Sport
5 December, 2025
Laane eye rebound versus Owls
Maryborough will play its last home game at Ron Sinclair Oval against a freshly vanquished Laanecoorie Dunolly.
After being forced to sit on the sidelines last weekend due to their wash out with Beaufort, Maryborough will play its last home game at Ron Sinclair Oval against a freshly vanquished Laanecoorie Dunolly.
Laane currently finds itself in uncharted waters. For the first time in over four years, they will look to recover from a regular-season defeat after their final ball thriller against Colts Phelans.
While a nail-biting result not going their way shouldn’t set off alarm bells for a team that has confirmed their place in the one-day Grand Final, what might concern Laane is that it took a near super-natural performance to give themselves any chance of winning.
After six of Laane’s first seven batters were dismissed for single figures, club stalwart Sam Bartlett produced arguably his most exceptional innings in a Laane jersey, unbroken in scoring a remarkable 93 with five sixes.
Credit should also go to Matt Smith for assisting Bartlett in clawing Laane to a sturdy score, stepping up with an unbeaten 43.
Despite an exceptional bowling performance before the drinks break, allowing only 46 runs in the first 20 overs, Laane couldn’t hold on thanks to an unbeaten 78 from Abdaar Ishaq.
Laane’s defeat will inspire confidence in a Maryborough team that needs to win its next two games to keep its microscopic chances of joining Laane in the one-day Grand Final alive.
While a Colts win in their next two matches would end the Grand Final discussion, the Owls will still feel they have plenty to prove after falling just short in their last meeting with Laane.
Maryborough’s bowling attack was clearly up to the challenge against one of the league’s juggernauts back in round four, with Oliver Cassidy, Jason Hunt, Elliot Ashburn, Liam Maffescioni and Jasper Trickey all taking wickets to limit Laane to 139.
What let the Owls down was their batting, an aspect of their game they have mostly excelled at throughout this season.
Outside of a hard-fought 46 from opener Ben Hoban, the quartet of Steven Dellavedova, Will Chamings, Josh Fitzpatrick and Alex Cook made mincemeat of Maryborough’s batting order, giving Laane a 19-run victory.