Corowa A Grade had a big win in the first week of the finals thanks to a half century to Jarred Lane and a maiden A Grade 5 wicket haul to young off spinner Luke Backhouse.
Captain Dan Athanitis won the toss and chose to bat on a very good-looking pitch up at Mount Beauty.
It started badly with two early wickets falling before Dan Athanitis (33) got things back on track for the away side with a quickfire innings moving the score past 50.
Then disaster struck again with three quick wickets including teo disastrous run outs left Corowa in trouble at 5 for 57.
In need of a partnership Corowa looked to ex skipper Jarred Lane (51) who played a brilliant finals innings of patience, class and a huge amount of experience to dig the A Grade out of a big hole.
Lane found help in wicket keeper Jordan Hanstead (31) in a game defining 66 run partnership. Kaelan Bradtke (12 not out) played a good final few overs getting Corowa to a competitive score of 8 for 165.
The A grade set about early wickets and new recruit Nick Grant (2 for 22) delivered in a brilliant opening spell including the prized wicket of Mount Beauty Captain Daniel Saville in the first over of the innings.
Mount Beauty then got back on track looking good at 2 for 50 before Nathan Rhodes (2 for 18) managed two wickets in an over to swing the momentum back into Corowa’s favour.
Enter Luke Backhouse who earlier was picked as the X factor for Corowa delivered a Man of the Match performance.
Backhouse put on an off-spinning masterclass and Mount Beauty had no answer for the youngster finishing with career best figures of 5 for 16.
Corowa finished off Mount Beauty for 88 inside 20 overs in a big 77 run win to move into the second week of the finals.
Next week A grade take on Kiewa at Ball park in a do or die clash to earn a spot into the Grand Final.
B Grade
B Grade has moved into the second week of the finals with a huge 136 run victory over sixth placed Mount Beauty at Ball Park Oval
Winning the toss, Corowa had no hesitation on batting on a great wicket and Greg Burgess and Ryan Beveridge got Corowa away to a good start against some accurate bowling.
Burgess made 25, Beveridge made 26 and when Jeremy Carr was out on drinks for 24, Corowa had set a good platform being 3 for 80 after 20 overs.
A loss of a couple of quick wickets saw Corowa fall to 5 for 102, but Doug Lavis played a sublime innings crunching 59 off 43 balls to get Corowa back on top.
And with support from Scott Wilson (20), Luke Heagney (15) and Joe Hansen (19*) Corowa was able to finish their 40 overs at 8 for 207.
In reply Mount Beauty put on 21 for the first wicket before Joe Hansen was able to make the first breakthrough.
Some great bowling at the stumps by Hansen saw another two quick wickets to fall as Mount Beauty slumped to 3 for 28.
Hansen then collected his fourth wicket as Mount Beauty fell to 4 for 50 with Hansen taking 4 for 32 in his 8 over spell.
At 4 for 60 the game changed completely in Corowa’s favour with Doug Lavis bowling 4 batsmen and with Patrick Lavis also bowling one, Mount Beauty lost 5 for 0 in 16 balls to be 9 for 60.
Luke Heagney finished the game off with his first wicket to bowl Mount Beauty out for 71.
Doug Lavis completing a great match taking 4 for 11 off 5 overs.
This sees the side take on Kiewa this Saturday for a spot in the Grand Final at a venue to be decided.
C Grade Div1
There was a buzz in the air Saturday afternoon at Morris Park as the boys rolled in for their first final. Having finished third and earnt a home game it was St Pats green who would face the rampaging Corowa outfit.
Spiritual leader and gun all-rounder Closter was past the worst of the dreaded man flu and despite not training all week (a common theme through the year) in hopes of not spreading the male only version of the flu there were a few under the weather.
Nevertheless, Corowa decided to set the pace and batted first.
Raggett and Kuschert came out with their customary flair putting together an opening partnership of 60 before Raggett fell attempting to lift the run rate.
When Kuschert fell shortly after McFarland and Closter teamed up and appeared ready to put the visitors to the sword but it was a questionable umpiring decision that cost Closter his wicket without troubling the scorers, the visitors even seemed surprised and comments of “missed it by 6 inches” could be heard as the devastated Closter had to depart.
