PONTBLYDDYN remain in the race for the championship but skipper Julian Morris is hoping Saturday’s shock loss at St Asaph does not come back to haunt them. Morris, with his eye on a maximum batting-points victory, chose to bat after winning the toss, but it was a decision he later regretted as the Saints skittled his side for 84, with Jonathan Mountfort (31no) the only batsman to get going. Pont, despite the best efforts of Charles Fernando (4-39), then could not stop the relegation-threatened hosts from making their way to 85-5 and a 23-2 points bounty. Morris’ men bounced back on Monday, though, with a 26-4 derby win at home to mid-table Mold which leaves them 24 points off leaders Llandudno in fourth going into tomorrow’s trip to fifth-placed and faltering Brymbo, one of six teams in the hunt for top spot. Glenn Chambers smashed a superb 93no to push Pont up to 195-4 after Fernando (4-53), Paul Hampton (3-21) and Martin Neath (2-36) bowled Mold out for 193, with David Soothill’s excellent 72 the highlight of their innings. Morris, who is hoping to have Phil Davies fit for tomorrow, said: “It was a really disappointing result on Saturday because if we’d won that one as well we would have only been a couple of points behind Llandudno. But that’s gone now and we’ve just got to concentrate on winning the final three games. “Brymbo are a good team and I’m sure they’ll be looking to bounce back against us, but we showed on Monday that we’re not going down without a fight.” The season’s end can’t come quick enough for Mold, ravaged by injury and unavailability, who suffered a 30-5 points reverse on Saturday to Bangor, who declared on 231-9, with Soothill (3-53) and Cliff Wiseman (2-33) taking the lion’s share of the wickets, before bowling their hosts out for 129, with skipper Jamie Griffiths top-scoring on 29. Griffiths is away for tomorrow’s home clash with rock-bottom Llanrwst, along with the likes of Soothill and John Williams, who have picked up injuries and join Jamie Ryle and Danny Drew on the sidelines. Mold secretary Dave Wiseman said: “We’ve got to consider the clubs who are down there and do everything we can to win on Saturday, which we will do.” | 
Flintshire Sport 
