Abergavenny 2nds just failed to extend their winning run with a hard fought 5 wicket defeat to visitors Whitchurch Heath.
On a day plagued by rain delays, Beavers skipper Steve Brown and his counterpart Mike Bishop were grateful to the Aber groundstaff who worked diligently to allow a 25 over game with a delayed start.
Bishop won the toss and asked Aber to bat on a remarkably dry track considering the amount of rain that had fallen locally.
Gareth Powell (19) and Nathan Holley got the Beavers off to a solid start before both fell with the score on 22.
Lee Fury (10) again looked in good touch before advancing down the wicket to off spinner Rob Owen and misjudging the turn.
Tom Griffths (24) and Steve Brown (55*) enjoyed a 77 run partnership for the 4th wicket and were looking certain to post a total in excess of 150.
Griffiths looked particularly strong square and behind the wicket with a combination of sweeps and ramps whereas Brown was accumulating most of his runs down the ground with more conventional straight drives.
The combination was extremely effective and ensured regular field changes were required by the Whitchurch side.
The loss of Griffiths with 5 overs to go took the impetus out of the Aber innings and despite a quickfire 15* from Kyle Holmes at better than a run a ball the death bowlers for Heath (Maskill and Pugal) had done an excellent job to reduce the Beavers to 135-4 at the close of their innings.
In an immediate turn around, Beavers felt that although 10-15 runs below their target, the 135 total they posted was going to be competitive.
Off Spinner Matty Knight took the new ball for Aber and showed his class with a fantastic spell of 1-11 from his 5 overs, he was well backed up by Dylan Beamont-Welsh (2-24) and between them, the pair had reduced Whitchurch to 18-3.
Beavers sensed another victory but they were thwarted by the visitors middle order who paced their chase very well and kept the asking rate below a run a ball for large periods.
Aber change bowlers of Powell, Brown and Andy Timpson (2-36) were unable to keep the Heath run scoring in check with visiting skipper Bishop leading the charge with 46*.
Heath needed 24 from the last 5 overs and negotiated their target with few alarms to run out victors by 5 wickets.
A disappointing reverse for Aber following 2 excellent victories, however, they have the opportunity to immediately bounce back in front of the home faithful with a home game against closest neighbours Usk on Sat 3rd June.
