GORSEINON'S Scott Rees was agonisingly stranded on 99 not out as his side beat Skewen by 133 runs in the South Wales Junior Cricket League under-16 Zone C encounter.
The visitors posted a season's best total of 200-4, then Glamorgan's Aneurin Donald took 4-12 as Skewen were bowled out for 67. It maintained Gorseinon's unbeaten tag, and another unbeaten team, Llandeilo, head Zone A following a comfortable 57-run win at Llandysul.
Rhydian Thomas cracked 48 and Jack McGready 40 not out as Llandeilo totalled 110-1, then wickets were shared as the hosts were bowled out for 43.
Powerful Neath Golds are the early pacesetters in Zone D and they also remain undefeated after crushing Maesteg Celtic by 99 runs at The Gnoll.
Callum Walters led the run charge with a polished 73 and Matthew Pearce added 53 as Golds posted a formidable 151-5, then Liam Davies ran through the Celtic batting with a devastating career-best 6-12, the visitors back in the pavilion for just 52.
The fine weather encouraged some big scores and there was a titanic battle at Bridgend, who must have thought that their score of 129-4 was a winning one.
Sam Pearce (70no) and Billy Yeates (36) piloted Bridgend's innings but Tata Steel were unfazed as Morgan Jones (44) and Owen Probert (31) spearheaded the winning reply with five wickets and one over to spare.
A superb unbeaten 77 from Tom Davies and 48 from Tom Blake enabled Ynystawe to successfully chase down Aberdare's 138-4, the winning margin nine wickets. For the home side, Ben Sidney-Jones blasted a brilliant 82 and Nathan Spain 34.
Batsmen also ruled the day at Swansea Civil Service, who ended eight-run winners in a run feast that saw the home side flag up 137-4, while Swansea replied with 129-3. Greg Thomas's fine run continued with 61 not out, and good support at the other end came from Tom Pritchard (30). For Swansea, Dominic Evans, who recorded 97 earlier in the campaign, was unbeaten on 79.
Lewis Jones had a match to remember for Llanelli, scoring 44 as his side hammered 139-5 against Bronwydd, who were all out for 61 in reply, Lewis finishing with an impressive haul of 4-1-10-4. But the Stradey Park team also had Callum Davies (67no) and Iwan Hughes (4-1-6-3) to thank for their success.
Llandysul won by 10 runs at Kidwelly courtesy of Ieuan Pask's undefeated 44 and Gwion Davies's 3-15.
Tom Curry (43) and Cory Griffiths (22) headlined Felinfoel's 55-run triumph at Llangennech, the home side only managing 59-5 in response to 114-5. Lloyd Francis was responsible for 33 of Llangennech's total.
Daniel Lemon (33) and Matthew Moore (22) were instrumental in Dafen winning by two wickets with three balls to spare at Gowerton, for whom Josh Bradshaw top-scored with 33, while Tyler Moeway (41no) and Callum Haney (23no) eased Clydach to a nine-wicket victory at Ynysygerwn.
Neath Blues were 15-run winners at Port Talbot, and James Carter's 33 not out in Drefach's meagre 57 all out failed to prevent a seven-wicket loss to Bronwydd, for whom Tom Hughes (23) and Gethin Francis (3-8) caught the eye.
In the under-14 league where batsmen have to retire after reaching 50, Mumbles Greens reached 167-4 against Dafen, with both Thomas Davies and Tom Gravenor achieving half centuries. Matthew Phillips chipped in with an unbeaten 25. The hosts could only crawl to 50-5 in reply.
Ben Christer was another batsman to reach 50 as Swansea Civil Service Reds maintained their table-toppers tag in Zone C with a 72-run success against Gorseinon, who were all out 42 chasing Reds' 114-2. George Lumsdaine added to his growing reputation with 24.
Lumsdaine continued his good form with 42 not out as Reds easily defeated their Blues club colleagues by 55 runs. With Greg Thomas stroking a fine 40, Reds set a target of 119-2 but, although Jack Galzneiks returned 23, Blues could only manage a slow 64-2.
Glaznieks again emphasised his worth with a superb undefeated 52 as Blues got back to winning ways with a 17-run triumph at Mumbles Blacks. Joe Stephens assisted Glaznieks with 29 not out, allowing Blues to reach 118-2, but Blacks fell short on 101-4, with Ben Protheroe-Banks piloting the reply with 45 and Jack Park unbeaten on 25.
Thanks to a fine all-round display by Iwan Thomas (20 and 3-14) and Thomas Jones (3-14), Bronwydd won by 19 runs at Carmarthen Wanderers, and 35 from Jacob Lyle led Ammanford to a six-wicket triumph at Felinfoel, for whom Glen Williams and Callum Jenkins made 26 and 34 in their total of 101-4.
Neath Blues' Tian Thomas-Wheeler followed up his half century against Port Talbot with another in the surprisingly comfortable 77-run victory over Bridgend. Blues smashed 164-3, with Sam Mogford contributing 40 and Liam Davies 25 not out. Bridgend were restricted to 87-1 in a strange response.
In the under-12 pairs league, Ynystawe looked powerful as they defeated Morriston by 155 runs, James Towell, Jonty Dorrell and Kyle Salter all unbeaten on 29, 22 and 21 respectively. And Steffan Evans took the spotlight with 24 not out as Ynysygerwn were 23-run winners against Skewen.
Maesteg were well beaten by 102 runs at Port Talbot, with Nathan Lee (22no), Dan Edwards (3-1), Alex Griffiths (3-4) and Ryan Flynn (3-6) all enjoying a fruitful match.
Shaun David hit 23 as Swansea Civil Service Reds won by 47 runs against Civil Service Blues, and Llandeilo's Griff Thomas made 19 but his side lost by 39 runs at home by Ammanford.
Port Talbot went down by 25 runs at Bridgend despite 18 from Nathan Lee as Eddy Briebech (26no) and Chris Hart (3-8) saw the hosts home. Ynysygerwn won by 62 runs at Clydach, Llangennech trumped Morriston by the same margin, and Bronwydd lost at Carmarthen Wanderers by 35 runs.
John Hughes produced a stunning spell of 5-0 for Neath, who won by 108 runs at Ynystawe in the under-11 pairs league, Evan Davies blasting a quick-fire undefeated 36 for the victors.
In their 80-run win at Clydach, Ynysygerwn's Oliver Burrows and Steffan Evans were 18 not out and 16 not out and Connor Thomas and Lloyd Freeman were both unbeaten on 16 and 15 to ease Maesteg Celtic to a 73-run home success against Briton Ferry Town.
In the Llanelli battle of the Coch and Gwyn, the former held the upper hand by 96 runs, with three batsmen, Dan Phillips Ellis Dickerson and John Rees, all undefeated on 20, 18 and 17, while another Glaznieks excelled for Swansea Civil Service Reds in their 42-run win at Gorseinon.
Dafen won by 45 runs at Llandysul, Mumbles Greens lost by 29 runs at Pontarddulais and Swansea overcame Gorseinon Unicorns by 25 runs.
And there was a win for Swansea Civil Service Blues by 11 runs at Mumbles Blacks.