Round 14 kicked off with the Under 15s at home on Friday night at Ranelagh for their last roster game for the season.
With a Grade Final berth all but secured, the lads went out with nothing to played for and it showed in the result, being bowled out for just 40.
Slab Road only lost 1 wicket in chasing down the total, in a near mirror image of the last time they played there.
With the bad game out of the way, the young Warriors will be looking to pull out all the stops in the Grand Final against the Southern Tigers this Friday, at Franklin. If you have a chance, get down and support the lads.
Saturday saw A Grade host Blackmans Bay at Ranelagh in a vital game for final four position for both sides.
After joining the coin toss and electing to lose it again, captain Woolley was soon in the field, where Josh Stevenson again did his usual “I’ll take two wickets straight away thank you very much” trick.
Marcus Raine backed up with another soon after, but the Sharks then started to build through the middle order. All bowlers kept the run rate down, and never really allowed the batsmen to get away, restricting Blackmans Bay to 8-210. Bev Roberts got a couple in his second spell, but Stevenson again was the pick, taking 2-15 from 10 straight at the top of the order.
The run chase started with Fletcher departing early, but Brad Pitt and Josh Woolley set about it resolutely. Pitt departed for a busy 28, while Woolley and Crowe put on 60 for the next wicket, before Woolley lost his off peg in the 28th over.
Phil Bell and Crowe then dug in, determined not to lose another wicket, but only put on 25 runs in the next 10 overs to put a little pressure on the run rate. They accelerated in the next 6 overs to push the score to 165 before Crowe missed one and was bowled, and brought Kyle Paul to the crease.
An awkward situation for a new batsman, needing 47 from 36 balls, but KP managed the situation perfectly, knowing when the boundary was required, and pushed Bell between the wickets to get the most out of the big ground.
Overs scoring 10, 10, 10 and 9 saw 11 needed off 12 balls, but only 3 more were required, as a six and a boundary to Paul saw the game put beyond doubt.
Paul finished with 32* in quick time, Bell 30*, Woolley 46, and Crowe with a well controlled 56.
This leaves the A Grade side to face Kingston Crows to their home next week for a top 2 spot and a double chance.
B Grade travelled to Sherburd Park, and played a thriller, going down by 1 wicket on the second last ball of the game.
Andrew Crowe controlled the innings with a great 80, while Cam Woolley hit 24 in a total of 205.
Blackmans Bay were cruising at 3-184, until the introduction of Jacob Stanway turned the game on its head.
6 wickets fell in the sauce of 17 runs, 3 to Stanway, 2 and a run out to Jake Phillips, and saw Phillips having to bowl the last over for the win. The equation came down to 2 runs from 2 balls, but a boundary saw Blackmans Bay close out the game.
C1 Grade travelled to Kingston Beach Oval to take on the top of the table Crows.
Batting first, they were in all sorts of trouble at 3-10, and 4-51. Mitch Sullivan then combined with Blake Lovell to put on a partnership of 102 with Blake Lovell.
Sullivan top scored with 63, whilst Lovell played his best knock for the year with 57.
Mick Anning wound back the clock with a quick 21, and North Huon posted a decent total of 217 after a shaky start.
Scott ‘497’ Coad and Aiden Geeves each took an early wicket, and Tim Thorpe took another to have the Crows at 3-53, but they dug in to ease towards the target. Codie Rawnsley was then brought into the attack, and had immediate success, and then proceeded to tear through the Crows middle order. In a magnificent spell, Codie grabbed 5-16 from 6 overs to put the game in North Huon’s hands.
Mitch Sullivan came on to put the finishing touches on the game, taking the final 2 wickets, and securing a finals spot for the side.
C2 started of promisingly enough, getting to 3-75 before the rain came down. Unfortunately, they could not get back underway, and the game was called of without further addition.