Saturday, February 27, 2010

Results v Bective 27th February

Last round before the semis and the pressure was on in all grades to try and qualify - all that pressure and your opponent is Bective-East. Overall, City stood up tall today and were competitive. What's more, we had a fantastic roll up at the South Tamworth Bowling Club, with over thirty players and supporters enjoying City's hospitality through a few drinks.
1st Grade v Bective at No.1 Oval
City United 134 (Peter Mead 32x, Nathan Whale 31, Cameron Pyne 22, Chris Langston 17) v Bective 4-55 (Nathan Whale 2-7, Dan Lawrence 1-15, Brendon Reynolds 1-24)
After a disastrous 3-17 then 4-27 start, Pine and Whale looked the goods before both falling to the left arm spin of Kellett. Mead steadied the ship but apart from an aggressive innings from Langston, none were able to stay the course. Some strong inroads have been made into Bective batting lineup but its still all to do. Dan Lawrence's first grade debut was very impressive and Whale continued his improved contribution with the ball. Hard work ahead but this is winnable.
2nd Grade v Bective at Max Sutton Oval
City United 167 (Richie O'Halloran 83, Sean Hancock 20) v Bective 6-73 (Ben Semmler 5-11)
Playing the unbeaten Bective for a chance to play semi-final cricket, this day was dominated by two outstanding performances. Stand in skipper O'Halloran came in at 2-43 and never looked in trouble in delightful knock which included 14 fours and some wonderful use of the feet against the spinners. This was a century gone to waste and one which held his team together. Sean Hancock had started well and Gary Whale stayed for a 55 run partnership. With ball in hand it was all Semmler, returning to City after Uni holidays and his second Pfeiffer of the second grade season. Bective are most definitely vulnerable from here. Special mention to Ryan Sippel who snared two catches standing behind the stumps for the first time.
3rd Grade v Bective at Belmore Park
Bective 222 (Bruce Eather 3-34, Robby Smith 2-18, John Kennedy 2-38, Simon Bellamy 2-70) v City United 5-39 (Simon Bellamy 17)
How do you contain the powerful Bective batting line up to 222 on the small boundaries of Belmore Park? You bowl well, you take your chances and you never ever let the pressure off. A really good bowling performance and good work from the skipper. Unfortunately, much was undone in the last hour but until the fat lady sings, we don't stop trying.
4th Grade v Bective at Minor League 1
City United 64 (Dave Smith 26) v Bective 8 dec 191 (Nick Stacey 2-7)
Much as you don't like to count a side out, it looks a long way out of the bottom of the hole for the 4ths. Routed with the last 8 wickets falling for 20, one has to pay credit to an extraordinary bowling performance from A Kellett of Bective with 8-16 from 7 overs. We battled well and managed to snare 8 of their wickets but at five an over.

Club BBQ next Saturday. Let's see an even bigger rollup then as we celebrate the close of the regular season.

See CITY SNAPS for photos from play and CITY STATS for up to date stats for each grade. Full scoreboards are available in RESULTS.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

News From The Club Meeting

A big meeting this week with some important matters discussed. All players, officials and especially parents are asked to think on what they can do in regard the following. If everyone does a bit, its a lot easier and more effective than a few people doing a lot.

There was to be a FREE Club BBQ this Saturday after cricket at our major sponsor's, the South Tamworth Bowling Club. Unfortunately, the Bowlo, in a move typical of their community generosity, are commited to a big charity event to support the Westpac Rescue Helicopter. Regardless of this event, it is really important we are a presence after the game, so to encourage you to attend, each player will receive at lease one free drink from CUCC. Are you aware that without the STBC sponsorship, your individual fees would be $60 higher, so let's see you there on Saturday to show our sponsor's how much we appreciate their support. All club members and their families are expected to attend for a while to support both clubs. Let's get the City Spirit back on a roll as we gear up for the semi-finals.


Fees are now overdue. The good news is that players have had their best response for years in paying fees which is fabulous so it would be good if that last 10% could be finalised ASAP to make life easier for the Treasurer Claude Orenstein in paying the bills. I wonder if any of you know what your fees are used for? The graphic at the right shows what percentage of your money is applied to Club expenses (you can click on it to make it larger).


With semis almost on us, some players/teams will be disappointed as their season ends. The blokes at the meeting wanted to ask players from teams who get knocked out to still attend practice to act as net bowlers and encouragers of the teams who are still a going concern. Imagine the lift to players about to play a finals match when club mates turn up to help their preparation. A few hours of your time on a Wednesday or Friday could make a difference.


