Welsh Cup Final

Ammanford lost to Colwyn Bay

Ammanford relinquished their last chance of silverware in 2015 when they lost the final of the Welsh Cup to a very strong Colwyn Bay at the Gnoll on Monday.

The question of whether the final would be played at all at the end of a rain-soaked Bank Holiday weekend remained uncertain until the last moment.

It was only due to sterling work from the Neath ground staff that play was able to commence at 1.15pm in front of a good crowd.

The prevailing conditions made it a good toss to win, and Colwyn Bay got the luck of the coin. They had no hesitation in putting Ammanford in to bat.

Ammanford struggled from the start, and wickets fell with monotonous regularity, the only resistance coming from the usual trusted sources of Alun Evans (25) and Matthew Fisher (32).

Ammanford were dismissed for 93 in just 30 overs. Harrison Jones took four for 20 and Paul Jenkins two for 14.

Colwyn Bay knew that they only need occupy the crease in order to overhaul Ammanford's score and lift the cup. This they did.

Openers Sean Morris (47no) and Zach Grimlow (30) did the job for Colwyn Bay with an opening stand of 60.

Despite the best efforts of Alun Evans (2-13) and Matthew Roberts (2-21), Ammanford simply did not have the runs on the board to put any sort of pressure on the North Walians.

It took them 33 overs to overtake Ammanford's score for the loss of four wickets.

And thus ended the season for another year. An excellent first half followed by a depressing slide down the table in the second half, rescued by the whiff of possible silverware at the very end.

Unfortunately, the whiff failed to materialise and simply evaporated in the damp Neath air.