Tah’s Capitalise On Wounded Stags

Round 5 proved to a be a great one for the Manly Boys as they completed an almost perfect weekend. First Grade unfortunately went down in a nail-biter however made up for Saturdays loss with a comprehensive win on Sunday up in Newcastle. Second Grade well and truly have their season back on track after an outright victory, which now sees them only 2 points outside the top 6. Joel Foster (4/30, 5/61) and Nick McLachlan (5/21) complimented Oliver Davies fantastic first week performance, to guide the boys home to an innings win.

Third grade were led well by the ever reliable Ryan Bishop-Perrett defending their par total of 206 with 50 runs in hand. Fourth Grade came out on top in what was one of the rarer games of cricket you could come across. After the first innings ending in a tie, Gordon went back into bat with little to no motive to make the most of an outright opportunity, declaring with only 29 overs for Manly to chase their mediocre 5/158. Walter (49*) and Sullivan (44) led the charge with Ashdeep (30) putting the final touches on what was an important victory for Gummer’s men. Fifth Grade had a tricky chase at Beauchamp park of 272. Mendel (43) and Wheeler (41) go the boys of to a fantastic start, which was then complimented by a fine captains knock of 92* from the one and only Zach Trewartha. This was a moment in which every player at our club was stoked to see, a player who has had a rough year or so with the stick, back to his damaging best, when his team needed him the most.

Our dominant performances against the Stags see us only 25 points shy of front runners Sydney, in the club championship race. Another similar weekend against Sutherland could see us take the lead with only a few rounds left before the Christmas break.

Go Manly!

With plenty of fantastic performances over the weekend it was tough to decide one individual performance over another. Special mention to Zach Trewartha and Ryan Bishop Perrett for their match defining performances, however they miss out this week as Joel Foster is named this week’s 4 Pines Player of the Week. With second grade in a solid position overnight, it was crucial that the bowling unit turned up on Saturday to make the most of an outright opportunity.

Joel was exceptional on Saturday, tearing through the stags for the second time this round, finishing with fantastic figures of 5/61 in the second dig, to compliment his 4/30 in the first. Joel bowled nagging lengths all day long at good pace which proved to be too much for the visitors. He is having a great first season at Manly with his wicket tally for the season already at 16.

Fantastic Effort Fozz, Well Done!

urning up to a very flat Chatswood Oval wicket, the Manly boys were 6-286 overnight and looking for a few extra runs. Merchant and Farrel looked to attack the bowlers and within 8 overs they had piled on 50 runs as we declared on 339 giving Gordon 86 overs to chase down 340 runs.

Michael Visser and Matt Alexander opened the innings and were on the money from the start. Early wickets were going to be vital on such a flat pitch and against a team that felt comfortable chasing down any total. And this was exactly the case with Mattoes picking up two wickets removing the opener and number 3. Cahlin and Evans for Gordon had been the mainstays for the whole year and this was to be the case again compiling well over 100 runs for the third wicket before Evans fell to an AB full toss and return catch on 55. Cahlin was supported ably and went on to score a 100 batting very nicely before he was removed for 112. The final session was going to be tense with Gordon requiring 5-6 runs and the Manly boys looking for wickets to bowl them out.

After a couple quick wickets to Beadle and Green respectively, Gordon required 80 off the last 9 overs with 4 wickets in hand when wicket-keeper Doolan began blasting them to all parts, middling everything and clearing the fence on a regular occasion. Anyway, it came down to the final over with Gordon requiring 6 runs with two wickets in hand. A run out on the first ball saw Dolan on strike needing 5 to win with one wicket left. He cleared the front leg and bombed AB over Cow corner for the final over win. He finished with 80 off 50 balls to win them the game and was truly an unbelievable knock to help get his side over the line.

The manly boys should be very proud of their efforts coming so close to a victory on a day of graft and hard work on a very flat wicket.

Jack Edwards.

