Sport
16 March, 2023
Colts, Owls do battle for grand final spot
There’s nothing like a local derby, especially in a final. The stakes will be high for both Colts Phelans and Maryborough when they take to the field at Hedges Oval this weekend. Both teams were separated by just three points on the final ladder...
There’s nothing like a local derby, especially in a final. The stakes will be high for both Colts Phelans and Maryborough when they take to the field at Hedges Oval this weekend.
Both teams were separated by just three points on the final ladder, with two wins to Colts during the season helping them take home ground advantage for this game.
A look at the stats shows just how much these two teams are similar to one another.
They had the same win-loss record — only separated by the fact that Colts Phelans were able to score an outright victory over Beaufort. Runs scored? Maryborough leads that, but just nine runs separate the two teams, 1273 to 1264. And what about wickets? Colts lead that, but it’s 81 to 78.
It could not get much more even than that when thinking about the task at hand for both teams this weekend.
Looking further into the advanced stats, while both teams have had different areas of impact, they also provide similar numbers.
Colts and Maryborough are ranked first and second in the competition for the number of players who have taken 10 wickets or more for the season — Colts boasting six, while the Owls have four. Ben Stubbings leads the line for Colts, with 16 wickets, while Lachlan Morganti has taken 15.
Colts have had five players score above 100 runs this season — again, ranked first in the competition, edging out Maryborough who have three, which perhaps surprisingly is fourth.
The key difference is the Owls’ top order performance, with Sam Bartlett (291) and Mitch McClure (277) leading the way, combining for 568 runs this season, while Colts’ strength has been in the middle order, with Ed Foreman scoring 257 runs and Rhys Egan 218.
Put simply, whoever wins this game over the weekend will have done the little things better than the other, given just how little separates both teams.
As mentioned before, Colts leads the head-to-head meetings this year, 2-1.
Their first meeting was in round five, where 25 from Foreman and 21 from Matt Scott helped guide Colts to 6/104 off 20 overs on what proved to be a tricky deck to score runs on, which was later encapsulated by Maryborough making 9/62 from their 20 overs.
Rohan MacKay top-scored with 16 for the Owls, while Bartlett scored 13. Nick Henderson, Richard Clark, Ben Stubbings and Callum Watts took two wickets each for Colts.
The round 10 game was an outstanding affair, with both teams assuming control at times before Colts Phelans eventually recorded a five-wicket victory.
McClure’s 61 was well supported by Bartlett and Martin Dell, who each made 31 apiece, while Wayne Stubbings took 4/25 in response, as Maryborough finished their 40 overs on 8/177.
In response, Foreman continued his great early-season form, scoring 50 runs, while Nathan Stubbings helped guide Colts home with 32 as they finished on 5/178 to win with two overs to spare.
Ben Hoban led the way for the Owls, taking 2/31.
Round 13 was their last encounter, a game which saw Maryborough bounce back and take a 31-run win. Bartlett was key for the Owls, scoring 71 to help anchor their innings, while Todd Doran’s 28 and Jackson Goodwin’s 25 helped them make 6/172.
An even bowling performance from the Owls saw Colts restricted to 141, despite the best efforts of Jackson Gordon, who scored 36, with Morganti and Bartlett taking three wickets each, while Liam Maffescioni added two of his own.