Greta/Branxton first grade all-rounder Mick Shelley and Mulbring first grade all-rounder Greg Sheehan achieved the rare feat of a half century and five wickets to steer their respective sides to victory to commence the Cessnock District Cricket Competition on Saturday.
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Other outstanding individual performances worth noting are Bellbird second grade opening batsman Troy Barber’s 98 against Peden’s Hotel at Carmichael 1, and on the adjacent ground at Carmichael 2 in a good day for Bellbird batsmen their third grade skipper Shaun Anderson notched 96 against Wine Country. Greta/Branxton White fourth grade bowler James Shoulders senior took 7-11 off 10 overs in the match against Supporters Gold at Baddeley 3.
In first grade last year’s minor premiers Greta/Branxton wasted no time getting back into the swing of things with a 154-run thrashing of Supporters Club at Baddeley Park.
Blues skipper Josh Dagg won the toss and elected to bat in the warm conditions. They posted a more than competitive 7-191 from their forty overs, with Shelley leading the way with a crisp 72. Dagg was as productive as usual before being run out for 56, with Dylan Lipscombe the other batsman to make an impression with 14. Andrew McCullum was the best of the Supporters attack with 3-37 off six.
The Goannas were on the back foot from the outset in reply, losing three quick wickets before posting a run. They were eventually all out inside 15 overs for just 37, with Tim Goldman the only batsman to reach double figures with 18. Shelley took 5-4 off five near unplayable overs for the Blues and was on a hat-trick on two separate occasions. Cliff Newling was an unlikely wicket taker with 2-19 off four.
Bellbird also opened their account in style with a comfortable 30-run victory over Peden’s Hotel at East End.
Batting first the Tigers accumulated at a nice rate to notch 169 although being bowled out in the 39th over. Opener Ben Fairlie led the way with 32, Shannon Attewell was unusually aggressive for 26, with Pat Cagney (23), Nick Siers (18), Matt Fairlie (16) and Jason Orr (14) all sharing the ink on the score sheet. Dale Johnston was the best of the Peden’s attack with 4-37 off 10, backed up nicely by Zac Tyne who took 2-24 off 6.4.
The Piranhas were competitive in reply but they too were guilty of not batting out the overs, dismissed in the 35th over for 139. Glen Thorley (21no), the hard hitting Pete Brennan (21) and Zac Tyne (21) led the way with the bat, with club president Steve Tyne (18) and new Strathfield recruit Adam Elbourne (16) making starts. Matt Tomlinson was easily Bellbird’s best with the new ball, bagging 4-26 off 9.5 overs. Veteran Dave Gyler also looped the ball nicely and took 2-38 off seven.
In the final game of the round Mulbring accounted for a rejuvenated Wine Country – although not without a struggle – by four wickets at Mulbring Oval.
Wine Country skipper Stephen Hedger won the toss and elected to bat, but the Wood Ducks’ batting woes from last year continued and they were skittled inside 24 overs for just 64. Club president Mark O’Hara topped the chart with 13, with Dale Arnold the only other batsman in double figures with an unbeaten 12. Classy Mulbring all-rounder Greg Sheehan took the new ball and ripped through the Wood Duck top order to finish with the very impressive figures of 6-18 off 10. Opening partner Brody Jones supported well from the other end with 2-21 off five.
The Marlins were struggling at 5-12 in reply and an unlikely upset looked well and truly on the cards. This was until a match-winning performance from Sheehan who quickly swung things back in Mulbring’s favour with an unbeaten 50 that included just 14 scoring strokes. He was the only batsman in double figures when the home side passed the target (6-68) in the 16th over with four wickets left in the sheds. For the Wood Ducks Peden’s recruit Peter Auditore kept his side in the game with 4-5 off five outstanding overs.
SECOND GRADE
Greta/Branxton 4/226 (Leigh Knight 77no, Mark Hale 67, Mike Element 30, Darren Holz 27no) defeated Supporters 190 (Mick Cronin 81, Greg Brodie 26, J. Morris 24, Zach Sneesby 21, Mark Bender 20, Mark Peace 4-44 off 10, Damien Austin 2-39 off 10, Andrew Partridge 2-44 off 8).
