Premier A Grade – vs CATS
CATS (resuming 5/48)
Just 17.2 overs in 74mins of play on Day 2. Paul McGill started the day at the crease and remained there until he was last man out for 34. He saw 4 partners depart prior with Moore out for 14, Bellingham 4, Stewart 10 and Panyangara 15. Hagley was 2*. Johnstone (3/36) didn’t add to his tally on day two. Clint Taylor (2/16) & Benn Zomer (2/7) each added one for the day, Rob Phoenix (1/19) got one and Callum Grant (2/23) picked up two of the final three wickets.
With an outright or reverse outright result meaning nothing in terms of ladder, play was called upon completion of the innings at 12.45pm.
Premier B Grade – vs Thorpdale
Up the hill, B Grade were playing for division safety with relegation probable with a loss.
Moe Innings:
Evan Sheekey (36) & Randy Straughair (35) got the Lions off to a strong start. Ash Savige (18*) & Paddy Spiteri (8*) were at the crease at the 2nd drinks break with Moe 2/107 off 28 overs. Two Thorpdale players had to leave early to attend a wedding at this point, leaving the Blues with just 9 fielders for the remaining 17 overs. A run a ball minimum from here would see a total of 209 at this point. The next 4 overs saw 31 scored to get to 2/138 (32).
Then things went pear shaped, Savige (35) fell to Heath Ferguson and it started a rot. Other than a run out, Ferguson took the remainder of the wickets in his 7 over spell with 3 of the batsmen picking out the fielders despite being in reduced numbers, a caught behind, caught and bowled and two bowled. Spiteri (24) & Atkinson (21) made it five scores above 20 in the batting card with no half centuries. Ferguson finished with 7/27, denying Moe what should’ve been a 225+ score.
Thorpdale Innings:
With only 8 wickets available and no Powell, Kayne O’Connell & Travis Pickering had to do the bulk of the work for the Blues to win. And they did just that. The pair put on 69 before Pickering was dismissed by Robert Blunt. Big caught behind shout turned down one ball but dead lbw the next. Blunt finished with 1/27 from 9 overs. James Durkin (22) joined O’Connell in a 38 run 2nd wicket stand before being run out by Brodyn Blandford. Heath Ferguson (30) played a similar role in a 61 run stand to have Thorpdale in sight of victory. Ferguson was caught behind off Atkinson (1/40 off 8.) who finishes as the league’s top wicket taker.
Gibson (20*) was yet another support for O’Connell in an innings full of them as all 5 batters scored 20+, with O’Connell notching his first century (105*) of the season, which also has included 6 half centuries (633 runs @ 57.5).
Thorpdale passed the score with 3 overs to spare and with Glengarry comfortably beating Churchill, Moe are now relegated to the ‘B Grade’ division.
A really disappointing result for the club. Unavailability through work, injury or other reasons hurt B Grade all year, unable to get anywhere close to our full Best 2nd XI on the park for most games. Regaining promotion next season is a must for the club to get all sides back in the Premier divisions of each grade.
Premier C Grade – vs Morwell
A mostly young C Grade side travelled to Morwell. It might’ve been 4th v 5th on ladder but a gulf of points between meant this match didn’t mean anything on the ladder.
Moe Innings:
After losing early wickets, it was a slow recovery, and innings overall, with a run rate of just 2.12. Shannon Murphy (21) & Paul Kane (15) were the only ones to make double figures with all other dismissed batsmen making between 5 & 9 runs. Johnson & Monds each took 2 wickets for the hosts.
Morwell Innings:
Craig Giddens & extras did the early work before Francis (0) was dismissed by Ron Whitney at 1/22. Giddens (26) & Williams (20) put Morwell in sight of victory at 1/62 with just 23 required. Giddens fell to Mustafa Glibanovic then Williams & Cheffers (0) all with the score unchanged to be 4/62. Whitney & Glibanovic took another 3/4 from 4/72 to 7/76 to have the Tigers nervy with just 10 required. Johnson 10* saw the hosts home. Ronnie Whitney again, took 4/5 off 8 overs to finish the season with 23 wickets at an average of just 6 and should take out league honours for bowling average. Glibanovic finished with 2/22 and Hayden Edwards 1/32 (6).
C’s season ends in 5th. Two wins clear of relegation but 4 wins behind 4th and finals.
Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th
A Grade will play Ex-Students at Terry Hunter Reserve Traralgon 11.30am.
