HAWARDEN Park secured their survival with victory at Mold on Saturday – but they didn’t half leave it late. With St Asaph and Llanrwst going down to re-crowned champions Llandudno and second- placed Mochdre respectively, Adam Doyle’s men needed to beat their neighbours in the final game of the campaign to stay up. Mold, as promised, did everything they could to get their Chester Road track in shape after yet more rain. But that was as far as their welcome extended as, thanks to Jonathan Bedbrook (41), Usman Butt (25) and Cliff Wiseman (25) and in the face of Craig Wilson (5-43), Scott Inglis (3-21) and Jeff Henshaw (1-38), they seemed set to hold out for a losing draw with one wicket and two overs left – which would have relegated Hawarden. But Doyle handed Nathan Pearson (1-0) the ball and, with only his fifth delivery of the match, snaffled Wiseman up as Mold succumbed at 120 in reply to 190-7, a total inspired by Michael Parton (62no), Pearson (29), the ever improving James Hurlin (30) and Wilson (22). Doyle admitted it was a massive relief not to have taken the 2003 champions down in his debut season in charge, one which has proved testing for the rookie captain given he was unable to call on nearly all of the team that finished runners-up last time out. Soon-to-be-married Doyle, unsure as to whether he will stand for skipper again as he believes the captaincy has effected his batting, said: “The main thing is we are still in the Premier Division and the lads deserve credit for that. We only lost four times in the second half of the season and the experience the youngsters have gone through will stand them in good stead.” Hawarden finish third from bottom, two places below Mold, for whom injuries and unavailability ended their title hopes. Captain Jamie Griffiths, whose 805 runs makes him the league’s most lethal batsman, said: “If we would have beat Bethesda and Hawarden Park at the halfway stage we would have gone top. But then we started losing player after player and we just fell away. We definitely need more players but if we would have had the likes of Danny Drew, Russ Wiseman, Alan Coppack and Jonathan Bedbrook available it might have been different.” Pontblyddyn claim the county bragging rights after their narrow win at Connah’s Quay on Saturday sealed third. Chris Moss (70no), who has enjoyed his best season to date, and the ever reliable Mark Neath (45) enabled Pont to declare on 199-7 before the Quay, for whom Sean Steynberg-Wright (3-50) and Darren Leach (2-27) were the pick with the ball, fell five runs short on 194, with skipper Julian Morris (5-48) doing most of the damage. Morris, facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines in a bid to cure a long-standing knee problem, said: “I’m pleased with third although it could have been better had we not lost games we should have won.” Quay captain Martin Burger, whose side finish sixth, said: “Considering the amount of players we had out during the season I’m fairly happy with a top-six finish.” Hawarden Park’s New Zealand ace Scott Inglis lost his camcorder after Saturday’s game. If you collected it, call the Chronicle sportsdesk on 01244 821911 and we will pass on your details. | 
Flintshire Sport 
