Sport
16 February, 2023
Colts and Clunes looking for day one lead
With this being the penultimate round of the season, the stakes are high for both Colts Phelans and Clunes. Put simply — matching Maryborough’s result at Beaufort is an absolute must for Colts, given it will confirm a top two finish. However...
With this being the penultimate round of the season, the stakes are high for both Colts Phelans and Clunes. Put simply — matching Maryborough’s result at Beaufort is an absolute must for Colts, given it will confirm a top two finish. However, Clunes are also in a spot where they must win to almost certainly secure a spot in the finals, or else risk a win-or-go-home scenario in a fortnight’s time against the Crows.
Both teams will be looking to get back on to the winners list over the next fortnight.
Clunes will be looking to rebound after losing to Laanecoorie Dunolly, but they will have been happy that they were able to have a reasonably competitive performance with both bat and ball.
They were able to take more wickets this time around, taking six, but they were unable to contain the might of Samit Gohil, who scored an unbeaten 128 to guide Laane to 6/240.
In response, Clunes had another decent outing with the bat, finishing with 172 runs from 39.5 overs — that came after scoring 193 against Maryborough in their previous game.
Todd Featherston had a good innings in the tail, finishing just shy of a well-deserved half century with 49, while Anthony Ellis (27) and Brendan Ingram (21) also got some solid starts.
While Clunes might have taken some solace out of their loss, Colts Phelans, on the other hand, will be flat out disappointed that they were able to give Maryborough a path back into top two contention with a 31-run loss at home.
Like Clunes, it was the work of one player that undid all of their hard work.
After Ben Stubbings starred with ball in hand, taking 3/21 from eight overs, Colts were unable to get Sam Bartlett out at important times, with Bartlett scoring 71 difference-making runs for the afternoon as the Owls made 6/172.
In response, the Owls were ruthless with the ball, particularly with Martin Dell inspiring them, holding down his end superbly with 1/6 off six overs.
Bartlett also caused havoc with the ball, taking 3/19 off 2.5 overs, while Lachlan Morganti caused some trouble, finishing with 3/18 off eight overs.
However, there were still some positives for Colts.
They were able to welcome back Ed Foreman to the mix from injury, and he responded with a gritty 23 against the tide, while Jackson Gordon scored a solid 36. Richie Clark also scored 24 not out.
The two teams met earlier this season in round nine.
On that occasion, Dayne Baker ripped through the Magpies middle and lower order, finishing with 5/17 after Anthony Ellis gave Clunes an excellent start, scoring 56.
However, Foreman and Rhys Egan would give Colts complete control, even when Clunes threatened to get back into the game when they took two wickets for the loss of four runs.
Foreman’s 48 and Egan’s 43 helped Colts chase down the target of 142 with 73 balls to spare, finishing on 2/145 from 27.5 overs.