Bailey Minogue and Blayre Smith then got together after drinks and batted superbly allowing the home side to post 170, a competitive total.
Patty Blains second ball lifting under the chin of the St Pats opener and all he could do was fend the nasty delivery to a short backward square leg and the visitors were one for none.
The score should have read two for none two balls later but a sharp chance was grassed at first slip. Unfortunately, this would be the theme for the rest of the innings as Corowa, who prided themselves on their ability to keep teams to low totals as they dropped multiple catches and misfielded as the pressure mounted.
Closter the main culprit putting down 2 hard chances and 1 dolly off the bowling of the crafty Wallis, who bowled without luck.
Despite this, young Riley Allan came into the attack late and showed composure well beyond his years bowling a magnificent spell as the balls, runs and wickets ticked down.
Using a cunning change of pace, loop and angle he was able to keep his side in the game until the penultimate over before the runs eventually ran out and the shattered C grade were bundled out of finals.
A fantastic year, albeit a disappointing finish. Twelve men came together late last year and pushed themselves all the way to a finals berth, a fact they should all be proud of.
A truly motley crew if ever there was one. We had fun all season and played a bit of cricket in between. A very special thank you to captain Danny Osborne for donating his time to organise a group of misfits.
Neil for scoring all year, the Raggett and Allan family for your support and encouragement and to all the mums and wives/partners who made lunches, without you guys we would be eating BBQ shapes.
C Grade Div 2
C Grade Div 2 have made it through to the second weeks of finals as the highest placed loser after going down in a thriller with Tallangatta at Kiewa Football Oval.
After being sent into bat, Corowa had 7 batsmen get to double figures, but Riley Carter’s 15 was highest.
Ryan Mills made 14, Liam Carter (13), Matt Shipard (11), Cal Carter (11), John Conroy (11) and Tom Moloney (10) as Corowa could only muster 111 from 33.1 overs.
In reply the bowlers did a great shop in restricting Tallangatta.
Brydon Robins with 2 for 7, Matt Shipard 2 for 8, Riley Carter 2 for 20 and Ryan Mills 2 for 33 kept Corowa in the game but when Corowa took the last wicket Tallangatta had just passed to the score bowl out Tallangatta for 113 in 39 overs.
The side now takes on top of the ladder St Patricks for a spot in the Grand Final.
Under 16s
A tight chase was expected and that’s what happened against Raiders.
Good bowling from the Corowa boys saw Raiders teetering at 4-43 with more than 100 still to get.
Our nemesis in Barnawartha’s Will Noonan returned however and a number of dropped chances would leave the boys disappointed at games end.
Riley Allan, Patrick Lavis and Ned Harvey all toiled hard but Raiders had the last laugh, passing only 5 wickets down.
Under 14s – Only Blue played, White has finished.
Under 12s
With the high school out of action, we met Raiders halfway at Chiltern.
A very rough and short outfield made for some interesting bounces as the Raiders boys rattled off some quick runs.
We were looking down the barrel before some late wickets really slowed the scoring rate.
Eli Lavis, Levi Phibbs, Clodagh Blain and Rustyn Collins proved a handful for the lower order batsmen as Raiders finished on 136 from 22 overs.
Benji Hanrahan and Levi Phibbs came out all guns blazing, putting the pressure right back on Raiders.
An enterprising 15 from Benj and a well-made 23 from Levi had things looking good.
AJ Heagney added 14 prior to Tex Longmire (49) and Joe Lavis (26) blasting the bowlers to all parts.
The runs were chased down in 16 overs, which sees White finish on top of the ladder playing St Pats this Friday.
Club news
The club would like to acknowledge sponsors for this season - A & A Auto, Davidson White Accountants, Waldrons Fresh on River, TH Kitchens & Joinery, Hotel Australia, Dunn’s Twin City Cranes, Kilara Group, Nutrimax, Royal Hotel, Pharmasave, B & A Eales Painting and Decorating, D’Amicos Restaurant, IK Caldwell, Campbell’s Wines, McLardy McShane, O’Connors, Corowa Travel Link, Bartletts Gas and Corowa RSL Club.