Montgomery 146-6 beat Bishops Castle 145-8 by four wickets

ALEX Bromley battled through the pain to hit three fours in the closing stages as Montgomery secured a nail biting four wicket victory over local rivals Bishops Castle.

The result boosted Montgomery’s second division promotion bid while adding to Bishops Castle’s mounting relegation concerns.

Having injured is back while bowling, Bromley came in at number seven and against the odds and managed to hit an unbeaten 20 to guide Montgomery 146-6 and pass Bishops Castle’s total with just three deliveries remaining to deny the visitors a much needed victory.

Jonathan Price scored 56 and Jack Perry hit 35 while Simon Palmer (14) also chipped in before Rhys Davies (17no) guided Bishops Castle to a much improved 145-8

Patrick Fletcher starred with ball for Montgomery, taking 4-31 with Bromley (3-52) and Harry Wilkinson (1-19) in support.

In reply, Montgomery’s opening batsman Andrew Barker got his side off to a good start as he made 39 before falling to Adrian Lewis (1-38).

Richard Powell (3-39) dominated as the rest of the Monty top order fell cheaply with Tom Corfield (12), Ieuan Griffiths (6) and Aaron Ruff-Cock (7) sent back to the pavilion.

Rob Bennett came to inspire the middle order with a crucial knock of 26 before his own departure to Perry (2-18) to leave the fate of the match hanging in the balance.

The winning runs were hit by Harry Wilkinson (11no) who joined man of the match Bromley (20no) in an unbroken seventh wicket stand to guide their side to victory in the final over and ensure their side retained their hopes of securing promotion.