There's been a change at the top of division one of the Ocky White Pembrokeshire County Cricket League, even though Saturday's eagerly-awaited clash between pace-setters, Carew and Lamphey, fizzled out into a disappointing draw.

With both sides bang in form, the match was expected to produce plenty of fireworks, but like the weather, it failed to sparkle to any great extent.

Carew won the toss and skipper Hicks elected to put Lamphey in to bat, no doubt hoping that the dampish conditions would provide some early help for their lively opening attack.

But it did not exactly work out like that as the Lamphey openers set about their task with relish, hammering the ball to all parts of the ground in an excellent first wicket stand of 81.

Daniel Sutton was the main run-getter, smashing seven boundaries in his 43, while skipper Dave Lovell, having a remarkable season with the bat, was not far behind with 37, including a six and five 4s.

As so often happens with such partnerships, though, when one goes, the other soon follows, and so it was on Saturday.

Lovell was first to fall when he was caught off the bowling of John Canton and Lamphey had not even added to their total when Sutton was soon following him back to the pavilion when he was caught in the next over off Robert Scourfield.

Lamphey must have been rocked by this, but they did not let it show as they managed to steady the ship and keep things ticking over nicely with a lively third wicket stand of 48 between Craig Nutty (34) and Gareth Lewis (27).

Having made the vital breakthrough, Carew must have been a little frustrated at being held up again, but their bowlers kept plugging away as the reigning champions eventually reached a total of 186 for 7.

Robert Scourfield was the pick of the bowlers with fine figures of 4 for 48, while James Owen picked up a couple of wickets at a cost of 55.

It meant that at tea the match was finely balanced, with both sides still harbouring hopes of a vital victory in their chase for championship honours.

When Carew began their reply, they batted steadily if not spectacularly, and seemed well in with a shout as, after the early loss of Ian Sefton for 17, Nicky Scourfield and Robert Hicks put on a valuable 82 for the second wicket.

When Hicks was eventually bowled by Lovell for 37, with the score on 111, however, the current league leaders decided to hold on to what they had and effectively put up the shutters as they progressed to 161 for 5 and an honourable draw.

Skipper Scourfield top scored with a determined 46, while Nathan Gage and Greg England were Lamphey's most successful bowlers with 2 for 33 and 2 for 35, respectively.

Having had slightly the better of the proceedings, Lamphey picked up 17 points to Carew's 13 - enough for them to leap-frog their opponents and take over pole position in the table.

Third placed Lawrenny closed the gap a little on the two teams above them with a hard earned three-wicket victory over near neighbours Cresselly.

Batting first Cresselly posted a healthy total of 183 for 7 in their allotted overs, Simon Cole top scoring with 38 and other useful contributions coming from Phil Williams with 32 and Damien Arthur with 29.

Steve Lewis did his best to keep them in check as he returned figures of 2 for 33.

Lawrenny's run chase was proved a good one and with Chris Vincent leading the charge with a well struck 61, they reached their target for the loss of seven wickets.

Elsewhere, Kilgetty also registered a good win in their home encounter with Pembroke - although at one time it looked as if the dreaded 'Nelson' would have a major part to play in the outcome of the match.

Having reached 111 for the loss of just one wicket, Kilgetty then proceeded to lose their next three batsmen without troubling the scorer further.

Fortunately, however, after that, they managed to recover their composure and eventually went on to reach a tidy total of 175 before losing their last wicket in the final over.

Leading from the front were openers Ian Poole (51) and Windsor Royall (28), who put on 50 for the first wicket, Poole stroking seven 4s in his half century, while Phil Jones was unbeaten on 35 and Geraint Davies chipped in with 29.

Davies also had the final say in the match when a direct hit from his throw ran out Keith Johnson on the last ball of the 41st over to win the match.

Earlier Simon Wood had done most of the damage with figures of 3 for 33 as Pembroke slumped to 142 all out.

Nicky Evans also picked up a couple of wickets at a cost of 24 runs, while Mark Frasier was Pembroke's best batsman with 46, including eight 4s.

Haydn Davies also weighed in with a useful 28, including three 4s and a six, but their efforts were in vain as Kilgetty wrapped up a 33-run win.

With the Whitland v Narberth match abandoned without a ball being bowled, the only other match in division one saw Burton battered to an eight-wicket defeat by Haverfordwest.

Batting first the village side struggled throughout their innings and were eventually bowled out for 98, Adrian Griffiths proving almost unplayable as he accounted for six of their wickets for just 16 runs.

James Scale put up a dogged fight as he reached 32 off 121 balls, while Richard Hayman also contributed a determined 18 from 71 balls, but the Burton total posed few problems for the Town, who romped to victory, with Karl Rhead leading the way with an unbeaten 35.

Results

Division One: Kilgetty (30) 175-10 bt Pembroke (9) 142-10; Lawrenny (28) 187-7 bt Cresselly (8) 183-7; Haverfordwest (28) 99-2 bt Burton (4) 98-10; Whitland (5) v Narberth (5) - cancelled; Lamphey (17) 187-6 drew with Carew (13) 161-5.

Division Two: Neyland (5) v Spittal (5) - cancelled; Narberth II (5) v St. Ishmaels (5) - cancelled; Carew i (5) v Stackpole (5) - cancelled; Johnston (5) v Llangwm (5) - cancelled; Hook (30) 188-3 bt Haverfordwest II (4) 111-10.

