MISSING some of their most influential players, second-placed Newport lost a closely contested match to third-placed Pontarddulais at Spytty Park in the SWALEC Premier League and the two teams switched places in the table as a result.

Newport decided to bat first but struggled against some good bowling and fielding. Their top scorer was Rhydian Knox (40), promoted after some good performances in the second team.

Next best was captain Michael Clayden with 25, while Imran Hassan and Gareth Thomas both made 22 and Gary Wood and John Glover 16 each as Newport finished on 179-9.

Carl Roberts took 3-31 for Pontarddulais, Owen Morgan 3-51 and there was a wicket apiece from Alex Jones and Barry Lloyd.

Openers Daniel Roberts (40) and Matthew Carey (17) steered Bont to 74 before Carey was out, followed by Roberts when the score was 98.

Captain Gary Arrowsmith (21), Carl Roberts (26) and Adam Harrison (25) all chipped in as Pontarddulais edged closer to the Newport total, and Lloyd hit the winning boundary in the penultimate over as the visitors reached 183-8.

Josh Aston was the pick of the Newport attack with 12-4-29-3, Glover had 11-1-40-2 and there was a wicket each by Ryan Aingworth, Hassan and Max Scarr.

An eventful game at Crofft-y-Genau Road between St Fagans and Usk ended dramatically in a tie.

Usk were inserted and were soon in trouble at 69-5, but a superb sixth-wicket partnership of 87 between top scorer Travis Townsend (69) and Neil Perrett (34) saved the day and Usk were all out for 179 in the 49th over.

Owain Hopkins took 3-18 off 12 overs for St Fagans, Prateesh Rajpal 3-55 off 10 and Mansoor Tariq 2-37 off eight.

St Fagans reached 139-2 thanks to a second wicket stand of 76 by Huw Beaverstock (71) and Stuart Ransley (26) but then they hit the buffers and only Freddie John (26) contributed much afterwards.

In a dramatic finish, St Fagans used the extra over they earned by getting Usk all out with an over to spare and managed to get to 179-8.

Tom Robinson took 2-29 off 11 overs for Usk, Jake Roderick 2-34 off 12 and Ollie James 2-51 off 12.

The second eleven game between Pontarddulais and Newport could have gone either way, but Newport self- destructed at 179-7 needing 12 runs to win and were all out six short.

JSudbrook’s chances of winning the Division One Championship of the Thomas, Carroll Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Cricket League took a severe knock when they lost their local derby against Chepstow at the Deepweir.

Derby games are notorious for causing upsets, and this was no exception as Chepstow won the toss and elected to bat first.

Carwyn James opened with Zak Watson and they put on 59 before James was out for 38. Watson followed at 102 after making 46 but Jake Kings (35) and Jason Dobbie (63) took the score to almost 200.

In a late flourish, Matthew Lovett added 21 not out, David Bennett 17 and Malith Madurasinghe 16 as Chepstow closed on 250-6.

Dean Wallace returned 10-2-36-3 for Sudbrook and there was a wicket apiece by Mark O’Leary, Carl Morgan and Michael Shaw.

It was certainly a target within Sudbrook’s capabilities, but they made a disastrous start, losing Ross Lewis, Matthew Kinchin and Robert Voke for 17 runs.

O’Leary (52) and Lewis Crook (55) added 113 for the fourth wicket to stop the rot but both were out with the score at 130.

Morgan managed 29 and Wallace a late 18 but Sudbrook were eventually dismissed for 196 in the last over.

James had 6-0-30-3 for Chepstow, Luke Sellers 9.4-3-14-2, Dobbie 10-4-23-2 and Madurasinghe 10-0-39-2.

Sudbrook’s defeat let in Bridgend Town and Abergavenny, who both won at a canter with Bridgend now firmly in the driving-seat with four games left.

Australia test match bowler Jason Gillespie visited Avenue Road and watched Abergavenny continue their winning streak as they bowled Blackwood out for just 81 before winning by nine wickets.

Abergavenny put Blackwood in and they reached 36-1 before Gavin Heritage got to work.

He bowled his 10 overs straight through, finishing with the superb figures of 10-6-14-4, and in partnership with Ryan Watkins (6-3-13-3), destroyed the Blackwood batting as only Callum Herring (18), Martin Ebdon (16) and Simon Davies (10) reached double figures.

