthews and Humphreys that threatened to get out of hand. With 54 on the board Evans was perhaps unfortunate to fall, flicking Nathan Piddock into the hands of Sidford at short fine leg for 29 off 20 balls.

The introduction of spinners Mark Thomas and Richard Skone brought Penarth more control and eventually the wicket of Howells, LBW to Skone for 37. The crucial wicket of Gafyn Donald followed, trapped in front by Thomas for 23 as Gorseinon slipped to 102 for 3.

As the pressure built the visitors subsided further to 116 for 6 as Thomas picked another 2 wickets to finish with 3 for 15 and Will Skone bowled Dalavaye for 2 to continue his excellent day. Christopher Morgan counter-attacked briefly but the result looked inevitable as Piddock with another 2 wickets, Humphreys and Will Skone wrapped up the innings and victory by 77 runs. The club are grateful to James Roach for his match sponsorship.

A much-changed 2nd XI made trip to Newport Fugitives and returned with a tense maximum points victory.

Some solid top order batting from the hosts threatened to make life difficult for the league leaders but some tight bowling from Neil Stephens, Rhys McGowan and Tim Miller saw a flurry of wickets as the Fugitives let a commanding position slip to post 207 all out, leaving Oliver Mason on 59 not out and 3 overs unused.

Penarth’s reply stuttered to 65 for 4, but Dafydd Manley remained calm and with support from Tim Miller with 32 steered Penarth back to a strong position. Further support for Manley in the shape of Stephens got the Bears closer to the target and although Manley fell at the end for 92 debutant Karavinder Singh clipped his first ball for 6 to see Penarth over the line by 2 wickets.

There was more drama at the Athletic Field as the thirds kept their promotion hopes alive with a final over victory over Barry.

Batting first, Barry made 191 for 9 with Andrew Joseph managing 62 and Thasan Subramaniam 55 before Dave Stevens lead the Penarth fightback with 4 for 12 while Mark Frost and Nick Viner offering some economical figures.

Rob Crimp lead the Penarth reply with 51 but a regular fall of wickets always had Barry looking favourites until Stevens made 38, supported by James Curtin and Chris Baker, to keep Penarth in the hunt.

John Fitzpatrick and Dan Thacker guided Penarth further towards the target before it fell to final pair Thacker and Frost to nudge the winning runs with 4 balls of a memorable match to spare.

The club full-house was completed by the fourths at Sudbrook to maintain their perfect record this summer.

Sudbrook started brightly, with a stand of 74 for the first wicket before Martin Dennett dismissed both openers. The younger bowlers pulled back scoring rate with Dan Grosfils taking 4 for 24, debutant Isaac Foster 3 for 19 and Adam Akhtar 1 for 30 as Sudbrook were dismissed for 134 with another youngster, Ellis Clarke, taking 3 outstanding catches. After an opening stand of 52 Dai Carter was out to a stunning caught and bowled before Rob Ashcroft with quick 40 helped Callum McInnes, 31 not out, take Penarth over the line with 8 overs to spare.

A very good win with the youngsters in the team contributing superbly.

Meanwhile the club’s youngest members, the 5-8 year old All Stars, represented the club in the Glamorgan T20 parade on the Sophia Gardens outfield during the match against Middlesex on Friday night. There are further opportunities for these youngsters to enjoy the limelight during the Blast this summer.

The firsts and thirds visit Ynystawe and Ton Pentre this week, with the seconds hosting Panteg and the fourths Radyr.