ROUND 13 GIRAFFE REPORT VS GOLDEN SQUARE
1st XI @ QEO
Following on from the disappointment of the non-event that was Round 12 Vs Bendigo Utd thanks to the extreme heat cancellation Sandhurst could be excused for feeling a little deflated heading into the Round 13 clash with Golden Square. This was not the case, as Coach Scullie had his charges primed for a big contest. Simon Turnbull returned to the side and was straight in amongst the action after Kecky won the toss and batted.
Nick Scullie joined “Tippa” at the top of the order and the pair made a solid start and took the score along to 38 before Simon Turnbull was bowled by Shannon Waters. This bought Anthony West to the crease and Square must have fancied their chances against Westy as they were into him from the beginning. Nick and Westy built on the solid beginning and pushed the score to 100 before Darren Clutton had Nick caught behind for 43.
With still in excess of 50 overs remaining and a batting track that was flattening by the over, Sandhurst had a fantastic platform to take the sword to Square and post a massive total. Brenton Jones, the teams leading run scorer this season received a dubious caught behind decision before he had the chance to get set and Square sniffed an opportunity. Tim Robertson joined Westy at the crease and provided valuable support while Westy unleashed in his finest first innings ever. He controlled the tempo of the innings handled all bowlers with relative ease and played a chanceless knock and approached his maiden first eleven century.
Tim Robertson’s dismissal bought Jason Marr to the crease and yet another man with something to prove came in amidst a high pressure situation. Anthony West bought up his century in a 155 ball innings with 11 boundaries and not a moment too soon as straight after bringing up triple figures in the 66th over he was another victim of the unfortunate deflection off the bowlers hand onto the non -strikers stumps and Westy was on his way.
Jason Marr controlled the remaining twenty overs of the innings and as a sure sign of things to come scored a classy unbeaten 41 from 32 balls and along with handy contributions from Pask, Keck, Sheehan and Bentley aided Sandhurst in posting a magnificent total of 8 for 291 from 85 overs on the vast expenses of the lush QEO turf..
Having not had any participants in Bendigo’s unsuccessful country week campaign the Dragons had a refreshed squad and a big total to defend but were still written off by all and sundry cross all forms of the media. Allowances for the Bushfire relief contest meant proceedings got under way 30 minutes earlier than usual. Square skipper Brad O’Shea also had little hesitation in claiming the run chase would be a great tune up for the upcoming finals campaign.
I’m not sure what planet these so called experts had been on but Sandhurst's supposed “pop-gun attack” that relied so heavily on Keck and Robertson had made a couple of recent additions including the competitions leading pace bowler for wickets taken this season as well as Scott Harper and a revved up Quinton Bentley and the flight and guile of Matt Pask. Skipper O’Shea began in ominous fashion slapping four boundaries in the first five overs to move to 16 before he was bowled by Tim Robertson.
Mark Keck backed his experience and delivered a pearler of a delivery to rear up at number three batsman Marcus Mckern to provide a straight forward caught and bowled to Tango. This bought two of Golden Square’s most experienced and credentialed batsmen together and on a good batting track the pair looked very solid in adding 63 for the 3rd wicket before Matt Pask deceived Scott Johnson with an arm ball and trapped him in front just at the right time. This bought the dangerous Grant Connelly to the crease, Grant who had bludgeoned in excess of 100 when these teams last met in a very low scoring affair under pressure was again coming in under pressure. The one difference being this season he was facing a different form of pressure, the pressure to survive through to the tea break.
Luckily “Chopper” knows only one way as Matt Pask again claimed a massive wicket for the Dragons just prior to the tea break caught in the deep by Quinton Bentley as Square moved to 4 for 135 from 45 overs. Phil Hetherington had looked a class above in building his innings and moved towards what could prove to be a match winning century for the ’Dogs when sportsmanship took a backward step just prior to the tea break. Matt Pask deceived Hetherington with a lovely delivery and took a straight forward low down caught and bowled chance to claim the big wicket. After initially making tracks for the dressing room Hetherington saw umpire Piggott was unsure if the ball had carried and when umpire Chad proved as useful as a bump on a log unable to shed any light on the situation Phil managed to talk himself into a second life.
Tim Robertson rejoined the attack after tea and the Dragons were again left dismayed when a very confident stumping appeal turned down as a further example that maybe it was to be Phil’s day. Tim Robertson as he has all year had other ideas and finally claimed the prize scalp of Hetherington caught in the covers by Kecky for 97.
