 Green Shield Match Report vs Wests
On the morning of January the 5th, the Gordon Green Shield Team were eager to consolidate a place in the top six in order to keep their finals dreams alive. However, unfortunately, we were unable to secure a victory.
(Tom Lamont in action against Wests)
Due to rain the night before, the grass was fairly long & dense so we expected a low scoring match at Beauchamp Park. After losing the toss, we were sent in to bat, ready to face the onslaught of the seaming ball. Unfortunately for the batsmen, it was dčja vu & after losing Hulston for (0), due to some excellent glove work & Avendano (3), we were on the back foot at 2 for 6.
Lamont kept on plugging & managed to work his way to 19 while seeing the demise of two more top order batsmen. Tom was eventually caught trying to clear the infield. Henry Carmichael was looking to make amends after “not hitting it” at Blacktown & put on some quick runs with Chad Soper before Chad was undone for 6.
 Gordon was now 7 for 39 (like I said, dčja vu), & with two apparent tail enders at the crease, Wests were getting fairly confident. But this complacency allowed both Jimmy Ryan & Henry to get settled at the crease & this allowed us capitalise with some much needed runs. With both batsmen batting for an hour an a half, they managed to put on 42 vital runs before Carmichael was bowled for 25.
(James Ryan in action at Beauchamp)
Ryan kept going & with some great support from Darren “Dazzler” Jayasekera & Mark “Neo” Anderson, we finished up with 89 all out with Ryan caught behind for 25.
Rocket was fairly impressed with the batting, saying that he believed it was defendable total, being that on any other ground, we would have scored 200 plus so Rocket said that “200” was defendable & that we should look to bowl them out for 50 (120).
After a hearty lunch, the boys were ready to go & once again Chad & Henry were more than pleased with the state of the wicket, with Dan Lake, our 13th man for the day having to clean the puddles of drool Chad & Henry had left in the dressing rooms.
Once again both men carved up the top order with Chad destroying one opener’s middle stump & forcing a top edge from the other straight to big Tom Lamont in his first spell. Wests were now under pressure losing two quick wickets with the score at 2 for 20.
 With Mark Anderson new to the crease, the batsmen were just starting to find their feet, but not really moving them, with Ando getting a clean bowled to reduce Wests to 3 for 55. At this stage, Wests probably thought they had the game in the bag, but Ando & Tom Ledgerwood had other ideas, with Ando picking up another two wickets, including his new “friend” at the other end & Tom bowling brilliant tight & tidy lines, unfortunate not to pick up a wicket.
(Tom Ledgerwood at Beauchamp)
With Wests at 5 for 66, we now had a game on our hands, & with some great bowling from Henry Carmichael, just proving that the pitch could still move like an 80’s night club. Wests were now 7 for 81. With the boys incredibly pumped up, we fought hard to defend 9 runs with three wickets still to get, but unfortunately fell short. A consolation prize for Chad was picking up a plumb lbw.
We were unable to defend our rather small total & walked away with another loss. In order to keep the finals flame burning bright; we must win every game from now on to secure a top six spot. Our next opposition is Hawkesbury at Beauchamp so it is essential we are the victors.
James Ryan. | 
