Despite a valiant effort, Carew were knocked out of the Village Cup at the quarter-final stages after going down to Oxfordshire team Shipton under Wychwood by a margin of 122 runs. In the previous round, Shipton had defeated Ynystawe, who are currently in second place in division one of the South Wales League. The Oxfordshire team batted first and scored 296 for 7. Pinch hitting opener Jason Constable fell leg before wicket to Carew skipper Robert Scourfield with the total on 19, but skipper Steve Bates and Simon Hol had a match-winning second wicket partnership of 157. Hol was dismissed for 92 and Bates for 85, but the runs kept flowing, with Ian Lewis scoring 38, Chris Panter 23, Andrew Hemming 18 and Paul Hemming 14. Tim Hicks bowled exceptionally well for the visitors and much better than his figures suggest. He finished with 2 for 47, Ian Sefton took 3 for 48 and Robert Scourfield 1 for 42. In reply, Carew had a disastrous start and were 34 for 4. The fightback was led by opener Martin Scourfield and middle order batsman Robert Hicks and the pair added 99 for the fifth wicket. There were no easy pickings as the Oxfordshire team adopted a professional approach and on the form displayed in this match could go on all the way to win the cup. Scourfield scored 58 and Hicks 40. Coincidently, both batsmen hit one 6 and four 4s. Wicketkeeper Aled Griffiths chipped in with 21 not out, but after the poor start, it was impossible to reach the run rate without the clatter of wickets and the visitors had to settle for a total of 174 for 7. Carew have done Pembrokeshire cricket proud with their exploits in the Village Cup this season, but on the day came up against a much better team. Unfortunately, Carew were without all-rounders Simon Wood and Darren Thomas, together with opening bowler Steve Ive and middle order batsman Steve Cole. Speaking after the match, Carew secretary Nick Scourfield said: "It has been a terrific experience, but it would have been good for the club if at least one of the matches in the later rounds had been at home. "We had at least 40 supporters at Shipton. The team bus was full and a number of supporters travelled by car. "Unfortunately the cricket club bar ran dry a half- an-hour or so after the end of the match. We stayed at the club for about an hour and then retired to a local hostelry. The Shipton outfit is a very strong batting side. With the other English teams we have played, they had three or four quality batsmen, but nothing special to follow. "Shipton were different and batted right down the order, with the batsmen finding the middle of the bat with monotonous regularity. "We would like to thank all of our supporters and sponsors for their support during our cup run and we hope to get one step further next season and reach the semi-final. "We were beaten by the better team on the day and we wish Shipton under Wychwood the best of luck in the semi-final."