Division Three: Fishguard (5) v Saundersfoot (5) - cancelled; Llechryd (5) v Haverfordwest III (3) - cancelled; Llanrhian (5) v Cardigan (5) - cancelled; Cresselly II (7) 109-6 drew with Lawrenny II (23) 187-8; Herbrandston (5) v Hundleton (5) - cancelled.

Division Four: Burton II (5) v Hook II (5) - cancelled; Llangwm II (5) v Whitland II (5) - cancelled; Manorbier (27) 104-4 bt Kilgetty II (5) 101-0; St. Ishmaels II (5) v Crymych (5) - cancelled; Pembroke II (5) 119-8 lost to Maenclochog (28) 122-4.

Division Five: Stackpole II (18) 132-10 tied with Lamphey II (19) 132-9; Letterston (5) v St. David's (5) - cancelled; Burton III (5) v Neyland II (5) - cancelled; Dinas (5) v Llechryd II (5) - cancelled; Spittal II (5) v Llanrhian II (5) - cancelled.

Division Six: Pembroke III (5) v Johnston Ii (5) - cancelled; Crymych II (5) v Pembroke Dock (5) - cancelled; Hundleton II (12) 139-9 drew with Llangwm III (20) 167-9; Saundersfoot II (5) 78-10 lost to Carew III (30) 164-7; Narberth III (26) 35-1 bt Letterston II (5) 33-10.

Fixtures

Tomorrow's (Saturday's) fixtures in the Pembrokeshire League are as follows:

Division One: Carew v Lawrenny; Burton v Lamphey; Narberth v Cresselly; Whitland v Kilgetty; Pembroke v Haverfordwest.

Division Two: Haverfordwest II v Narberth II; Stackpole v Hook; Llangwm v St. Ishmaels; Johnston v Neyland; Spittal v Carew II.

Division Three: Hundleton v Llechryd; Cardigan v Herbrandston; Lawrenny II v Haverfordwest III; Cresselly II v Fishguard; Saundersfoot v Llanrhian.

Division Four: Maenclochog v Llangwm II; Kilgetty II v Pembroke II; Crymych v Whitland II; St. Ishmaels II v Burton II; Hook II v Manorbier.

Division Five: Llanrhian II v Letterston; Neyland II v Spittal II; Llechryd II v St. David's; Dinas v Stackpole II; Lamphey II v Burton III.

Division Six: Carew III v Crymych II; Pembroke III v Saundersfoot II; Letterston II v Neyland III; Haverfordwest IV v Johnston II; Herbrandston II v Hundleton II; Llangwm III v Stackpole III; Narberth III v Whitland III.

Harrison Allen

Bowl

Near neighbours Lawrenny and Cresselly have both progressed to the semi-finals of the Harrison-Allen Bowl.

Cresselly produced an impressive display in their quarter-final clash with Pembroke, in which they piled up a formidable total of 168 for 5 in their allotted 22 overs.

All the batsmen were among the runs, with Phil Williams top scoring on 37 and Lyn Richards being next best with 34.

Pembroke made a good fist of their reply, but were eventually bowled out for 128 with two overs remaining, main damage being caused by Mark Harris, who bagged 6 for 21.

Lawrenny's match with Haverfordwest was a slightly more sedate affair.

The Town batted first and were restricted to a total of 96 for 8, and they had Hugh Scriven to mainly thank for that as he came in at number eight and rattled up a useful 31.

Skipper Rob Williams was the pick of the Lawrenny bowlers, producing a lively spell which saw him finish with figures of 3 for 14 in his six overs.

When Lawrenny replied, they were soon in trouble as their first four batsmen could only muster 20 runs between them.

Fortunately for them, however, James Buckle (34 not out) and Ian Jenkins (22) rescued the situation and the villagers eventually got home with an over and four wickets to spare.

They now have the mouth-watering prospect of playing either Lampey of Carew in the semi-finals.

Nine-man Manorbier too good for Kilgetty

Manorbier faced local and friendly rivals Kilgetty Seconds in a division four match on their home pitch on Saturday.

Winning the toss was important as the wicket was damp from the morning's rain - and Manorbier, fielding only nine players due to late withdrawals, had their work cut out against a full strength Kilgetty outfit.

Fortunately, Manorbier's main bowlers were in the side, and openers Phil Kidney and Jon Hughes were immediately accurate and economical - with Kidney taking three wickets for 11 runs, including six maidens.

Trevor Staley also picked up 4 for 28 off his seven overs, with Jeremy Smith and Hughes picking up a wicket each.

Kilgetty's innings was held together by a patient 42 from middle order batsman Daniel Vine, but Steve Flook (15) was the only other batsman to reach double figures as they posted a slightly below par total of 101 for 9 off their 40 overs.

Manorbier needed a good start to be in with a chance. Jeremy Smith and Keith May provided it, putting on 70 for the first wicket before Steve Marchant made the breakthrough bowling Smith for 47.

May soon followed Smith back to the pavilion - stumped on 21 - and when Trevor Staley was bowled and Jon Hughes caught at extra cover, Kilgetty were in with a chance, but Phil Lawrence stepped into the breach with three 4s and a six to finish off Kilgetty's hopes, Manorbier reaching their target for the loss of four wickets.

Brian Slate bowled well in his 12 overs, with Steve Marchant (2-34) and Alan Hurst (2-16) the wicket-takers for Kilgetty.