Golden Square were feeling the pressure with wickets continuing to fall but with overs to spare the game was still up for grabs. In typical Golden Square fashion all of the batsmen came out with an aggressive mindset including Brad Perrow who was bowled by Scott Harper. What transpired from there became the Jason Marr show, in a fielding display that had to be seen to be truly appreciated Jason Marr claimed run outs from successive balls in the 72nd over to remove a dangerous Shannon Waters and Daniel Nalder with the total on 231.
Requiring 60 from the final 12 overs Golden Square would not lay down and built a dangerous 34 run stand for the tenth wicket before the ex- Golden Square duo of Quinton Bentley and Jason Marr combined thanks mainly too a spectacular diving catch by Jase at point to end the contest and send the Sandhurst players officials and spectators into hysteria in what has since been described as one of Sandhurst best first eleven displays this decade.
Unfortunately other results didn’t fall our way and Sandhurst’s faint final hopes were extinguished by Strathfieldsaye’s upset win over Strathdale. Still the magnitude of the win should not be diminished by other results as Sandhurst had proven they could match it with and beat the best sides in the league. Such a win warranted special treatment so the judging panel adjudicated their should be two man of the matches awarded. Anthony West for his maiden first eleven century and Jason Marr for his unbeaten 41 and match turning impact in the field gave him his first man of the match award as a Dragon.
2nd XI @ WADE STREET GOLDEN SQUARE
Sandhurst faced a must win game if they were any chance of pinching an unlikely finals berth. The side was strengthened by the inclusion of Holland and Joel Schneider who had made way for Jason Marr back into first XI.
Recent fixtures between these two sides have been hot and spicy affairs and this would be no different playing at the Wade Street ground for the 3rd time in 3 seasons. Alex won the toss and no hesitation in batting. Still missing the division’s premier batsman Travis Crouch, Mark Holland and Dylan Gibson opened the innings against the dangerous Henderson and Peitromonaco. It took an astonishingly long time for a circumspect Mark Holland to get off the MARK, taking him until his twenty first delivery before scoring his first run. It was an extremely tight beginning from Golden Square conceding just six runs in the first seven overs.
The opening bowlers continued to bowl tightly nearing the first drinks break until the first bowling change allowed Mark Holland to free the arms and it was pure brutality what he did to the ball. Mark took 20 from two overs from first change bowler O’Sullivan which included five boundaries. Sandhurst had positioned themselves well at 0 for 69 from 20 overs with Dutchy on 35. Spin was introduced into the attack in the 22nd over in the form of Jamie Fitzgibbon in what would become a marathon spell. Mark was in the groove and took great pleasure in depositing Fitzgibbon over mid-wicket in the exact same spot in three consecutive overs, the second of which bought up his half century. Mark who had enjoyed a life when dropped off an inside edge before scoring was again put down in the deep soon after passing fifty but couldn’t make the most of his opportunity and was bowled for 61 in an opening stand of 108 in 30 overs with Dylan Gibson.
Brock Fletcher who had an astounding record with the bat this season again looked untroubled as he begun to build another long innings. Golden Square were solid with the ball and field and as he had done all season Fletcher begun patiently eyeing off a big knock when as is so often the case between these two sides controversy reared it’s head. Dylan Gibson plastered a straight drive back down the ground which bowler Jamie Fitzgibbon managed to deflect onto the stumps. Fortunately the umpire was scrambling out of the road of the ball and was in no position to adjudicate if Fletcher was out of his ground. So strangely he consulted with his square leg colleague and between them they decided Brock’s bat was probably in the air and sent Brock on his way.
This bought Joel Schneider to the crease to join Dylan who had fought so hard, but in the over preceding the tea break was trapped LBW to leave Sandhurst 3 for 131 from 43 overs with two new batsmen at the crease. This was the perfect scenario for Joel Schneider to shine, with an old ball and a fresh start after the tea break Joel controlled proceedings with genuine class. Joel remained the constant at one end scoring freely at one end and combining for partnerships with McFarlane and Trump (50 for the 5th wicket) to leave Sandhurst 5 foe 208 in the 66th over. Unfortunately Kinniburgh followed soon after and when Botham and Macdonald followed suit Sandhurst was at risk of leaving Joel Schneider stranded and failing to bat out their overs with 8 down and nine overs remaining.
