Junee Cricket Club’s finals hopes are on thin ice after the 9/102 (20) – 10/79 (19.1) loss on Friday at Fisher Park. If Stockingbingal wins this week, Junee will be knocked out of the competition.
Junee have a bye for the final round and will be biting nails as they await this weekend’s results.
Stockibingal won the toss on Friday, electing to bat first. Junee’s bowling was on point, clipping Harvey Holt at 37 runs and then Jack Caldwell at 8, Nick Holt at 6, Brendan O’Callaghan at 8, Aaron Cronin at 1 and Jessy Fisher at 3.
Sam Annetts brought it back a bit with 19, but two consecutive ducks and a single run after put Junee in a great position.
Although Junee got off to a great start, batting with Ean Martin getting 12 and Hayden Diggins hitting 27, Trent Charlton and Ovia Boge could only get 9 between them both.
Brad Diggins went out for 4, and Ben Cook for 2. Things got even worse for Junee when Nathan Charlton got a duck, as would Lachlan Philipse after Mea S Toua only got 5.
Steven Kari and Bailey Robertson got 5 between them, ending the game well below what the team had hoped.
Will McGrath, who bowled 4 overs on Friday, said it was the first time the team had played under lights.
“Unfortunately, we just couldn’t quite get over the line, getting bowled out for 80 and about 20 runs short. I thought we bowled pretty well and held them for a reasonable total,” he said.
“It was a bit of inexperience under lights as well. A lot of the boys never played under lights at all, even with a white ball. The conditions weren’t what we were used to.
“It was another learning curve as the whole season has been in A grade this year and it’s been a step up from last year. It’s been a good experience, but it’s getting the experience of playing A grade and what that entails.”
According to Will, they thought they’d held their own through the middle overs, but it was an admirable effort as most of the players had yet to play under lights before.
“Unfortunately, finals are out of our hands at the moment. Stockinbingal will need to lose this weekend for us to make it, so we’ll be nervously waiting and watching the cricket to see if Cootamundra can get over the top of them, but if they do get up, unfortunately, our season will be over,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we had to win the last two weeks, [but] we couldn’t get over the line in either of those games, so it’s out of our hands at the moment.”
While there is always a chance to win if you “take your catches and apply your skill set to the game”, Will said it’s always a tricky to call.
“If Stockingbingal are hungry and want that final spot, they will be up for a challenge, and they are a quality side as well,” he said.
“It has been a successful year moving into A grade, and we’ll hopefully continue to build on next season and potentially have two teams if there’s enough interest within the town.
“Hopefully, we continue to build from where we started.”
– Jack Murray
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