Barry Athletic Stags taste double success! (From Barry And District News)

Barry Athletic Stags taste double success!

7:30am Thursday 23rd July 2009

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IAN GADD'S Barry Athletic 1st XI travelled to distant rivals Machen CC, where the Stags had to win to keep their promotion hopes alive.

The pitch was bowler friendly so there were no surprises when Barry skipper Ian Gadd won the toss and chose to bowl first.

The Barry bowling attack continued their good form as wickets were falling at regular intervals.

Machen never looked as if they could control the game and faced with John Gee (10-1-40-3), Peter Hellyar (14-1-51-3), Steve Jones (15-2-61-2) and Nathan Baker (11-2-32-1), the batsmen continued to struggle and stumbled over the line at 189-9 from their 50 overs.

In reply, Barry had to hit 190 runs at a run rate of 3.8.

After the mid-session interval, Barry immediately got to work chasing down the target. The opening batsmen, Dewi Evans and Lee Morgan, looked to get Barry off to the best possible start as they walked out to the middle but quick wickets fell.

Dewi Evans, Anjan Ganapathy and Nathan Baker all falling for ducks didn’t help the Stags as they were struggling mid way through the innings.

The fifth wicket partnership between Lee Morgan and Andrew Buckland was a vital one. They took the game to Machen and swung the game back in Barry’s favour.

Runs were coming from everywhere as both batsmen reached their fifties.

The 139 run partnership brought Barry to the brink of victory, but a mix-up between the batsmen resulted in Buckland being run out for a well earned 58. Lee Morgan was the rock in the Stag innings and hit the winning runs, leading Barry to a 5 wicket win, finishing on 192-5 with 4 overs to spare.

The Stags took 19 points back to the Barry Oval and for the first time in a number of weeks, they move out of the bottom two with an outside chance of promotion.

SECONDS IN GOOD FORM

Martin Baker’s Barry Athletic 2nd XI played host to former Premier League side Miskin Manor CC at a packed out Barry Oval. Mascot Wesley Baker was present for the toss before the match got under way.

The wicket was slightly green with a touch of moisture so there were no questions asked when Martin Baker won the toss and elected to field first.

The Barry bowlers got to work from the first ball and put all the pressure on Miskin. Stuck on 26 runs from 10 overs, the Stags were well on top. However, while there were no wickets on the board, there was always going to be that chance of Miskin coming back into the match.

This was the case when Miskin began to take control of the match until the bowling partnership of Sam Johnson and Ashley Baker took charge for Barry and brought the game back in their favour. Johnson finished with 3-38 and Baker with 2-39, to help restrict Miskin to 185-6 from their allocated 50 overs.

The mid session interval was dominated by legendary tea lady, Nicola Baker who weaved her magic yet again to produce another perfect spread of food for the players to enjoy. After a long discussion by both skippers, the dish of the day was the Strawberry French Fancies Cakes.

The interval was also dominated by the return of Club Legend, Cesc Andre, who has recently returned after some time away in Thailand. Supporters chanted his name as he was signing autographs for the crowd.

After a thrilling mid session interval, the Barry Athletic innings began. Opening batsmen Damon Leake and Owain Davies set off to the middle but Barry lost wickets at regular intervals, with Damon Leake (13), Craig Thomas (13), Billy Usswald (5) and Gareth Dixon (0) all back in the pavilion, with the score at 85-4 from 19 overs.

After that the Stags never looked back. Three badly needed partnerships were formed and with the help of batsmen Owain Davies (49), Peter Davies (41 not out) and Martin Baker (27), the Stags recorded their third win in five games, winning by 3 wickets with 8 balls to spare.

Barry won 17 points and Miskin Manor took 6 points.

This meant that Barry Athletic move out of the relegation places for the first time this season and are now looking to climb up the table. Miskin stay in 5th place but have now lost ground on the leaders.

3RD XI RAINED OFF

The match between Cesc Andre’s Barry Athletic 3rd XI and title contenders, Cardiff CC, scheduled for the Diamond Ground in Cardiff, was sadly cancelled due to overnight showers in the capital.

DERBY MATCH

Barry Athletic Midweek XI entertained neighbourly rivals, Barry Wanderers at the Barry Oval. On a fine and sunny Wednesday evening, Barry Athletic skipper, Ian Gadd, won the toss and chose to bowl first.

The innings started in incredible fashion. In the first 3 overs, Barry Wanderers had already lost 4 wickets, all of which were taken by Mitchell Taylor-Moore. The fast bowling all-rounder capped off a scintillating performance by taking 4-9 from his 4 overs, which included a triple wicket maiden.

The rest of the bowling attack, which included Callum Twomey, Sam Eastman, Simon Phillips and Sam Johnson, tore the Wanderers apart and restricted them to only 78-9 from 20 overs.

After a quick interval, Barry Athletic opening batsmen, Ashley Baker and Ben Eastman, took to the crease. With only 79 runs to get from 20 overs, this should be easy pickings for the Stags.

This was indeed the case as both batsmen settled immediately to the batting conditions. The Wanderers failed to cope with the batting ability of the young duo and were battered all over the place by Baker and Eastman, including a shot by Baker that almost resulted in a nasty accident, but for a pair of sunglasses.

The game was as good as won before the only wicket of the innings arrived.

Ashley Baker was bowled for a quickfire 37 after playing all round a straight delivery. New batsman Sam Johnson continued the onslaught and helped to win the game for Barry Athletic. Eastman finished on 27 not out and Johnson finished on 12 not out.

The Stags won by 9 wickets, with more than 5 overs to spare – a very good all round display by the team.

FIXTURES

Wednesday: Creigiau CC v Barry Midweek XI.

Saturday: Barry 1st XI v Ebbw Vale CC; Croesyceiliog CC v Barry 2nd XI.

Sunday: Pentyrch CC v Barry 3rd XI.

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