CRICKET

CLV

By LIAM DURKIN

 

TWO spots remain live on the Cricket Latrobe Valley Premier A ladder with one round to go.

Glengarry (33 points), Churchill (33), Imperials (32) and Moe (31) occupy places three to six, meaning it is all on the line over the next two Saturdays.

Only two of those sides will qualify for finals, and play either Ex Students or Morwell.

The Sharks and Tigers are both equal first on 51 points, and have home semi-finals sewn up.

At the other end of the ladder, Toongabbie (19) and Centrals (13) cannot avoid relegation, and have a fortnight remaining to play in the top division.

 

Ex Students 8-d/286 def Churchill 10/159

ONE of the greats.

Ex Students superstar Lee Stockdale completed an outstanding individual game, taking his side to victory over Churchill.

Having already tonned up on Day 1, the Vic Country veteran took 5/69 off 21 overs on Day 2.

The Sharks had little trouble defending 286, bowling the Cobras out for 159 at Andrews Park West.

Stockdale ripped Churchill apart, taking four of the first five wickets to fall.

Having dismissed nightwatchman Chris Williams (not Squid, the other one), he then had Jordan Higham and Ben Kearns – fresh off a century the previous game – back in the sheds.

The home side sank to 5/15, which effectively took the sting out of the contest.

John Keighran added some respectability to the scoreboard with 30, before he was bowled by Adam Brady with a delivery that seemed to get onto him a lot quicker.

Ex-regular Kurt Holt filled in and made 31 off 38 balls down the order.

Stockdale bowled mostly in tandem with Jimmy Pryde, who took 3/49 off 15.4 overs.

Ex Students will most likely look to get batting practice in before finals, as they play Centrals in the last round.

One imagines the order might be rejigged to give blokes who don’t usually get much of a bat a hit.

 

Toongabbie 9/241 def Traralgon Imperials 10/226

ARE we now seeing the real Imps?

The team from Catterick Crescent lost its third consecutive game at the weekend.

Imps surprised many by going into the Christmas break as a top-two side, yet the reality of a long cricket season might now be coming to the surface.

Imperials haven’t won since January 10.

The latest result saw them lose narrowly to Toongabbie by 15 runs – a margin seldom seen in two day cricket.

The Rams resumed at 7/215, and took the score to 241 off the entitled 10 extra overs on Day 2.

Toongabbie legend Tom Shippen fell just one run short of a home ground century, after spending the entire week on 94 not out (when is cricket good).

His captain Tim Dunn batted through for an unbeaten 32.

Wickets were shared between the Imperials bowlers. Charlie Pilling (3/29), Tylah Donoghue (2/46) and Scott Aitken (2/81) all chipped in.

Ryan Morley played an innings of similar substance to Shippen for Imperials, scoring 96 opening the batting.

He combined with Brett Chapman (29) to take the score into triple figures before the innings took a dramatic turn.

From 1/102, the visitors were soon 4/110.

Dennis Caulfield (41 not out) did his best to stabilise the situation, yet wickets fell around him.

When Morley was dismissed the score was 7/173, which allowed Toongabbie’s experienced bowlers to control the rest of the game until victory was secured.

The Rams survived a few nervy moments, especially after letting 19 extras slip.

Shippen delivered once again, taking 6/65 off 30.4 overs, adding yet another outstanding performance to his career CV.

Nathan Farley (2/32) took the game-changing wicket of Morley, while Gayashan Munasinghe (2/39) bent his back across 19 overs.

Imperials play Glengarry in the last round, in what is essentially an elimination final.

 

Centrals 10/177 & 8/65 def Moe 10/81

PITCHES they come, they go.

Moe was knocked over for 81 in pursuit of 177 against Centrals.

The result could have huge ramifications for the maroon Lions, who would have just about secured a finals position with victory.

Conditions however were reportedly markedly different on Day 2 at Apex Park, which was perhaps reflected as 15 wickets fell between the two sides.

By the same token, it is hard to see why the pitch would have been doctored, given Centrals had nothing to gain from potentially winning outright.

Even if they took 10 points, the blue Lions would still be getting relegated.

And when you have a bowler the calibre of Tyron Gamage, you don’t need any extra assistance.

The express quick was simply too good for few Moe batsmen, who copped inch-perfect deliveries.

Of his 5/35, all were top order players, while two clipped the very top of the stumps – one sending leg stump cartwheeling,

At the other end, left arm swinger Marc Fenech took 4/31, as the pair bowled 43 of the 50 overs in Moe’s first dig.

Centrals batted again, yet showed themselves just how tricky conditions were, finishing at 8/65 off 49 overs.

Royce Colgrave took 6/16, to make it 10 wickets in the match.

Fortunately for Moe, results in other games this round hardly altered the ladder.

The maroon Lions simply have to beat Toongabbie and rely on Morwell defeating Churchill in the last round to make finals.

It will never happen, but is it worth playing a one dayer in the last round to take pitches out of the equation?

 

Morwell 3/121 def Glengarry 10/118

MORWELL will be rightly daring to dream.

