The Kurri-Weston Warriors first grade suffered a disappointing 36-run loss to Raymond Terrace on Saturday, with fifth grade the only team to celebrate a win.
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Kurri-Weston skipper Tyler Power won the toss and bowled in the overcast conditions, and it looked to be a masterstroke early on with Raymond Terrace reduced to 4/36 and then 5/59.
But some tardy bowling and fielding enabled Terrace to post a more-than-competitive 183 on the big ground with a slow outfield.
In a below-par performance by the bowling group, Cameron Bates (4/39) and Jono Hickey (2/37) had the pick of the figures.
Kurri-Weston looked on track in reply at 2/75, but a couple of quick wickets and some tight bowling the middle overs saw Kurri-Weston eventually bowled out for 147 off 46 overs.
Jake Gordon (43) and Justin Kavanagh (21) were the best of a disappointing display.
Second grade suffered a convincing seven-wicket loss to Thornton Park, batting first and only able to post 150 in the batsmen-friendly conditions.
Thornton were never really threatened and coasted to the total for the loss of only three wickets.
An understrength third grade side also went down by seven wickets to Raymond Terrace.
The Warriors were all out for 87, with captain Craig Wood and Neil Smith equal top score on 17.
Ben Sharp (2/15) and Jacob Frew (1/28) both tried hard right to the end.
Fred MacDonald stepped up to again captain fourth grade, but they ran into a much more experienced and stronger Raymond Terrace team.
Kurri-Weston only managed 62 and Terrace passed the score for the loss of just two wickets.
The highlight of the day was Kurri-Weston’s win over Raymond Terrace in fifth grade, with a lot of younger club members making their debut.
A solid all-round effort in the field saw Terrace restricted to 7/130 from their 40 overs.
In reply, stand-in captain and club legend Anthony Beavis led the way with 46no, and despite running his son out was still able to get the team over the line. Jakob Bartley also batted well for 25.
“With the unavailability of several first and second grade regulars, all lower grades were depleted and it was a credit to Woody and Flash that the club was still able to field five teams,” a club spokesperson said.
JUNIORS IMPRESS
Kurri-Weston’s junior teams posted some outstanding results – the under-10s had a very good win, as did the 12-1s with some very good performances, Nick Bourke scoring 21 and Reece Gibson claiming 3-7 off three overs the highlights.
The 12-2s had a nail-biter just going down by 13 runs but are improving every week.
The 14s had a massive win over Raymond Terrace with some glowing reports. Jack Sylvester is improving every week and looks set to make his grade debut after some very impressive performances. Logan Connolly has also been taking wickets regularly.
The 16s also had another win and are top of the ladder, with the club very hopeful of going a long way in this competition with the likes of Liam Dalibozek and Loch Vassella leading way.
SUCCESS IN T2O COMP
On Sunday, Simon Marshall took the reins for the tilt at the Hunter Valley Cup T20 competition.
After some really strong performances with both bat and ball, Kurri-Weston came away with two wins and will progress through to the semi-finals in January.
In the first game against Singleton club PCH, Kurri Weston won by more than 100 runs after posting 161.
The second match was against arch-rivals Norths, and after restricting them to 9/133 from their 20 overs were confident of progressing through the group stage.
An outstanding performance by Josh Tuckwell (81no) was the highlight.