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The cricket season has concluded for six of the seven teams within Caerphilly County Borough over the weekend. But where does this leave the teams for next season?
The only side whose campaign is still ongoing is Newbridge. The division one side faced off against Miskin Manor with relegation still a real threat after 19 games played.
Second-placed Miskin batted first and set a healthy 239. Newbridge failed to cope with the pressure, all out for 165, taking just five consolation points. They remain in 11th spot and sit just 25 points clear of bottom with two to play.
Down in division two there was Euphoria for Blackwood Town, who sealed their promotion to division one despite a five run loss to the Newport Fugitives.
Blackwood Town, who have already experienced success this season, will hopefully join Newbridge next season as they compete against the best in south east Wales.
In division three, Crumlin had the chance to finish above fellow rivals Pontymister and Crosskeys with victory over second place Newport Cricket Club.
Crumlin caught the 210 set by Newport in 44 overs, putting them in third place by the barest of margins. No promotion, but given they were lingering in the bottom half only a couple weeks ago, Crumlin will be happy with their final position.
Meanwhile, Pontymister and Crosskeys will be far less happy with how their season turned out. There was a point earlier in the summer where promotion was feasible but after a string of poor results they ultimately finished fourth.
Their final game was against Pontypridd, where they could at least salvage third spot and take some positivity into next season. It wasn’t to be however, as Pontypridd’s 281 was just out of reach, they took a 15 run victory.
Machen v Tondu
Machen are division four champions after holding their nerve in the last two weeks of the season to see off a late challenge from Usk.
After being unbeaten in 12 games, they saw their lead slashed to a single point in a temporary loss of form before bouncing back in style to top the table by a four-point margin.
The club needed 19 points from the final game of the season against Tondu to make sure of finishing first, and bagged them with a 91-run victory at the Welfare Ground.
There were plenty of batting contributions as Machen made 220 all out with Arbab Bakht Buland making 37, Jon Toghill 35 and captain Rhydian Knox 34, while Ahsan Naqash, Gareth Hibbs and Devinder Singh all passed 20.
After two early wickets for Naqash, it was the spin of Singh which prevented any sort of challenge from the visitors, as he claimed a five-wicket haul with the visitors finishing on 129 for nine in their 40 overs.
“I’d like to thank each and every member of the club, what we have achieved over the last couple of seasons has been unbelievable,” said captain Knox.
“The guys working on the ground have been superb, and every player has supported me, I thank them for their hard work on the pitch.”
Machen second XI also enjoyed a rise up the league table to finish third in division 11 after a 40-run victory away to Llanarth.
Rhys Mellor-Cretney (67) and Jonny Cross (63) put on 149 for the first wicket before contributions from the reliable trio of Dean Lewis (33), Owen Tamplin (40 not out) and Nigel Hicks (29 not out) took Machen to an imposing 268 for four.
The tantalising slow left-arm bowling of Wales over 70s captain Robin Jones (four for 50) meant that Llanarth were restricted to 228 for eight in reply.
“I’d like to thank everyone who’s played in a much improved season, it’s been a huge improvement on the last few years, with some great team efforts especially in the hot weather,” said captain Hicks, whose annual threats to retire are being resisted by his team-mates.
Attempts to get a third XI running were foiled by the weather, but several Sunday fixtures were played to try to make sure every member got game-time.
After a club presentation evening to celebrate the season on September 10, Machen are planning weekly net sessions in the New Year to help build on the achievements of 2022, with new members always welcome-details will be posted on Facebook and Twitter.
The club will also be involved in the “Walking in the Valleys” initiative again as a range of valleys clubs look to promote the sport and raise funds for development.
Machen would like to thank everyone who helped prepare the ground and worked behind the scenes, as well as the club’s many sponsors for their backing, and the Caerphilly Observer for their interest.
Coming into the final week, Abercarn needed to beat Abertillery Town and rely on results elsewhere going their way in division seven if they had any hopes on avoiding the drop.
Abertillery set a respectable 192 for Abercarn to chase. Unfortunately, no player managed a score above 29 as the away side were all out for 133.
But it was a devastating day for Abercarn, who are now relegated to division eight.
In what could have been a title decider a few weeks ago, third place Cefn Fforest and Maesycwmmer visited top of the table Radyr with a gulf of points between the two.
In what was a pretty poor game, Cefn Fforest and Maesycwmmer only managed a miserable 131 and left the door wide open for Radyr to win the league.
They obliged, winning with five wickets to spare. Cefn Fforest and Maesycwmmer finish third and will remain in division nine.
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