Greta/Branxton continued their good start to the year with the bat in the second round of the Cessnock District Cricket first grade competition, notching their second consecutive 250 total, this time against Wine Country at Miller Park.
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After surprisingly being asked to have a bat first, the Blues scored freely in the pristine batting conditions to accumulate 9/250 from their 40 overs, with most batsman making starts.
Skipper Joey Butler and Greg Andrews made 42 apiece, while Darren Thomson (39), Josh Dagg (31), Darren Holz (19no), Martin Shearer (12no) and Mark Bercini (scratchy 45) all cashed in on the good conditions.
Matt Lightfoot was the pick of the Wine Country attack with 4-32 off five, with veteran Matt McCarthy still whizzing the ball through at good pace to finish with 3-47 off 9.
Docked three overs for a slow rate bowling first, the Wood Ducks completed their 37 overs at 9/181, with Dean Elliott leading the way with a watchful 48.
Andrew Fensom clubbed 33, with Ben Wood (22), McCarthy (16), Wayne Harris (15no), Lightfoot (12) and club president Mark O'Hara (12) all making starts.
Darren Thomson completed an excellent all-round game for Greta/Branxton with 4-31 off 8, with Kyle Hall (2-63 off 10) and Pat Andrews (2-25 off 7) supporting with a brace of wickets each.
Defending premiers Mulbring also made it two from two to start the year when they accounted for Peden's Hotel by six wickets at Mulbring Oval.
Peden's were all out in the 34th over for just 124 batting first, with Matt Brodie and Fletcher Sharpe making 30-apiece.
Tim Golman (20) and Ben Read (16no) also made starts, while for Mulbring it was once again Supporters recruit Zach Sneesby who stole the show with the four-piece, bagging 4-20 off 10 to go on top of his 6-28 last week.
He received good support from Brad Turner who took 3-37 off 10.
The home side were 4-34 in reply, but recovered to reach the target in the 29th over without further loss.
Skipper Cameron Ross played a fine hand with an unbeaten 57, and was well supported by Mick Mascord who was also there for the winning runs with 38no.
Sneesby was the other to make a start with 16 at the top of the order in a fine all-round game.
Read bowled well for the Piranhas with 3-40 off 9.5 overs, however, the small target was always going to be hard to defend.
Bellbird had the bye.
SECOND GRADE
Greta/Branxton 10/175 (Brock Charnock 57, Bryce Element 28no, Trent Fuller 20, Jason Haines 19, Anthony Brunsdon 17, Jason Rosenow 14, Stephen Hedger 6-47 off 9.1, Scott Purser 3-48 off 9) defeated Wine Country 10/77 (Tyler Wade 24, Scott Purser 14, Rob Sidebottom 13, James Shoulders snr 3-10 off 5, Brock Charnock 2-18 off 4, Brett Bridge 2-17 off 5, Bryce Element 2-10 off 4).
Chelmsford Hotel 3/67 (Andrew Wanless 43no, Hayden Ridley 12no, George Copeland 1-14 off 5, Luke Sweeney 1-5 off 4, Reid Browne 1-19 off 5) defeated Peden's Hotel 10/64 (Reid Browne 18, Dylan Smith 13, Beau Lantry 5-15 off 8.2, Arron Follan 2-17 off 6, Josh Hunter 2-18 off 6).
Bellbird 8/232 (Matt Thomson 40, Joey Millington 37, Matt Schrieber 28, Dylan Stoker 25, Jon Schatz, Pat Cagney 21, Matt Tomlinson 14no, Jack Bailey 13, Nathan King 3-40 off 8) defeated Denman Hotel 6/188 (Jakob Bartley 50no, Shaun Clarke 36no, Ben Duncan 25, Adam Holmes 24, Nathan King 20, Danial Foster 13, Hilal Abbas 3-28 off 9, Craig Schumacher 2-20 off 9).
THIRD GRADE
Greta/Branxton Blue 2/99 (Sean Wright 60 retired, Mal Hedger 12no, Rob Young 1-22 off 5, Andrew Clifton 1-18 off 3) defeated Mulbring 10/96 (Nick Peake-Hill 43no, Matt Gough 13, C. Allen 12, Dave Seabrook 5-28 off 9, Ayden Wilkinson 3-16 off 5, Jarrad Wilkinson 2-8 off 5.3).
