The Roos travelled to Urana Rd Albury last Saturday to take on the dangerous New City Cricket Club in another must win clash, which will be the task for the side for the rest of the season, with spots in the finals looking like coming down to the last few weeks.
Presented with a very even pitch captain Jarred Lane had no hesitation in batting, however openers Ryan Beveridge and Matt Grantham were met with a testing new ball spell from Singh finding plenty of zip.
The pair moved the score to 27 before Beveridge was bowled for 17. Patty Lavis had forced his way into the side and joined Grantham at the crease looking right at home despite losing Grantham caught behind for 7.
The youngster played his shots with confidence, Arthur Godsal top edged and was caught and Jeremy Carr was on the wrong end of a contentious LBW decision, leaving the side teetering at 4 for 56.
Kaelen Bradtke and Lavis added 22 before Lavis was caught on the boundary for 26. Kodee Lowe and Bradtke moved the score to 102 before the latter was caught behind and when Kodee Lowe and Jarryd Hatton were removed with the score 117, Corowa was in trouble.
Jarred Lane and Nick Grant batted within themselves taking the runs offered and slowly moving the total along before Grant was caught for an important 12 with the score 141. Mark Athanitis then joined Lane and continued on in the same vein before Lane was caught behind in the last over for 18 with the score 168.
With the wicket very good for batting the total was far from safe, New City started cautiously before a flying catch from Arthur Godsal got the breakthrough from Nick Grant’s bowling before following up with the ball in the next over having their opener Grant caught behind, making New City 2 for 18.
Some tight bowling on a flat deck saw the overs tick over without many runs flowing before Kaelan Bradtke found some lift off a length removing Davies with Jarryd Hatton grabbing his first wicket; New City were 4 for 36.
The introduction of Luke Backhouse once again paid off with his form all year being a standout. He bowled with great control and subtle variation to grab figures of 4 for 21 off ten overs and control the game for Corowa, backed up by fielding of the high standard the side expects. New City were bowled out for 93.
B Grade after winning the toss and deciding to bat, Darcy Melksham and Bailey Minogue opened the batting, Melksham fell with the score on 8, quickly followed by Minogue shortly after and the decision to bat looked a bad one, 2-8 after a couple of overs. But this brought the Wilson cousins, Kade and Wilson together. They proceeded to steady the ship, making scoring look easy, on a difficult wicket.
The boys batted superbly with family bragging rights on offer, Matt decided it was his day, running Spud out for a well-made 44, with the score 3-118.
This brought Daniel Athanitis to the crease, moving the score to 140 before Athanitis fell! Regular wickets began to fall, but Matt was ticking the score over nicely, scoring at will to finish the day on 121 not out in a brilliant return to form, and a very respectable 251 on the board.
The innings started slowly with New City seemingly trying to bore everyone at the ground and bat 45 overs, tight bowling from Melksham and Lay Lavis not helping the New City cause. Jack Eales claimed the first wicket with the score on 31, then Phibbs claimed his first with the score on 39.
But some loose bowling and slogging saw New City in the game. Doug Lavis and Athanitis were then brought on to steady the ship, and did so, but a few dropped catches kept New City in the game until Jack ‘Crackers’ Eales to an absolute screamer catch.
Some tight bowling put the game out of reach, with Daniel taking 3-27 in another tidy display, with New City falling 46 runs short.
A quick shout out to Will Seymour and Bailey Minogue who’ve played their last game this year as they are off to Uni -real legends around the club and will be missed. Cheers lads!
He already had a big reputation, but Liam McDonell added to his legendary status with a scintillating display of hard-hitting on Saturday.
'Macca the Smacka' smashed 71 off around just 25 balls to guide Corowa C-Grade (Division 1) to its first victory since December.
Things were ominous early when McDonell clipped the first ball of the innings over the deep-mid wicket boundary.
Three fours later, and McDonell had 18 runs from the first over and East Albury were dumbstruck.
But the home crowd was giddy as the barrage continued. There were low, flat fours and five more huge, lofted sixes as McDonnell passed 50 in ridiculous time.
Numbers one and two Corowa C-Grade (Division 1) ticketholders Al 'Pops' Ogilvie and Danny 'Danny' Allan described it as the best display of big-hitting they'd seen.
And playing the perfect Robin to McDonell's Batman was Lachie Raggett, who struck nine fours in his impressive 48.
Raggett showcased classical cricket shots, going along the carpet with some lovely drives and cuts, in a nice contrast to McDonell's aerial display.
Despite some lively fast bowling from East Albury quick Antony Thomas, the partnership reached 100 in just 38 balls.
Balls were getting lost in bushland and East Albury's fielders were having to cross streets and enter residential frontyards to retrieve the pill.
When the duo's exhibition finally ended the game was all but over with Roshan Gautam, John Conroy and Ethan Lane mopping up the final 30-odd runs.