3 – Adam Crosthwaite

2 – Ahillen Beadle

1 – Chris Green

he Mighty Manly Mortons (some of the finest alliteration you’ll come across) entered Day 2 of the Round 5 fixture against the stags in a dominant position. Missing the beloved Sweet Chilli Willy, the Mortons showed no signs of slacking off with 10 points in sight. Ralphy showed last week, preparation is the key to success so the Mortons were sure to have a great night’s rest and make the most of our commanding position.

The Mortons were on early with Foster and McLachlan cleaning up their tale without breaking much of a sweat, taking only 7 overs to take the final 4 wickets. Cubby proceeded to enforce the follow on and the Mortons were back amongst the wickets early, with both openers jagging one. The Mortons continued to toil all day on a very flat batting track, bundling the Stags out for 253 in the 2nd innings with Joel Foster taking his debut 5 wicket haul for Manly. Other bowlers provided a great supporting role with Carden, Kaye and Graham all chiming in with wickets. The slip cordon were exceptional throughout the game, not only do they possess some of the finest Mortons but also the cleanest sets of hands. Cubby and Logan both taking 4 catches each with Jarrod, Jake Carden and Aiden all taking some quality catches as well. Special mention to Aiden who enjoyed his debut team tub, a fine effort from the young man.

A very impressive performance again from the second grade side, who well and truly have their season back on track. A very important 10 points for the Mortons, as they are now only 2 points out of the top 6.

TK

3 – Oliver Davies

2 – Joel Foster

1 – Nick McLachlan

illara Oval was the venue for 3rd grade’s clash against the Stags. Defending 206 from day one, we knew we had to be on song with both the ball and in the field. And oh boy we were. Wigney (2/19) and Jamieson (2/44) started us off well on day two with some great bowling and they were rewarded with taking the first four wickets. The game was very much in the balance at tea as Gordon were 5/120.

After tea, the best first change bowler in third grade history, Ryan Bishop-Perrett really came into his rhythm and took 5 of the last 6 wickets to finish with terrific figures of 5/56. He barely broke a sweat to dismantle the middle to lower order of Gordon. He combined well with Benny Watts to finish off the game for the good guys.

We are now 3 wins on the trot and building some great momentum heading into Christmas.

Jimmy Crombie

3 – Jordan Daly

2 – Ryan Bishop-Perrett

1 – Andrew Jamieson

ay 2 of the clash with Gordon began with strong performance by the bottom six in the weekly warmup game of touch. The halves pairing of Wilson and Alexander carved up the top 5 to laydown two beautiful tries between them, these two were for us what Maverick and Goose were for top gun.. They’re just that good.

Matty White took some stick as the opening bar threw his hands at everything, but finally got his name in the book with the score on 21. Sam Alexander in the play taking a waist high catch at mid off. As you could have predicted, Wilson not to be outdone joined the party moments after with his first wicket of the innings, removing the young plucky opener. Beating the bat several times he finally drew the opener forward and found the edge Ashdeep with the clean catch to his right. Suddenly we had the Stags 2-21 and things were looking good for the Tahs.

Wilson was irresistible and the number 3 couldn’t help himself as he did he’s best to find himself back in the sheds. Several plays and misses, a flay outside off to no avail led to a beautiful reading ball off a length, collecting a feather with Brewster taking the easiest of catches, however it wasn’t to be as the umpire had other ideas, a stiff breeze making the feather inaudible.Unfortunately however, that’s where the excitement stopped for the next couple of hours; as the Gordon 3 and 4 went about grinding out the next 40 overs.

All the bowlers Graham, Bain, Vumbaca and Alexander all toiled tirelessly before tea with very respectable economy rates. But with a flattening track and little intent to score from the Stags, the game seemed to be drifting.

Post tea was a completely different story, the number 4 putting on a power hitting clinic, eventually being edged out by Wilson for 89. Gordon closed their innings 3-158 shortly after as Alexander removed the No.5.

So there it was. Game on. 159 to chase, 29 overs to do it in. With a flattening pitch and batting order desperate to prove that last week’s performance was very much a once off poor effort everything looked the goods for an 8 point victory to the good guys.