It's a bit disappointing that too many players have neglected to have their STBC badges sown onto the shirts, especially in the higher grades which attract media attention. If you are one of those players, could you at least use a safety pin and pin the emblem in place. If you can't sew or have no access to a person who can, speak with you captain about arranging to have the emblem sown on. This is not a request. The badges must be worn.

The date for presentation night will be announced on this site in the next few days. It will be held at the South Tamworth Bowling Club, in the BBQ area. A new addition this year will be a Yearbook to record our achievements as a club, as teams and as individuals. It will include Captains reports, season stats, photos and a host of other things. In line with trying to organise Presentation Night, could all players who hold perpetual trophies (the big ones that are engraved each year with the winner's name) please return them to their Captains, ASAP.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

City Players Star in Junior Finals




Tamworth U/14s lost their final at Raymond Terrace on Sunday by a narrow 6 runs but played exceptional cricket to get that close. One more over may have been enough.

City United's Hamish "McBatt" Batley scored a well compiled 50, coming in at 3-5. It was an innings that showed great mental toughness. Earlier, he had taken 2-28 from ten overs. A player of the future sure, but he's doing pretty jolly well now.


Tamworth U16 won their interdistrict competition on Sunday, passing the 187 set for them at the start of the last over. City United's Daniel Lawrence was again the star with the ball taking 4-29.


Leo Steyn and Simon Bellamy played leading hands in the Tamworth Gold U16's win over Northern Tablelands in the North West Junior Cricket Association Final.



Club Meeting 24th February

All players, officials and parents of players are reminded that the club meeting scheduled for last week, has been resceduled for this Wednesday, 24th February from 6:30pm at the home of our major sponsor, South Tamworth Bowling Club.

Apologies and information about the meeting should be directed to President Tony Higgins.

v Old Boys 13 & 20th Feb, 2010

1st Grade at Scully Park
Old Boys 223 (Tom Wilson 5-95, Nathan Whale 2-21, Aaron Flaherty 2-32) and 7 dec for 90 (Nathan Whale 5-31, Tom Whilson 2-52) defeated City United 174 (Aaron Flaherty 41, Anthony Dutton 31, Ross Steyn 23) and 5 for 87 (Andrew Harriott 28) by 59 runs on the 1st innings.
Resuming at 2-59, Aaron Hazelwood cut a swathe through our boys as we lost 8-115 in kissing the points goodbye. The second innings were an exercise in the gathering of bonus points but Nathan Whale's pheiffer shouldn't be overlooked. It's all to do next week aganst Bective and our win there will lift us for the semis.

2nd Grade at Chaffey Oval
Old Boys 232 (Daniel Lawrence 3-22, Richie O'Halloran 3-62) and 6 dec for 59 (Richie O'Halloran 2-1, Hamish Batley 2-13) defeated City United 152 (Richie O'Halloran 42, Jay Sippel 41x) and 5-99 (Richie O'Halloran 24x) by 80 runs on 1st innings.
The game was lost when four wickets were lost (Bellamy, O'Haloran, Orenstein and Langston) mid innings, collapsing from 3-90 to 7-116. Only Jay Sippel kept the dream alive after the early good work by O'Halloran, Hancock and Bellamy. In the short time left, the Spirit rose in our boys and they halved the deficit between the two teams in only sixteen overs. Its all about belief and hard work from her lads.

3rd Grade at TREC
Old Boys 131 (John Kennedy 5-33, Simon Bellamy 2-6, Josh Allen 2-22) and 161 (Bruce Eather 2-33, Simon Bellamy 2-41, Josh Allen 2-43) lost to City United 150 (Simon Bellamy 34x, Gary Whale 31, Josh Allen 20) and 7 for 143 (Cory Callcott 39, Glen Ryan 29, Josh Allen 18x) outright by 3 wickets.
The 3rds are back on track with this nail biting win. With Old Boys short on the second day, Skipper Ryan got the best from his boys,first rolling Old Boys and then standing tall in the chase. The AON man struck again, with eight 4's in his 39, although he was heard to be claiming a defensive shot during the innings. What a joker!. Fabulous win which cranks up the pressure on the leaders Bective. We aren't done yet!

4th Grade at Minor Leagues 3
Old Boys 199 (Grant Scarborough 2-4, Sam Langston 2-22, Paul Lawrence 2-23) defeated City United 141 (David Smith 42, Sam Langston 27, Ryan Hanson 25, Tim Hunt 15x). by 58 runs on 1st innings.
This was one that defineitely got away. We bowled well in the second forty overs ... well enough to take the wickets needed more quickly but the ball just eluded hands. Having set us the target, wickets fell too often and too cheaply, despite Langston highest grade score and some lovely shot making from Tim Hunt. One of those games fellas. The important thing to remember was the quality of your play for 80% of the game. Let's find that last 20% next week.

Full score cards and stats on Monday.