Earlier, Corowa had enjoyed a solid outing in the field, restricting East Albury to 151. Young quick Ethan Lane got the initial breakthrough with a good-length ball hitting the stumps. The visitors then dug in to take the score to 90 before Corowa captain Danny Osborne (2/16) produced two quick wickets in the first over of his second spell. Riley Allan (3/37) quickly took two more to put Corowa back in control with highlights in the field including a good deep-mid wicket catch from man-of-the-hour McDonell.
C Grade Div 2 went down in their clash with second place St Patricks at Xavier Oval no 2.
Bowling first Corowa struggled to contain the Patty’s batters as they amassed 5 for 182 off their 40 overs. Marc Playford bowled well to take 1 for 17 off 8 overs while Ned Harvey was accurate only going for 21 off his 8 overs.
In reply Corowa struggled with the bat with only Jason Morris (22), Riley Carter (20) and Patrick Mitchell (19) making it to double figures as Corowa was bowled out for 103 in 26.4 overs.
Under 14’s Blue took on Wodonga won the toss and elected to bat. Wodonga’s opening batsman opened a hard fort innings to score 48. The Corowa Blue boys bowled all and fielded well to have Wodonga all out for 120. Notable bowlers Jayden Forge 5 over 2 for 13, Brodie Eyers 6 overs 2 for 15. Ashton Wynne, Archer Coppolino, Jordan Allan and Logan Chappell all took a wicket each.
Sunday 13th had Corowa Blue chasing 121 to win. Leroy Chester made an exceptional 50 not out along with Tyler Abley 16, Jordan Allan a solid 26, the boys finished 8 for 127. Great effort from all on both days.
Under 14’s White welcomed Albury to Balldale on the weekend. They won the toss and batted. A couple of early wickets lifted the youngsters, but Albury’s bigger boys righted the ship in the middle overs as they looked to score at every opportunity. Our team stuck at it though and possibly did well to contain them to 160 after the 40 overs. The big chase started brightly on Sunday as Joe Lavis and Levi Phibbs put 50. Wickets then fell at regular intervals. At 8-130 a win looked unlikely, but youngsters Austin Ross-Anderson and Riley Barber held their nerve and got us over the line with time to spare. Overall, it was a very good chase that puts us in finals contention again.
Taking to a very lush ground at Albury High School, Under 12 White chose to bat first, sending out the sibling pairing of F and L Douglas. Given the clear instruction 'Don't run one another out!', confusion reigned as a quick single was taken, leaving Finley stranded on 0 from 0 balls faced. An unfortunate start and an awkward car ride was on the cards. Lachie then settled at the striker's end, scoring handy runs before retiring on 12* from his 25 balls. Meanwhile, wickets were falling consistently as some excellent fielding and thick grass kept runs to a minimum. Callan Corcoran's patented left-hand pull shot looked magnificent as he carved the Albury bowlers to the boundary, though a strategically placed catcher was able to snaffle a sharp chance on the boundary. Eli came and went for 7 and, with only 52 runs on the board, it was up to Lachie Douglas and Josh Kremmer to see the innings home. Some excellent running between the wickets and a willingness to put the fielders under pressure allowed them to move the score onto 8/64, Lachie finishing unbeaten on 18.
The boys' bowling was immaculate. Tight lines and tight fielding restricted the Albury batsmen to singles, and sharp throwing caused a few nerves. Finny Douglas' endless chatter also served its purpose and he was able to back it up with the ball, taking 1/7 from his 2 overs. Wickets to Hudson Bilney, Josh Kremmer, Lachie Douglas and Nathias Price also showed that this was a real team effort. The pick of the bowlers, however, was Jake Witherden who, for the second week in a row, picked up two cheap wickets without leaking runs, finishing with 2/1 from his 2 overs. Sharp fielding from Eli Lavis and Jagger Doody also helped to keep the wickets flowing and the runs to a minimum. Defending a small total, the boys were able to restrict Albury to just 52 runs and secure what was probably their best win of the season.
Under 12’s Corowa Blue went down by 25 runs in their clash with Lavington Black at Corowa High School. Batting first Blue made it to 2 for 41 before a huge collapse derailed the innings. Blue lost 5 for 3 to fall to 7 for 44 before being bowled out for 61. Hudson Kuschert was the stand out performer with 21 not out. He was supported by Archie Rhodes (9) and Rylee Barber (9)
In reply Black was in trouble at 4 for 45 with good bowling from Rhylee Barber, Jackson Barber, Franklin Murray-Wright and Blake Collins. Black was able to steady and finished their 20 overs at 5 for 86.
The Club would like to acknowledge our sponsors for this season, A & A Auto, Davidson White Accountants, John Rhodes Bricklaying, Waldrons Fresh on River, Dunn’s Twin City Cranes, Kilara Group, Nutrimax, Hutcheon & Pearce, Rivalea, Back on Track Physiotherapy, Beechworth Honey, Pharmasave Corowa, IK Caldwell, O'Connors and Corowa RSL Club.