The Tigers clinically took down Glengarry, needing just 16 overs to do so on Day 2.

Resuming at 1/76 chasing 118, club stalwart Mark Cukier steered his side home with an unbeaten 67.

Morwell was only three down when the score was passed, and were happy to have an early beer at Keegan Street.

It perhaps wasn’t all bad news for the Glengarry boys, who would have been home so early their wives would think they’d just been to Bunnings.

Morwell celebrated club favourite and all-round nice guy Rob Semmler, who brought up his 400th game in the Premier B match.

 

A Grade

SIMILARLY in A Grade, six teams are still alive as far as finals go.

The difference however is the parity, with a number of teams still a chance of securing a home semi.

In a ladder that would confuse even some mathematicians, Raiders are first, yet have lost the same number of games as sixth-placed Latrobe.

The team from Yinnar has catapulted to first with 48 points off the back of a couple of outrights, after sitting near the bottom of the table before Christmas.

Traralgon West is second on 43, while Rovers has slipped out on 40.

Willow Grove (39) is on track to feature in finals, while CATS (36) have hit a huge stumbling block after appearing a near certainty of finishing top-two.

Latrobe (33) is still in the hunt, and can play finals if it defeats CATS and Willow Grove loses to Mirboo North.

The Sharks are the only team not to gain any bonus points this season, which may come back to haunt them.

The A Grade competition is shaping as one where any team inside the top four could realistically win the premiership.

That being said, it is hard to remember a more ‘random’ competition, where results have fluctuated so drastically week-to-week.

 

Willow Grove 3/180 def Rovers 10/171

WILLOW GROVE took a giant leap toward finals.

The Wolves chased the remaining runs against Rovers, winning by seven wickets at Duncan Cameron.

Resuming at 1/49, the visitors got the 180 needed in less than 50 overs.

Nathan Wheildon played arguably his best innings for the club, scoring an unbeaten 65.

That his knock came off 169 balls showed he has perhaps finally turned a corner, where previously he was guilty of being a reckless slogger.

Luke Payton also reined in his usually attacking ways, scoring 60 off 103.

Both players cleared the rope on three occasions.

 

Raiders 7-d/222 def CATS 10/70 & 10/113

RAIDERS defeated CATS outright.

A fast-moving and somewhat farcical game at Yinnar saw the home side skittle CATS inside 25 overs second time around.

That 76 of CATS’ 113 second innings runs came from Tinashe Panyangara off 45 balls perhaps said it all about the difference in attitude some had.

Before that, Raiders declared at 7/222, giving them a lead of 152.

Skipper Liam Maynard bumped his average up with 73 not out.

Dane Fawcett (3/19), Ben Hagley (2/52) and Panyangara (2/59) took multiple poles.

Adding to the farcical nature of CATS’ second dig, two players took five wicket hauls for Raiders.

Keenan Hughes added another ball to the mount with 5/45, while Harvey Rogers-Collen took 5/22.

 

Mirboo North 6/224 def Latrobe 8-d/223

YOU can just never write these blokes off.

While Mirboo North can’t play finals, they can still have a major say in who does.

The Tigers put a serious dent in Latrobe’s aspirations, defeating the Sharks by four wickets.

Taking to the Mercer/McKenzie wicket, a Zach Hollis masterclass took the home side to victory.

The big boy and big hitter smacked a 129-ball ton, whacking 16 fours across the pristine Mirboo North outfield.

His effort helped the Tigers out of a precariously-placed 3/54, and with captain Ben Heath (45 red) holding up an end, Mirboo North won in the 63rd over.

Latrobe youngsters Izayah Terrick (2/31) and Jacob Bloomfield (2/38) were productive with the ball.

 

Traralgon West 9-d/146 & 2/26 def Gormandale 10/92 & 8-d/145

ANOTHER bizarre game played out at Jack Canavan Oval.

Traralgon West won on first innings, but not before Gormandale tried admirably to set up a sneaky reverse outright.

The Tigers dangled an outright carrot to the Eagles, who accepted, only for the match to fizzle out after eight fourth innings overs.

Traralgon West began the day 5/85 chasing 92 on first innings.

The home side took six points after getting to 146, thanks mainly to Alfie Peck, who scored at virtually a run-a-ball in his 46 not out.

They were however thwarted by Yohan Soyza’s mastery, with the Tigers allrounder snaring insane figures of 7/18 off 20 overs.

Buddhima Dissanayake (2/79) was also noteworthy.

The Eagles only took 20 overs to win on first innings, meaning Gormandale had ample time to bat a second time around.

The Tigers used up 61 overs to compile 145, making a sporting declaration eight down.

Yohan scored 52 not out, while Nimesh Soyza made a patient 32 and Bailey Fulham 26.

Ben Fleming was impressive for Traralgon West, taking 4/56, as was Peck (3/48).

With 91 to get, the Eagles were content with first innings points, seeing off eight overs for 2/26.

Dissanayake took both wickets.

Traralgon West and Rovers will battle for a home semi in a possible semi-final preview in the last round.

Gormandale meanwhile will play for pride against Raiders.