Champions Bangor begin defence with Gresford triumph

A fantastic batting display laid a solid foundation for their comfortable triumph on the opening day, and Robbie Marshall’s side will look to make it two wins in succession when they travel to Northop on Saturday.

The hosts lost opener Sion Evans early on when he was run out by Matthew Thompson on four, but a sensational partnership from David Winter and Nadeem Rehman put them in a commanding position thereafter.

The duo put on 196 for the second wicket, with Winter leading the way thanks to a superb 114 before he was eventually dismissed by Daniel Williams.

He was assisted at the other end of the crease by Rehman, who was trapped lbw by John Bell two shy of his century, and this ensured the home side set a formidable target of 262-4.

Chris Dawson wasted no time in making an impact with the ball by removing the opening pair of Chris Dawson and Daniel Williams for five and ten, and the seamer added to his tally with the wicket of Chris Mullock (2) on his way to figures of 3-17 off eight overs.

Visiting skipper Chris Ellwood was caught by Rehman off a Paul Lewis delivery after making a promising 18while the dangerous trio of David Baker (3), Gareth Bell (7) and Sean Richards (6) were all out cheaply during a blistering all-round effort from the title hopefuls.

Wicketkeeper Joshua Knowles (13*) was the only other Gresford batsman to make it into double figures, with Tomos Davies taking two lower order wickets for the loss of 15 runs as the away side mustered just 80 all out in reply.

Following Saturday’s clash at the newly promoted side, Bangor face a trip to rivals Menai Bridge in what is expected to be a pivotal early season encounter.