Brewster and Gumms opened up, and both looked good, the odd 4 and plenty of 1’s keeping things ticking over and had us looking in good shape. Unfortunately both openers fell back to back, bringing O’Sullivan (44) and Walter (49*) to the crease.

What happened next was as clinical a performance as you get as both went about completely dismantling the cocky and arrogant Gordon bowling attack. Sending good and bad balls to the fence, and with every over having the required run falling.

A massive over in the 16th saw them 17 in the form of a couple big 6’s and a glorious cover drive and from there we all knew the result was a foregone conclusion. Walter was in red hot touch and never looked like getting out. An absolute rock for us at 4 it was great to see him converting hard work to runs. He completely took the game away from the Stags

Sully fell to a good delivery, but the damage was done; with 40 needed and still 10 overs in the bank it was Ashdeep (30) who strode to the crease. One ball later he was on 6, depositing the opening bowler over square leg and from there he didn’t stop. A flurry of cover drives saw him race to 24 and saw us within 2 runs of an amazing outright victory. One shot later the ball was disappearing long over cover, Ash sealing the innings in the same style he started. A six to win handed us the 8 points with Gordon taking away 2 for the 1st innings tie.

Plenty of positives to be taken from the game, most of all with the bat in hand. Bring on Sutherland in rd 6.

Jacob

3 – Jarrod Walter

2 – Brad Wilson

1 – Jacob O’Sullivan

he mighty 5th grade rocked up to day 2 at Beauchamp on the hunt of early wickets and to knock off their tail. Batting on, the stags faced another 10 or so overs with their overnight batsman reaching his ton, playing very well in the process. Some late lusty hitting by their tail meant that we would be chasing 272 in just under 70 overs.

The chase started off positively with Cohen blasting their opening bowler into the next suburb in the 2nd over and looked positive from the outset. Unfortunately he lost his leg stump a few balls later.

Dom came in and steadied the ship with some excellent shots, teaming up with Brynn for a 50 run partnership before we lost Brynn for a well made 43. Some excellent stroke play shown by the left hander.

In came the captain Zach Trewartha and what was to follow was pure class. He and Wheeler put on 50 until Wheeler fell LBW for 41 and from there it was the presence of partnerships and the maturity of Trewartha that guided us home. Partnerships with Bennett, Marshall, McKenna, Brewster and finally with Falconer got us over the line with the skipper finishing up 92* and the stags players wondering what hit them.

A massive effort to chase down 272 in 62 overs with plenty of balls to spare and a true showing of how strong 5th grade can be this year, finishing off the stags who were leading the Comp coming into the round.

Dylan Marshall

3 – Zach Trewartha

2 – Glyn Archer

1 – Brynn Mendel

aking on Newcastle in their third game of the Kingsgrove T20 competition, First Grade put forward a new look side with young guns Aiden Bariol, Joel Foster and Ollie Davies making their debuts in first grade. We were asked to bowl first knowing they were going to come hard at us all innings, especially as they were undefeated heading into this game.

After they’re main big-hitting batsmen was injured in the second over they were behind the eight-ball. They lost wickets at regularly intervals losing 3 wickets in the first 6 overs and struggling for boundaries and subsequent momentum. Joel Foster picked up his maiden wicket in the top grade whilst Carden picked up 1 and Nickos with 2. Taylor Beatty was the main star with the ball though taking 4-20 off his 4 quoted “jeez I needed a wicket” after his first pole and didn’t look back. Newcastle finished on 137 after their 20 overs on a small boundary and flat wicket.

Jimmy Crosthwaite and Jack Edwards opened the innings against an attack that boasted ex-first class bowler Burt Cochley. After losing James early in the second over Adam came out and blasted the bowlers to all parts eventually falling for 41 off 20 balls as we scored 60 runs in the 6 power play overs. From then on we were ahead of the run rate and with a few big overs here and there we were comfortable in chasing down the total as Jack finished the innings 71 no and was supported by Greeny and Ollie Davies to chase the total down in the 14th over.

Great win,

Jack.