Joel Schneider turned the strike over effortlessly whilst picking off the loose balls for four, Craig Burn showed slightly more aggression with the bat and was seeing them like footballs when a late innings drink was sent to Joel Schneider advising him of the fact he was on 84 with five overs remaining. The tension and crowd grew as Joel closed in on a richly deserved century entering the final over to be bowled by Pietromonaco who had been the sides standout bowler all day, Joel was on 98 with Craig Burn on strike. Dot ball to begin, then Craig scampered a single to give Joel the strike, another dot ball followed, then a drive straight down the ground was cleanly fielded and prevented any chance of Joel getting back for a second. Craig got bat on the fifth ball of the over with a fine tickle threatening to reach the fence and deny Joel one more chance at his tonne but some splendid out-fielding was applauded as strongly by the batting side as it was by the fielding side restricted it to three runs giving Schneider the strike with one ball remaining. Lets just say thank goodness Pete Schneider wasn’t there as Joel failed to connect on the last ball of the day and was adjudged LBW for 99. In total Joel’s 99 came from 124 balls with a dozen boundaries and Craig Burn’s 43 from 33 balls including four 4’s and one straight six into the car park had added 66 in the final 9 overs and pushed Sandhurst’s total to 9 for 303 from 85 overs. As a footnote there was one century seen on day one and not for the first time in these contests it was J Fitzgibbon with triple figures next to his name. Jamie had bowled unchanged from overs 22 through to 82 finishing with 3 for 137 from 31 overs.
With a win needed to remain any chance of playing finals, Sandhurst begun well with some tight line and length bowling building the pressure on the Square openers. Their reward was finally reaped when skipper Trump who also has an impressive record against Golden Square drew a false stroke from Luke Baird and a straight forward catch to Botham in the ring on the on-side. Alex again went to the memory bank and recalling his sharp chance early in a previous semi final mirrored that dismissal in his following over taking another sharp caught and bowled opportunity to remove Josh Baird who had destroyed the Dragons attack twelve months earlier.
The young Will Tonkin and skipper Dean Langley then formed a dangerous 70 run 3rd wicket stand before Clinton Botham who had been disciplined in his line and length removed skipper Langley caught and bowled to provide the third breakthrough of the innings. The young Tonkin had gone about his business quietly until three fours took him from 45 to 57 in the space of eight balls before he too fell victim approaching tea caught and bowled Dylan Gibson for 57.
Trump who had recently reintroduced himself along with Gibson took the opportunity to Peel off some quick overs as batsmen Rodda and Johnson looked for survival through to tea.
With both teams having been in a similar position at the tea break, Sandhurst still had plenty of work to do and needed to make early inroads after the break to retain control of the game. Dylan Gibson stepped up and with a peach of delivery got through Ben Rodda for 0 to reduce Square to 5 for 113 in the 47th over. This bought Jamie Fitzgibbon to the crease as Squares last two recognised batsmen held their sides hopes in their hand. Despite tight disciplined work with the ball and in the field Fitzgibbon and Johnson grew in confidence and begun the foundations of a dangerous partnership adding 94 in 20 overs before Dylan Gibson gained a massive wicket trapping Jamie Fitzgibbon in front. This added further pressure on Johnson and it became too much for him as Trump who was bowling a third spell picked up Golden Square’s last remaining hope caught by Chooka inside the ring on the leg side.
Trump had bowled himself into the ground and finished the day with 3 for 50 from 23 overs including 9 maidens. Craig Burn replaced Trump and helped himself to two of the three remaining wickets as Golden Square never threatened from that point on and when Leigh Mcdonald provided a pin point throw from the deep to find number 11 Ryan Henderson short of his ground Golden Square were all out for 239 in the 79th over. Another star performer for the Dragons was spinner Dylan Gibson who capped a fine all-round performance with 3 for 77 from 25 overs. The win meant a lot to the boys and was a fine lead into that evenings festivities. In a decision that could have gone to a number of players Joel Schneider narrowly claimed the Man of the Match with his authoritive innings on day one of the match.
3rd XI @ QEO
Fourth Vs Fifth. Do or Die for the Third XI against Golden Square. At Selection the thirds lost the talents of Holland and Gibson, but gained Keith Cloke and Garth Tamblyn a fair trade I‘m sure you‘ll agree. Golden Square won the toss and batted. Matt Felini and Garth Tamblyn begun bowling very tightly and restricted Golden Square to just 11 runs from the first half dozen overs. Matt Felini created the initial breakthrough knocking over Dale Lowry for 9 as Square fell to 1 for 12 from 7 overs.
