CULCAIRN TAKE
PREMIERSHIP OVER HENTY
Culcairn have taken out the 2009/10 Holbrook and DCA Division One premiership with a stunning upset win over the previously unbeaten Henty at Henty last weekend.
The man behind the victory was Culcairn’s remarkable all rounder Steven Brand, who after having a rare failure with the bat on day one, turned the game with a hat trick on day two.
Culcairn after winning the toss and batting looked to be no chance after being dismissed for just 148 and with the strong Henty batting line up chasing on Sunday, they were at long odds.
Henty started well until a collapse saw them slump from 0/35 to 3/44 and start to look shaky. Some middle order resistance from Al Edis (27) and Shannon Terlich (21) steadied the ship before Brand struck.
With the score on 4/94, Brand proceeded to knock over the wickets of Edis, Greg Schuller (o) and Daniel Hore Smith (o) to achieve the hatrick and rock the Swampies batting.
A minor recovery gave optimism and at 7/122 the game was poised for a knife edge finish, until Brand and skipper Brad Ravenna claimed the final three wickets for just one run.
Brand finished with the superb figures of 6/23 off fifteen overs, while Jamie Cooper complimented his top scoring efforts on day one of (54) with 2/41 off nineteen overs. Henty were bowled out for 123.
The jubilant Culcairn players were ecstatic, while the Henty players were left shattered after going through a dominant season undefeated. Grant Forest top scored for Henty with (28).
Ravenna in his first year of captaincy also contributed strongly making a gritty (34) with the bat and taking 1/19. Paul McFayden (13), Travis King (11) and Nic Finlayson (11) played vital roles in the low order.
The Swampies bowling was excellent on the Saturday with Edis taking 4/45 off twenty overs, Chris Manns a miserly 2/18 off fifteen and Terlich 2/59 off twenty.
It was no surprise to all when Brand was named man of the match for his heroics, just in front of Cooper and Edis. The victory was compensation for the Lions loss to TRYC in last years decider.
Association awards were presented after the match and a full wrap on the winners will be in next week’s edition of the ERC, along with the minor grades.
Culcairn 148 (J Cooper 54, B Ravenna 34; A Edis 4/45, C Manns 2/18, S Terlich 2/59) defeated Henty 123 (G Forest 28, A Edis 27, S Terlich 21; S Brand 6/23, J Cooper 2/41) by 25 runs.
URANQUINTY TAKE
OUT DIV TWO FLAG
Firm favourites Uranquinty took home the HDCA Division Two flag with a hard fought win over Holbrook in a tight encounter at the Uranquinty sports ground last Saturday.
Uranquinty who had been susceptible to grand final pressure in the last few years got the job done this time despite a concerted effort from the Brookers who went in huge underdogs.
Holbrook’s inability to bat out their forty overs proved very costly (they batted only 35) and the Rosellas were able to pass the score with seven wickets down and eight overs to spare.
Holbrook finished with 147, with hard hitting teenager Michael Stokes top scoring with 42, while for Quinty Mark Alcorn 4/27 and Brad Marshman 3/23 were the leading bowlers.
Holbrook took a steady flow of wickets to have the home team 5/103 and an outside chance; however the tail batted well to get them home by three wickets.
Joss Gale top scored for Uranquinty with (57) while Jamie McCarthy led a steady Holbrook attack well. Tony Brennan took a blinding catch to get rid of Uranquinty Tony McDonald for nought.
The victory was Uranquinty first premiership since the 2004/05 season. They only suffered one loss for the season and were deserving premiers.
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