Greta/Branxton White 4/141 (Jamie McNamara 67, Will Regan 44, Clayton, Babic 2-16 off 3) defeated Denman Hotel 10/129 (B. Harris 47, M. Whitney 25, D. Besoff 13, Aaron Stephenson 3-26 off 6, Jamie McNamara 2-6 off 6, Cory Stephenson 2-14 off 4).
Peden's Hotel White 6/217 (Ryan Fox 72no, Ethan Gunther 46no, Tom Lantry 37, Lachlan Marino 23, Jett Lantry 15, Adam Williams 2-53 off 10, Mick James 2-63 off 9, Mark Williams 2-36 off 6) defeated Peden's Hotel Blue 10/135 (Jack Stoker 40, Adam Williams 31 Kane Jordan 25, Lachlan Marino 5-14 off 6.4).
Bellbird 9/190 (Aaron Duffie 50no, Mark Stevens 44, Mark Scott 19, Jack Roberts 15, Zach Kronholm 14, Tallen Howson 5-51 off 10, Sam Peacock 2-33 off 7.2) defeated Wine Country 10/85 (Aidan Eather 16, Ty Cowley 16, Tallen Howson 16, Jack Rachel 14, Jack Lennard 4-24 off 7.5, Nicholas Hurn 3-24 off 9.1).
FOURTH GRADE
Bellbird White 3/110 (Shaun Anderson 59no, Joel Butterfield 27no, Mark Barrow 21, James Shoulders jnr 1-37 off 4, Muhummad Bhatti 1-18 off 2, Correy Stone 1-25 off 5.4) defeated Greta/Branxton 10/104 (Seamus Keegan 37, Correy Stone 22, Mitch Bradford 12, Shaun Anderson 4-27 off 7.3, Ben Fairlie 3-7 off 3, David Cooper 3-39 off 8).
Bellbird Maroon 7/238 (J. Field 84no, B. Sillay 49, N. Davey 34, T. Yates 33no, B. Rowlands 24, Michael Read 4-47 off 10, Steve Russell 3-47 off 10) defeated Peden's Hotel 6/114 (Craig Beer 61no, Greg O'Connor 12, Ben Rowlands 3-19 off 4).
Supporters 2/147 (Sam Weekes 54no, Jamie Butt 24no, Aaron Field 15, Kobe Minter 15. ret.hurt, Luke Davis 1-21 off 7, Angus McClellan 1-7 off 4) defeated Wine Country 9/127 (Thomas Page 75, Tame Tua 17, Scott Minter 4-12 off 10, Brendan Sharpe 3-35 off 10).
Cessnock Hotel 4/99 (Steve Collins 50no, Tom Parkhouse 20, Gary Loy 14no, Rob Follan 3-37 off 8) defeated Chelmsford Hotel 10/96 (Vijay Tharumakulasingam 32, Anthony Mitchell 18, Joe Gillis 14, Steve Collins 4-28 off 8, Aaron Garthwaite 2-9 off 4.2).
POINTS TABLES
First Grade: Greta/Branxton 14, Mulbring 14, Peden's Hotel 6, Bellbird 3*, Wine Country 3*. * byes received, 0 points allocated.
Second Grade: Bellbird 11, Chelmsford Hotel 11, Greta/Branxton 11, Denman Hotel 7, Peden's Hotel 7, Wine Country 7.
Third Grade: Bellbird 14, Peden's Hotel White 14, Greta/ Branxton Blue 11, Greta/Branxton White 11, Mulbring 7, Peden's Hotel Blue 7, Denman Hotel 6, Wine Country 6.
Fourth Grade: Cessnock Hotel 14, Supporters 14, Bellbird Maroon 10, Bellbird White 10, Peden's Hotel 10, Wine Country 10, Chelmsford Hotel 6, Greta/Branxton 6.
Club Championship: Greta/Branxton 51.09, Bellbird 36.36, Peden's Hotel 35.04, Wine Country 19.73.
Club Championship formula: First Grade x 4.67, Second Grade x 2.8, Third Grade x 1.31, Fourth Grade x 0.66. NB: Only Greta/Branxton Blue third grade, Peden's Hotel Blue third grade and Bellbird Maroon fourth grade teams contribute to club championship points.