GOATACRE’S run in this year’s National Village Knockout Cup is over after they were lost by one to Ynystawe on Sunday.

Chasing 253 to win on home soil after 92 from Andrew Beasley and a stunning, 33-ball 72 not out from Sion Jones had lifted Ynystawe to a respectable if not formidable total, Goatacre started well with Jack Haines and Ed Wilkins racing out of the traps.

Haines managed 57 off 30 balls, including five maximums, while Wilkins notched 36 from 25 balls as the hosts seemed to be cantering towards their target.

But Goatacre started losing wickets at regular intervals and, despite Kevin Iles hitting three sixes off the final three balls of the innings, they left themselves too much to do – much to the disappointment of skipper Brad Dawson.

He said: “It was pretty tough. With three balls we needed 19 or 20 so we weren’t going to win it unless they bowled an extra, and Kev hit three sixes.

“It was the best I’ve seen Jack bat in my whole life and I’ve played with Jack since I was ten. It was ridiculous.

“He was running down the pitch to their seamers and hitting them over the nursing home.

“I really don’t know how we lost the game, we should never have lost it from where we were.

“We let Ed and Jack down with the start they got us. We let them down massively.”

Dawson picked out Jones’ late flurry for Ynystawe and Goatacre’s timidity with the bat in the final overs as the principle reasons for the defeat.

“We were looking at stopping them at 220 or 230 but in the last two overs they just smashed it,” he said.

“But with the start we had with 20 overs left we needed five an over and with ten overs left we needed six-and-a-half an over.

“On our ground we should not be losing games like that from there. I think a lot of our team know that.”

It rounded off a fairly miserable weekend for Goatacre, who on Saturday were beaten by a depleted Glastonbury by two wickets.

Having only racked up 176, the visitors could do little to prevent Harry Ellison’s 95 not out from guiding the hosts home despite figures of 4-20 for Dawson and 2-34 from Giorgio Rigali.

“They beat us with a weakened team,” said Dawson.

“George bowled well, I bowled pretty well and if we had had a couple more overs you never know.

“It was just a tough weekend really. It hasn’t happened for us this year. That weekend last year I’m pretty sure we would have won.”

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