REIGNING GB Liners Marches League champions Garnons have played a trump card in their bid to retain the Division One title.

Among a clutch of new acquisitions, the club unveiled former Kington star Clive Scott to boost their middle-order.

And the left-hander marked his return, from a sabbatical of around a decade, with a fluent 34 as the title-holders eased home by 58 runs against promoted Talgarth.

"It's brilliant to be back playing again, especially with the sun shining, and it brings back a lot of memories," said Scott who is now 52. "It's good to feel the ball on to the bat.

"It was a bit difficult to start but, after a while, I started to see it a bit better and timed it. I was fortunate to have a bit of time to sit in and wait before I had to look to get after it and then I managed to middle a few."

Skipper James Debenham was delighted to have the experience of Scott in his side.

"He is very calm and complements our batting really well," he said.

"He will be the glue in our middle-order."

Debenham (39) gave his side a good start after winning the toss, sharing an opening stand of 41 with another newcomer, Mark Ammonds (17).

But experienced duo Lee Pugh and Huw Griffiths then put a brake on the scoring and started to work their way through the middle-order.

"I remember playing for Kington against Huw Griffiths and Lee Pugh," said Scott. "Lee has slowed down from those days but he still puts it there and thereabouts, moving it around and is still a canny bowler."

"Lee is still a very tidy bowler," confirmed Talgarth skipper Kevin Miller. "Once he gets the movement right, he's still dangerous."

Pugh (3-34) took the wickets of Sam Bendall, Alan Jones and George Cotterell, who seemed a little unlucky to be given out leg-before when two definite sounds indicated an inside-edge.

And with Griffiths (3-32) also bowling tightly, with six maidens in his 12-over stint, Garnons slipped back to 87-6.

But , with Garnons batting right down the order, there was still time for a revival.

"I was quite surprised how deep the batting line-up is," said Scott. "Rob Pritchard came in at nine and was seeing it like a football, hitting it off the middle of the bat from ball one."

Pritchard (50) struck seven fours and a six in his half-century before being last out and his last-wicket stand of 42 with Stuart Griffiths (20 not out) proved crucial.

Miller (26) gave the reply a good start but wickets fell steadily as they subsided to 89-7 before Mark Waldeck (27 not out), Des Parry (17), Griffiths (13) and Austin Mellor (10 not out) took the final score to 157-9.

"We are, of course, looking to retain our title but it doesn't get any easier," said Debenham.

"We know Luctonians are strong when they get their full team out, as are Goodrich and Crickhowell.

"But lots of close matches is what we want."

We should really have held Garnons back to a lower score today but they showed why they are the champions," said Miller.

"We feel that we will do Ok this season - our aim is for a mid-table finish and to get our second team up and running."