Sitting at sixth place currently, it is more than conceivable that they could edge out Bega and Eden for fourth spot on the association ladder and a find a way to the finals.

Winning the toss and batting first, Elijah Blair's men got off to a solid start, other than a slight hiccup that saw Michael Talbot (10) and Dean Friskin (0) fall in quick succession after a 24-run opening stand.

The Pirates steadied with a 50-run partnership between Dillon Smith and Blair. The young talents scoring 39 and 24 respectively.

After making it through the 40 overs the Pirates finished their innings on 163. A score that is considered a Pirate's bounty on low scoring, Dalmeny Oval.

Pressure was the element of the Pirates' score defence which shone through in two runouts and an even distribution of wickets across the bowling list.

Graham Briggs avoided the plank with a miserly 2/14 from five overs and would be forgiven for thinking he was under-bowled. Eric "Tangles" McMahon and evergreen Stuey Piper also contributed two wickets.

In a match that proved to be controversial in the context of league balance, the Pirates' Second Division team faced their biggest test for the season so far, travelling to a dry, hot Kameruka to taken on the undefeated home team.

Captain, Kyle Field (who has proven to be very effective at the toss) won and elected to bat.

With only two wickets down at drinks, having endured bowling fit for First Division and beyond, things were looking promising for the Pirates.

Unfortunately, Kameruka speedster and captain, Jack Matthews gave up his wicket keeping duties to tear through the Pirates middle order, taking four wickets at express pace, leaving the Pirates reeling at 8/66.

With a player having to leave the game early, only two wickets remained. Out walked Rowan Hawkey.

The Narooma Lions Football Club star and local squash player, who had been forced into retirement from contact sports by a near fatal workplace accident, tapped into his determination once again to "have a crack" at the "bloody fast" bowlers from Kameruka, despite only having played once before and getting a hat-trick-ball golden duck.

With natural hand/eye co-ordination he had the more experience batters embarrassed with some clean hitting, contributing 27 and helping the team build a semi-respectable score of 118.

Buoyed on by Hawkey's inspiring cameo, the opening bowling combination of David Moran and Hayden Lang found some swing early and in the third over Moran removed David Schumann and Martin Butchers in consecutive balls.

The hat-trick attempt proved to be anti-climatic though as a leg-side wide and some friendly internal sledging ensued.

When a very good outfield catch by Joel Lansky handed Lang the wicket of Matthews the run defence looked possible and with its usual attack, it could have been an upset.

Kameruka passed the score five wickets down.

With the calendar year coming to a close this weekend here is a look at how some of the better performing players are travelling:

First Division:

Of the multiple-game players, Dillon Smith has the highest batting average with 161 runs at 23.00 per innings from seven matches. Elijah Blair is close behind with 153 at 21.86. Dean Friskin has the season high score of 82.

For the bowlers, Brendan Connor has 10 wickets at an average of 28.8, Stuart Piper 7 at 19.86, Graham Briggs 6 at 32.00 and David Moran 5 at 13.2.

Second Division:

Of the multiple-game players, Kyle Field has the highest batting average with 151 runs at 30.20 per innings from six matches. David Moran is second highest 75 runs at 25.00 and has the highest score of the season (64).

For the bowlers, Kyle Field has 10 wickets at 15.8, Matt Klose 8 at 12.25, David Moran 7 wickets at 11.4 and Riley Dawson 4 at 14.75.