Ammanford lost an opportunity to position themselves near the top of the Premier League as they lost a high-scoring encounter by eight wickets against second placed Neath at the Park.

Put in to bat, Ammanford got off to a good start with a 74 opening stand between Elis Richards (29) and Matthew Roberts, who made an excellent fist of his first stint as opener with 70.

The momentum was maintained by the in-form Rhys Davies with 79, and Craig Maloney whose unbeaten 44 came off just 29 deliveries.

Ammanford reached 284 for 6 in their 50 overs, a creditable total considering they were missing several of their front-line players.

Neath, and particularly opener Richard Grant, set about chasing the target.

Grant approached the crease with a runner due to an injury sustained in the field. That runner never broke sweat, since the ultra-destructive Grant was determined to deal almost exclusively in boundaries.

When he was finally caught on the boundary for 138 Neath’s total was 173 for 2.

Despite Grant’s innings, the job still needed finishing and that was done efficiently by Lorenzo Machado (60no) and Sean Griffiths (67no).

Ammanford were made to rue two drops of Grant, one of which when he was on just 33.

All is not lost for Ammanford. In this topsy-turvy league season, they remain just 21 points short of leaders St Fagans whom they visit next week.