Sully Centurions claimed a five-wicket win at Monkswood to lead a congested bottom half of South East Wales League Division Three, where just 11 points separate them from last place.

The game started after a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for Maqsood Anwar, the Centurions player who sadly died when these two clubs met in Sully last July.

On Saturday, hosts Monkwood opted to bat first after winning the toss, and the opening pair of Matthew Malson and Mark Tucker shared a partnership of 34 before Tucker was caught off Ricki Griffett for 12.

Malson and Rod Jones took the score to 58 when Jake Griffett claimed Jones’s wicket for 11.

Malson was the next victim, falling to skipper Lloyd Bruce via a great catch from Rhett Jones for 37.

Then Mike Jones and Haydn Simons added another 30 when Simons became Jake Griffett’s second wicket, falling for 21.

The Monkswood middle order were frustrated by some accurate bowling and although they only lost one more wicket, they found it difficult to set a decent target. The innings ended on 151-5.

Mike Jones (42no) top scored for Monkswood, while Jake Griffett, with 2-25, produced Centurions’ best bowling figures.

After tea, Centurions lost a couple of early wickets, with Rhett Jones and Shae Ellis both falling to Malson (2-39) to leave the score on 24-2 after eight overs.

Dave Goodway and Ricki Griffett steadied the ship, putting on 96 for the third wicket. Goodway was run out for 55 – his fifth half-century of the season – and Griffett was also the victim of a run out, falling for 43.

Following the dismissal of Tom Davies, out for a duck, Bruce (24) and Adam Gilliatt (3) saw Centurions home with plenty of overs to spare.

Sully Centurions II 165 lost to St Fagans III 244-4 by 79 runs

Sully's second XI hosted table-topping St Fagans Thirds and came off a clear second best as catches were dropped and batsmen made starts but failed to push on.

The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers Elliott and Pugh shared a half-century opening stand before Pugh was bowled by Dan Chaulk for 28.

Then a second-wicket partnership between Elliott and Jones took the score to 148 before Jason Hicks took the wicket of Elliott for 77.

Brown was run out for 23 and Morris was caught by skipper Dan Merchant off Zia Gehlan for one.

However, Jones continued to score freely and narrowly missed out on a century, reaching 97 when the innings closed on 244-4. Zia’s 1-27 and Chaulk’s 1-24 were the best bowling figures for Sully.

In reply, Centurions lost two early wickets and it took a third-wicket partnership of 43 between Chaulk (20) and Ben Spear (24) to gee things up. But too many false starts left Sully frustrated.

Luke Tillbrook, making his first appearance of the season, hit a quickfire 15, including two fours and a huge six, but failed to push on, mishitting a shot straight to the fielder to leave the score on 100-6.

Kapil Rokad chipped in with 10 and Tej Vaghani hit six before Zia (12no) and a top score of 31 from Patrick Lane brought the innings to a close on 165.

For St Fagans, the wickets were shared between the bowlers, with Child’s 2-24 being the best figures.

This leaves the second XI bottom of the table after seven matches.

This weekend, the firsts host Pontymister & Crosskeys and the seconds travel to Ferndale to take on Christchurch. All players are reminded to inform the captains of their availability.

Meanwhile, Sully would like to thank sponsors United Worldwide Logistics and Whitchurch Builders Suppliers, as well as kit suppliers Classic Sportswear.