THE Southern Eurobodalla Pirates resumed their first innings batting on the second day of the last round with the score at an embarrassing 6-35, chasing Tathra's total of 173. The situation did not improve as the remaining four wickets fell within half an hour and the score at 59, 114 runs short of their opposition.
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Tathra enforced the follow on, hoping to quickly capitalise on the disappointment of the shell – shocked Pirates. At the 10 minute break between innings, coach “Boof” Caruana and skipper Corbett gave a clear message to the batsmen to respect the bowling attack and play defensive cricket for the first hour of the innings and once the danger of the new ball had passed, to trust their instincts and not be in two minds about playing aggressive shots.
The Pirate's top order batsmen showed a lot more determination than in the first innings, but this was not reflected on the score board with Tathra's Adam Blacka once again making batting difficult and reducing the Pirates to 4-19 in the first hour.
However, at this point, the tide began to turn. A partnership of 68 between Matt Moore and Matt Corbett went close to wiping the deficit from the first innings and from this point onwards, it became the task of the Pirates' batsmen to build up as much of a lead as possible. Skipper Corbett was in devastating form, scattering the field with eight 4's and three 6's to finish with 87, only a few hits short of his third senior career century. Matt was ably assisted by Elijah Blair, who compiled 26 runs in a half century partnership with his captain. Some smaller contributions further down the order saw the Pirates complete their second innings with a total of 182, definitely a vast improvement on their first effort.
With six overs remaining in the day's play, Tathra needed 68 runs for an outright victory and the Pirates were eager to capture some wickets to gain bonus points and secure second position on the ladder. Inspired by his batting performance, skipper Corbett took the responsibility of opening the bowling. Showing his true all-round ability, Matt took 3-18 in three overs, with Nick Mason getting another wicket and keeper Mick Stonehouse effecting a sharp run out.
The day's play finished with Tathra on 5-44, having failed to gain outright victory. Despite losing on first innings, the Pirates were justifiably proud of their much improved batting and sharp fielding in the second innings.
The A grade Pirates finished second on the ladder, a satisfying result for the newly formed club in a new competition. Next weekend, Southern Eurobodalla Pirates will host Eden in a semi-final at Dalmeny Oval, with Bega – Angledale at home to Merimbula in the other semi.
The B grade team was defeated by Bega in the final round, but still maintained their fourth position on the ladder. They will be up against the highly fancied minor premiers, Wolumla, in next weekend’s semi-final.
C grade gained their fourth win in a row against Kameruka, giving them seventh position on the ladder out of eleven teams. Next weekend they will compete in a Plate finals series away against Merimbula. The young Pirates, guided by some veterans, have shown great improvement over the season and should do well next Saturday.
Training on Thursday is very important for all players from all grades as semi final teams will be selected for the weekend. Training commences at 4.30pm at Dalmeny Oval.
Once again, a huge thank you to our supportive sponsors, Club Narooma, Club Dalmeny, Narooma IGA, Shell Narooma, Richard Busuttil and Michaels at Dalmeny. These generous local sponsors have made it possible for the Southern Eurobodalla Cricket Club to not only compete in a new Association, but to do so successfully across three senior and two junior teams.