Greg Fury got the Abergavenny innings off to a rapid start with three sixes in the first three overs before being bowled by a good ball from Rob Matthews for 25.

Andrew Jones and Craig Barnsley joined forces to steer Abergavenny to victory with Jones 27 not out and Barnsley 19 not out.

Abergavenny now have a crucial away game at Bridgend next week in a game that could have a huge bearing on the destination of the title.

Bridgend Town were put in at Croesyceiliog and scored 267-7, with Brendon Joubert making 96, David Goodway 57, player/coach and ex-Usk player Mike Jones 29 and former Glamorgan quickie Andrew Davies 27.

Rhys Jones took 4-54 off five overs for Croesy and Stuart Roden 2-33.

Only Cameron Herring (29) offered much defiance as Croesy collapsed to 96 all out with James Steptoe taking 4-21 for Bridgend, Jones 3-35 and Davies 2-10.

Panteg opted to go in first at Pentyrch and looked good as Ian Bird scored 56, Barney Worrad 38 and Mohammed Ali Bukari 30 but they let it slip and were dismissed for 179.

Brad Wadlan took 4-12 off 10 overs for Pentyrch, Lewis Coates 2-31 off 10 and Tony Smith bowled 10 tight overs for 22 runs.

Wadlan (40) and Adnan Ghori (46) put Pentyrch on the road to victory and Greg Holmes (57 n.o) led them home by seven wickets.

Division One table-toppers Rogerstone entertained fourth-placed Miskin Manor, who decided to bat first and reached 198-8 with Garan Treharne making 39, David Hay 36 not out and Carwyn Owen 35.

For Rogerstone, John Berry took 3-25, Luke Harris, son of Andy, 2-17, and Mo Asif 2-27.

Asif (80) and Andy Harris (54) shared a second-wicket partnership of 76 to lay the foundation for victory and Gary Williams led them home by five wickets with 31 not out.

Creigiau piled up 266-6 at home to Ebbw Vale after being put in. Ben Taylor scored 48, Tom Lloyd 28 and Dafydd Taylor 21 not out, but pride of place went to Alex Moore, who smashed 109 off 69 balls with 13 fours.

Jamie Nancarrow had 2-42 off 10 overs for Ebbw Vale and David Battle 2-39 off six.

Matthew Beacham opened for Ebbw Vale with a fine 61 and Richard Blake scored 32 but from then on it was downhill as they slumped to 170 all out.

Moore completed a brilliant all-round display with 7-2-22-5, while Ben Taylor took 7.4-1-25-2 and David Martin 9-1-51-2.

Hoovers produced one of the shocks of the season by winning at Radyr, while Pontypridd beat Brecon and Newport Fugitives toppled Malpas in their local derby at High Cross.

Another shock came in Division Three, where Ponthir thrashed leaders Barry.

Put in by their hosts, Ponthir reached 222 all out, with David Wilson getting 79, Kerry Baldwin 32 and Aled Burkitt 29. Steve R Jones returned 15-1-69-5 for Barry and Steve Jones 15-1-56-4.

Baldwin then produced a brilliant spell of 8.5-1-19-6 and Mark Crook had 15-9-20-3 as Barry were bowled out for just 56.

The win removed Barry from the top of the table and Welsh Asians are the new leaders, with Ponthir fractionally behind in third place.

Cardiff Gymkhana just held off Lisvane, Vale defeated Llantwit Fardre, Welsh Asians accounted for Newbridge and the game between Upper Rhondda and Machen had to be abandoned when finely poised.

At Llandaff, the Asians scored 220-8 with Iftikhar Arif hitting 101 off 93 balls late in the innings.

The Asians were 64-4 until Mo Jehangir (33) and Khailid Idris (31) put on 41 for the fifth wicket, paving the way for Arif’s onslaught, adding 41 for the sixth wicket with Idris and 45 for the seventh with Parvez Nazir (11).

Andy Forbes had 15-3-36-3 for Newbridge and Lee Tyler 3-48 off 10 overs.

Newbridge were 77-5 at one stage but Josh Steer hit 54 off 85 balls and Chris James 50 off 74 balls to edge them close but the Asians managed to get them all out for 193.