Mulbring 6/240 (Matt Harwood 55, Shaun Clarke 47, Mark Waddell 46, Cam Halliwell 32, Ben Swift 21no, Nathan Page 13no, M. Staib 3-35 off 9, Tom Gleghorn 2-61 off 10) defeated Wine Country 109 (D. Whiting 21, B. Morris 21, Tom Gleghorn 14no, M. Staib 13, Matt Harwood 4-24 off 9, Ben Swift 2-14 off 4, Jake Wyborn 2-20 off 4.1).
Bellbird 7/202 (T. Barber 98, M. Swanbrough 36, J. Hlad 24, Craig Dodds 3-41 off 11, Aaron Sweeney 3-28 off 10) defeated Peden’s Hotel 7/171 (Matt Shorner 45, Craig Dodds 33, Ben Bradley 27, Aaron Moyle 15, Adam Tomlinson 13, J. Hlad 3-42 off 10, S. Ingram 2-39 off 10).
THIRD GRADE
Greta/Branxton 8/136 (Brendan Jones 63, Josh Grant 21, Jackson Cassidy 15, T. Ballenden 2-44 off 6, A. Ramage 2-17 off 4, S. Minter 2-22 off 6, A. Levoi 2-10 off 1) defeated Supporters 125 (S. Minter 32, J.Kerr 31, A. Ramage 25, Adam Holmberg 3-31 off 8, Josh Bartlett 3-46 off 6, Beau Lantry 2-31 off 9.2, Brent Bailey 2-19 off 5).
Wine Country 165 (Pete Davis 40, Ethan Hodson 21, Jason Spence 20no, S. Anderson 2-29 off 9, M. Palmer 2-30 off 9, Tristan Anderson 2-15 off 4) defeated Bellbird 153 (Shaun Anderson 96, S. Palmer 14, S. Cherry 13, Jason Spence 3-14 off 5, Wayne Harris 3-21 off 3.4).
Paxton 8/122 (Brandon Lee 58, Darren Read 3-9 off 5) defeated Laguna 118 (M. Dixon 45, G. Kelso 33).
FOURTH GRADE
Greta/Branxton Blue 88 (Ayden Wilkinson 33no, Zach Watkins 20, L. Sweeney 5-18 off 8, J. Rachel 2-21 off 5) defeated Supporters Gold 48 (G. McPike 23, Jarrad Wilkinson 3-6 off 7, Paul Walkling 3-6 off 5, Tim Hart 2-14 off 4).
Greta/Branxton White 94 (Hamish Spinaze 31, Jesse Minchin 20, Ben Hogan 18, B. Mortimer 5-10 off 2) defeated Supporters 83 (B. Morris 45, W. Myers 12, James Shoulders snr 7-11 off 10).
Peden’s Hotel 154 (Adam Williams 43, Rob Browne 41, Tom Lantry 32, Matt Gough 3-25 off 8, Phil Cook 2-10 off 10, Tom Kirkham 2-26 off 6) defeated Mulbring 94 (Darren Young 45, Tom Kirkham 15, Rob Browne 3-12 off 4, Jonah Williams 2-3 off 3, Adam Williams 2-7 off 4).
Denman Hotel bye.
POINTS TABLES
First grade: Bellbird 7, Greta/Branxton 7, Mulbring 7, Peden’s Hotel 3, Supporters 3, Wine Country 3.
Second grade: Bellbird 7, Greta/Branxton 7, Mulbring 7, Peden’s Hotel 3, Supporters 3, Wine Country 3.
Third grade: Greta/Branxton 7, Paxton 7, Wine Country 7, Bellbird 3, Laguna 3, Supporters 3.
Fourth grade: Greta/Branxton Blue 7, Greta/Branxton White 7, Peden’s Hotel 7,
Mulbring 3, Supporters Black 3, Supporters Gold 3, Denman Hotel 0.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
Greta/Branxton 65.12, Bellbird 53.50, Mulbring 51.41, Wine Country 31.50, Supporters 27.91, Peden’s Hotel 26.62, Paxton 10.50, Laguna 4.50, Denman Hotel 0.00.
Club Championship Formula: First grade x 4, second grade x 3, third grade x 1.5, fourth grade x 0.8035.
NB: Only Greta/Branxton Blue and Supporters Gold fourth grade teams contribute to club championship points.
