Clarence Valley NewsSports News


By Tim Howard

Runs were at a premium in the third round of the Clarence Valley first grade cricket competition, with only two of the six teams topping 100.
Lawrence did best, racking up 136 on the back of a crucial 60 from all-rounder Doug Harris, who came in with his team in trouble at 4-32 against Iluka at Iluka Sportsground.
Veteran Nathan Ensbey (22) was the only other batter to pass 20, but a stubborn 14 from No. 9 Jack Cheney helped make the total competitive.
Opening bowler and skipper Glenn Ayres took 3-25, while first-change seamer Dean Bartlett claimed 3-15 to make batting hard work for the visitors.
Chasing a modest target, Iluka looked in the hunt at 2-50, but Taj Chevalley ripped through the middle order, taking 5-26 from his eight overs.
Only one middle-order batter reached double figures as Chevalley ran amok.
Eight wickets fell for just 20 runs, ending Iluka’s chase. They were bowled out for 90 in the 27th over.
At Ellem Oval, GDSC Easts needed a team effort to reach 9-120 against Maclean United.
Six batters reached double figures, but none bettered opener Tom Gerrard’s 22, although No. 9 Sam Palmer came close with 21.
Maclean’s Zethan Nicholls starred with the ball, snaring 4-15 from his eight overs.
During Nicholls’ spell, Easts collapsed to 7-57, but after he finished, the lower order revived the innings and pushed the score past 100.
The run chase never got going.
Veteran Geoff Simmons went early, lbw to Shannon Connor, and apart from 26 from captain Dan McColl and a brisk 20 from opener Brady Walker, the rest offered little resistance.
From 2-41 the visitors lost 8-51, with opening bowlers Connor (3-28) and Gus Lobsey (3-16) doing most of the damage.
Left-arm spinner and captain Dave Duroux also took a couple of key wickets — including McColl and Chris Bateman (10) — in his figures of 2-29.
At Ulmarra Showground, Harwood cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Tucabia Copmanhurst Ulmarra Hotel.
Batting first, Tucabia were lucky to reach 90, with skipper Brad Chard top-scoring with 36.
Chard, who came in at No. 7, was the last wicket to fall as wickets tumbled around him.
Only opener Beau Sevil (19) offered much resistance as they scraped through 36.1 overs.
Harwood’s evergreen all-rounder Matt Young came out of retirement to snare 3-17 from eight overs of wily off-spin.
Now in the super-veteran category, Young bamboozled Tucabia’s lower order to head off any recovery.
Harwood enjoyed a comfortable chase, reaching 1-78 before a late wobble.
With victory in sight, they lost 4-5 when Matt Pigg dismissed Ashley Moss (40) and Kallen Lawrence (30) in quick succession.
Tim Bultitude picked up Josh Lane, and Pigg removed Evan Lewis first ball, briefly giving the home side hope.
But Alex Moffitt (7no) and Ben McMahon (2no) guided Harwood home with five wickets to spare.
Pigg finished with 3-21 from eight overs as Harwood reached 5-92 in 33 overs.
On Saturday one-day games continue with Maclean hosting Lawrence at Barry Watts Oval.
Tucabia are at home again at Ulmarra to Iluka, while GDSC Easts and Harwood clash at Ellem Oval.