5th Grade Report vs Penrith - Round 12 |
Day One With heat and humidity at disturbingly high levels, the Pupae were delighted to see our inspirational captain Tim 'Moth' Packman motion a cover drive after a successful toss. Despite this distinct advantage on a deck which looked great for batting despite some grass, we knew we were in for a tough battle against a side fighting for their finals lives. After tight bowling and aggressive fielding by the Panthers, we lost James Dedman in the 4th over which brought Will 'Pony' Medcalf to the crease with the aim of steadying the innings. Josh Goldsmith toiled hard seeing out the new ball, but was ultimately unable to convert his form off the field into runs, succumbing to a catch behind the wickets leaving the score at 2-14 after 13 overs. The youngest Colley, Jack, turns it on at Beauchamp A partnership was needed desperately for the Pupae, and Tom 'Shaft' Cockburn joined Pony to tough it out. Both players batted with tremendous application as we were up against an attack which contained a first grade bowler coming back from injury, who had taken 6 wickets in a semi final and had his keeper standing a pitch and a half's length from the wickets. After surviving his spell and progressing the score to 71, both Shaft and Pony had what most would call brain snaps, bowled in the same over for scores of 30 and 36 respectively. This brought upon a mini collapse with two more wickets falling in quick succession to leave the Pupae at 6-83 going into the tea break. When play resumed, Jack 'Precious' Colley and David 'Joel' Monaghan sought upon turning the match back in our favour through attacking yet sensible shot play, combined with sharp singles which continually frustrated the Panthers on a steamy day. Precious was particularly devastating, living up to his name by guarding his wicket carefully and waiting for the loose ball to put away - which he did on a regular basis. Their partnership of 68 stabilised our innings and left us in a reasonable position at 7-151 after it looked like we would fall cheaply. Tom 'Hooch' Gooch then came in and was able to block as well as he does on nights out with mates who are with a girl, holding up an end while Precious dismantled the Panthers attack with an array of lofted drives. His dismissal for a classy 63 saw Hooch and one half of the Bang Brothers, Tom Bangs, provide some brief lower order hitting to see the score to 186, with Matt 'Fester' Todd the last man out. With 45 minutes to bowl at Penrith before the close of play, Moth had a glint in his eye knowing that although we fell for a low total by our standards, we had the chance to bowl to a side that had been in searing heat the last five hours. Tom Bangs produced immediately with an LBW, showing that the Bang Brothers don't mind a bit of grass on the wicket, with movement both in the air and off the pitch. Following this, the Panthers sought to see out the rest of the day with numerous leaves and blocks following. With our primary tweaker Fester feeling a little crook and Shaft keeping stumps after Andrew 'Elton' Coleman pulled out with a mysterious injury (although numerous undisclosable theories put forward by Moth and Fester exist), the ball was tossed to the humble author who produced flight, drift, turn and bounce to produce wickets in successive deliveries (Humble? ' Ed.). With no more wickets falling, the day ended with Penrith at 3-29 and the match in the balance. Day Two The Day started with the revelation that the Panther's number five was also a first grader who had just come back from holidays, and the Pupae knew we had to be at our best if we wanted victory. After the score progressed to 49, Joel struck the first blow, with his consistent bowling finally rewarded with the number three chopping on. The introduction of Fester produced immediate dividends with wickets on consecutive balls, leaving Penrith at 6-48 and facing their second hatrick ball of the innings. A big shout followed for LBW but the umpire's finger unfortunately stayed put. A special mention must be made to Shaft who took a sharp catch in his first day of wicket keeping in over a year. Fester continued to bowl great lines to the Panther's batsmen, finally being rewarded with his third wicket of the innings after trapping the first grade bat LBW with one of his trademark wrong'uns. Another wicket soon thereafter to the author saw the Pupae well in control with the score at 8-71 at the drinks break. After words by Moth reminding us of previous matches which have gone down to the wire due to our inability to claim the final wickets cheaply, we were keen to end their innings abruptly. This did not eventuate however, with Penrith seemingly adopting a reverse order as their tail showcased considerably more grit and application than their upper order. While we continued to bowl decent lines, the Panthers nonetheless scored quite freely, with the score suddenly creeping upwards. It was not until the introduction of Hooch that the match swung back in our advantage after he claimed the wicket of the number 8, leaving Penrith teetering at 9/120 still 67 short of our total. Another rearguard partnership ensued with the 10 and 11 looking in control and rarely playing false strokes. Our fielding did not help our cause with fumbles and dropped catches leading to leaked runs. Fired up by news that his lady would be coming down to Sydney next week, Hooch bowled with great heat to take the last wicket after 36 was put on, with the reliable hands of Fester snaffling a sharp chance in the gully. Penrith attempted to gain quick wickets, and were successful, as we slumped to 2-12 before rain soon came with the match called off with the score at 2-24. The Gordon Club Song was sung loud and proud, with the Pupae affirming our status as premiership heavyweights after our 10th win of the season placed us 4 points off first place. A special thanks to Moth from the boys, as he brought his Weber Q down to Beauchamp and provided us with a celebratory post match barbecue, along with beers and the always quality 5th grade banter. Tristan Cooper |
A celebratory BBQ after a win against Penrith
