Corowa A Grade has moved into third position on the ladder after a hard-fought win against Bethanga on Saturday at Ball Park.
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Bethanga captain won the toss and chose to bat. New opening bowler Nick Grant (1 for 22) got off to a good start bowling tight and restricting the flow of runs.
Jarred Lane (1 for 8) and Nathan Rhodes (1 for 17) kept the brakes on throughout the middle part of the innings.
Mark Athanitis (3 for 15) was the pick of the bowlers bowling good line and lengths as he takes his wicket tally up to 20 wickets for the season so far.
A couple of dropped catches were the only negatives to come out of the innings after restricting Bethanga to a score of 7 for 118.Small run chases can be tricky which the A grade side found out when early wickets started to tumble and again the team lost wickets in clumps.
After finding themselves at 3 for 30 Matt Grantham (21) started to get the run chase back on track before skying a ball straight up in the air.
Dan Athanitis (27) came in and played a handy innings finding the boundary against some tight bowling from Bethanga.
Jarred Lane (19 Not Out) and Nathan Rhodes (28 Not Out) fought out the remaining runs to get the A grade side home in the 34th over with 5 wickets in hand.
The A grade side now sit third with two games remaining and if they can manage to win both they can still finish on top of the ladder. Next week will be a huge test for the A grade as they are playing away against the ladder leaders Yackandandah.
B Grade’s comfortable win
B Grade had a comfortable victory over Bethanga in their clash at the picturesque Bethanga Oval.
Winning the toss Captain Scott Wilson sent Bethanga in and it paid immediate dividends with Aaron Phibbs taking three wickets in his first two overs and with Greg Burgess collecting one in his first over, Bethanga was in real trouble being 4 for 4 after 3 overs. Wickets continued to fall with Jedd Longmire collecting three wickets in the three overs as Bethanga fell to 9 for 39.
A last wicket partnership stand of 59 added some respect to the scoreboard as Burgess collected his second wicket in the last over to bowl Bethanga out for 98.
Phibbs was the star of the show taking 3 for 3 off 7 overs.
In reply Corowa cruised to the total in the 19th over with Burgess making 52 not out while Scott Wilson with 20 and Patrick Lavis with 17 made it a quick chase.
The side takes on Yackandandah at Ball Park this Saturday.
C Grade Div 1
Danny Osborne led his C grade side back to Wilson oval to take on the top of the table St Pats White for the second time this year.
Batting first the small ground demands a large score and although the opening partnership was promising a constant flow of wickets coupled with a relatively slow run rate considering the tiny dimensions of the ground were always going to make the task of defending a difficult one.
Angus McFarland and Caleb Kuschert put on 46 for the first wicket before Kush’s attack at all cost attitude, which can so often set an innings up, unfortunately brought the young all-rounder undone.
A rare failure from the in-form Jase Raggett brought future star Matty Bush to the crease and he and Osborne, then later Coats, combined to bring the total to a sub-par 152, Bushy finishing on a personal best 44, 6 short of a maiden half century, including two huge sixes.
The bowlers as always toiled bravely but were unable to restrict the scoring enough as St Pats were able to bat in partnerships to chase down the total with 5 wickets and 12 balls to spare. Blayre Smith the pick of the bowlers picking up 2 for 32 from his 8 overs, Jase Raggett showing skill on the turf to bowl out 8 overs for only 19, unable to pick up a wicket.
C Grade are at home next week against second placed Wodonga white in what promises to be an enthralling affair as the boys welcome back under-rated all-rounder Closter to strengthen the bating, bowling and of course fielding as they charge towards finals.
C Grade Div 2
C Grade Div 2 went down in a thrilling contest with second placed St Patricks at Morris Park.
Bowling first St Patricks got away to a good start making it to 1 for 75 before Corowa got back into the contest. Two wickets to John Conroy and Stirling Letchford and a wicket to Brydon Robbins reduced St Patricks to 6 for 103.
But St Patricks were able to steady and finished their 40 overs at 8 for 174. Letchford taking 2 for 12 while Conroy finished with 2 for 30.
In reply Corowa looked in trouble at 3 for 32 but John Conroy (30) and Callum Carter (40) got Corowa back into the contest. But Corowa lost three quick wickets to fall to 6 for 103, Brydon Robbins then hit out making a quick fire 57 to get Corowa to 7 for 156 with 4 overs to go. But when Robbins went, Corowa couldn’t get over the line being bowled out for 167.
The side take on North Albury Green at Thurgoona this Saturday.
Under 16s
The under 16s took the hike to Yackandandah on Friday night. The Yack boys found going slow in the early overs as the tight Corowa attack limited scoring.
Wickets to Longmire, Lavis and Harvey put Yack on the back foot with the score 3-14. A solid stand then ensued before the middle order collapsed to be all out for 63 from 30 overs.
Best of the bowlers was Caleb Johnson (3-12) and Ned Harvey, with all boys bowling well. Corowa then faced 7 overs and will resume on 2-28 as they push for an outright result.
Under 14s White
Under 14s White – Batting after a long Christmas break, the team were sluggish and only Ollie Collins and Jackson Hargraves were able to reach double figures.
All out for 64 with the extras top scoring. We managed to grab 3 late wickets, on the first Saturday.
The following week was also a struggle as east Albury dominated in stages to make 170.
The highlight being the Harry Ireland day 3 wickets in one over and getting his first runs for the year with 5. Ethan Lane took 2 wickets as did Brodie Ayers.
Last chance next week as the final round is here.
Under 14s Blue
Under 14s Blue obviously had too good of a Christmas break as they batted in the first innings against ladder leaders Howlong and were bowled out for 109.
If not for Justin Lewis 41 and Hayden Barber 12 the total could’ve been a lot less, with no other batter reaching double figures.
With a low total to defend the whole team bowled superbly to take the game to the 38th over and nearly pinch the win.
Under 12s White
Under12s White - After a long break it was like a new season as we travelled to Xavier to take on St Pats.
Batting, a couple of early wickets halted the runs before Levi Phibbs (12), Tex Longmire (15) and Clodagh Blain (16) started to get things moving. All players contributed to the side getting to 111 from our 20.
The small ground meant bowling would have to be spot on. At 2-57 and plenty of time left things were looking lean. Joe Lavis then entered the attack and collected a hattrick. A wicket from Eli Lavis made it 4 wickets in 4 balls.
Patties lost 6 wickets for 4 and the game was over effectively. St Patricks ended up getting to 80 in a great win for the young Corowa team.
Under 12s Blue
Under 12s Blue took on Albury with Captain Rochelle winning the toss and choosing to field first.
The long break since the first game didn’t show with brilliant fielding by the kids especially great catches by Noah, Jarvis, Jayden and Leroy and a super run out by Tyler.
Wicket takers were Leroy with 2, and 1 each to Tanner, Kane and Noah. Albury finished with a total of 104 for us to chase.
All the kids got a start with Noah (5), Ashton (7), Jordan (3), Tyler (5) and Kane (2). Retirements by Leroy (14), Daniel (16) and Captain Rochelle (1). Some big hitting in the final overs by Jayden nearly got us over the line but in the end, they finished 6 runs short.
Awards: Corowa RSL – Rochelle, Corowa RSL – Daniel & Corowa RSL – Leroy.
Next week the team play East Albury at North St Oval.
The Club would like to acknowledge our 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, D’Amicos Restaurant, Saunders Spraying, Federation Steel, Collins Transport, BJ Hanrahan Family Trust, O’Connors, Beechworth Honey, IK Caldwell, B & A Eales Painting and Decorating& Corowa RSL Club.