This bought the dangerous Aaron Bentley to the crease and his early dismissal would prove pivotal to the Dragons chances of winning the game. So it was Trewy who aggressively went after the “big wicket” by continuing to bowl openers Matt Felini and Garth Tamblyn and his aggression was rewarded when Aaron Bentley got a healthy edge straight through to Draper and the Sandhurst boys had the prized wicket for just 20 runs. Wrong, in yet another example of what a see-saw of emotions cricket can be umpire Salter failed to hear the edge and Bentley was gifted a second chance.
This would prove the turning point of the morning, as best as they tried to frustrate Bentley from then on by taking the pace off the ball and bowling solid line and length Bentley lifted the scoring rate with relative ease. Blencowe who had provided solid support to that stage was bowled by Courtney Cornell for a patient 28 to provide Sandhurst a 2nd wicket with the total on 81 nearing 30 overs.
This was the cue for Golden Square to pick up the scoring rate having seen off Matt Felini (1/22 from 10) Bentley and the rest of the middle order had the freedom of wickets in hand to lift the scoring rate. Matt Christie fell to a well judged catch in the outfield by Trav Russell from the bowling of Trewy in what would see him with more victims than the sick bay at Sandhurst training. He claimed his second wicket with a sumptuous piece of spin bowling drawing the batsman out of his crease as Draper did the rest to complete the stumping.
It was around this time that Sandhurst suffered a major blow with specialist death bowler Keith Cloke injuring a knee and forcing him from the field for the remainder of the day. Derek Robertson was then thrown the ball and did what only Garth Tamblyn had been able to do before hand - dismiss Aaron Bentley. Only this time Ron Salter agreed and “Sticks” was on his way for 84. Skipper Mark Blabey was at bat and not even the blustery conditions could ruffle Blabes as he took his time to settle and play himself in before he was beaten by some sharp work from Tamblyn in the field to be dismissed run out for 14. The last handful of overs bought more success for the Dragons as Trewy took a caught and bowled to claim wicket number 3 for the innings and when Mario Anastasi spooned the second ball he faced to mid wicket straight to Garth Tamblyn Trewy had 4/29 for the innings from 9 overs. Garth Tamblyn was also rewarded in his final over drawing the similar edge to the one seen from the bat of Bentley around 2 hours earlier to finish with 1/39 from his 10 as Square finished 9 for 181 from 50 overs.
180 in third XI will win you more than a fair share of games so with such high stakes, Sandhurst was desperate for a good start and one of their recognised batsmen to get a big score that the rest of the team could bat around. Sandhurst thought they’d change things up and try and throw Square off their game by sending three opening batsmen out there. Keith Cloke had recovered sufficiently to open the innings with the aid of a runner (Courtney Cornell) and was also joined by regular opening partner Dean Trew. The innings got off to a disastrous start when Trewy’s eyes lit up seeing a ball short and wide right in his favourite hitting zone but maybe starting the innings 30 minutes earlier than usual had Trewy still half asleep as he spooned the ball straight to cover proving a massive psychological blow to the Dragons run chase.
Things didn’t progress much further before number three batsmen Trav Russell was also back in the pavilion caught behind for 8. Keith Cloke who had soldiered on manfully was joined in just the fifth over by Leigh Draper. Draper recognised the need to keep the scoreboard ticking over and moved to 27 before he and Cloke who had a history of mix ups between the wicket bought about a regulation run out of Draper in what is now being referred to as the batsmen as 15 all.
Keith’s brave fight came to an end when in an attempt to lift the scoring rate led to him being bowled for a courageous 22. Jayden Saunders innings had barely begun when he took a day-dream inexplicably leaving his crease despite hitting the ball straight to a short gully and was found well short of his ground for the second run out of the innings. Matt Felini one of the remaining recognised batsmen for the Dragons began brightly but umpire Salter obviously had the kettle on and decided to trigger Felini for 23 from 27 balls.
The remaining batsmen offered slim resistance to Golden Square with the assistance of another LBW and another run out when Craig Moyle and Marty McDonnell decided completing a dosey doe or possibly a discussion about upcoming Melbourne Victory Championship celebrations, (They had time for both) meeting mid pitch as Sandhurst was dismissed for a disappointing 107 in the 40th over.
The loss seriously jeopardises the Dragon chances of finals and pits them in their 4th consecutive do or die game against Maristians to round out the season also relying on other results to fall our way.
Given the enormity of the defeat and the disappointing overall performance of the side the Giraffe passed in the Man of the match award to be reallocated to a more deserving individual from another grade.