ST ASAPH’s hopes of getting themselves into the North Wales Cricket League Premier Division title race were dealt a blow thanks to an eight-wicket reverse at Bangor.

The Saints were unable to recover from a poor batting display which proved to be their downfall against the championship hopefuls, and they now sit in seventh position in the standings ahead of their trip to Gresford on Saturday.

Things did not begin well in the middle for the away side as overseas opener Nathanael Scott was clean bowled by Owen Reilly after making four, and the Welsh youth international also disposed of skipper Will Ryan for a duck to take his figures to 2-17 from a seven over spell.

Mathew Ryan did not fare much better and was skittled by Michael Hughes on 13, with Daniel Williams (12), Danny Ryan (12) and David Lloyd (6) all falling at the hands of Christopher Dawson.

Dawson added Dominic Haynes (10) to his list of victims to end the day on 4-13 off nine overs, and Franco Kasner (2-32) took two lower order wickets in the form of Alex Baker (12) and Amer Jamil (0) to leave the visitors all out on 86.

Despite losing in-form opener David Winter to a David North strike for four early on in the innings, a standout partnership between Reilly and Nadeem Rehman enabled the home side to reach their target with minimal fuss after 25 overs at the crease.

Reilly, a sports scholar and Sixth Form student at Rydal Penrhos School in Colwyn Bay, was at his patient best to finish his time in the middle unbeaten on 43 from 92 deliveries, and Rehman was also there at the conclusion to record a score of 35 not out from 44 balls in another impressive win for the title hopefuls.