A crunch game is looming for the Waratahs in their 4th round clash v Mosman at Allan Border Oval. The loss last weekend to Penrith did us no favours with first grade sliding to 13th and 17th in the Club Championship. Mosman are 10th on both ladders but with the washouts the gap is not high so a good weekend across the grades will see us start the long climb out of the depths.
Mosman could consider themselves unlucky to just lose their last round clash by 2 runs on the Duckworth Lewis system and with both sides having beaten Sutherland it does appear to be a fairly evenly matched game.
The Waratah’s left 33 balls on the park in their 54 run loss and plenty of boys got starts but no one put their hand up to steer the side to victory. The bowling unit will be happy with the way they finished off the Penrith innings but some easy runs were had in the opening exchanges resulting in a run a ball 157 run opening stand. This will need to be addressed against Mosman who possess a solid top order.
Manly will be without SOK and the Edwards’ boys who are all representing NSW in Melbourne so are not at full strength however have enough depth to put together a strong outfit.
Last week’s form shown by Ollie Davies with his better than a run a ball 50 was heartening and no doubt a few of the starts the top order got last week will need to be built upon this week in the two dayer on what should be a good batting deck following the break in the rain we have enjoyed this week.
2nd grade will look to continue their improvement following their comfortable win over Penrith which was based on a gutsy display of batting on a sticky surface followed by great medium pace bowling that really suffocated the Panthers. Mosman are struggling in 2s so the ‘Tahs will be looking to get the points without too much fuss.
3rd grade sees an evenly poised game with the sides adjacent on the table just outside the 6. Manly’s strong win last game has given the main grade a much needed boost and they will be hard to beat.
4th grade will need a win to stay in touch with the top 6 especially with Mosman a win ahead. Plenty of positives were taken from the close loss experienced v Penrith and the boys are confident of a better result.
5th grade’s defence of the Premiership is reaching a critical juncture. Sitting 13 points outside the 6, to fall any further back could be a bridge too far for the boys so Dylan will need to lead from the front to get the boys back on track.
