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This season was much anticipated with three key signings of Mark
George, Chris Bauman and Ben Torrenbeck all turning out in the first
game against Coomera Hope Island. Coomera batted first and decided
to bat for 90 overs effectively shutting us out of the game. They
left us 59 overs to make 260. We ended up drawing the game at @ 5
for 150. Best Bowling figures were Mark George 5 for 55 off 29
0vers, with Tony Andrews 46 and Steven Baker 50 staring with the
bat.
Round 2 was against Queens and they won the toss and batted very
well to make 240 off 70 overs. Best bowlers were Sean Fitzsimmons 4
for 18 off 8 overs and Luke Presley 4 for 88 off 19 overs. We then
lost 2 wickets and were 2 for 23 overnight. The next week was washed
out giving us 2 draws from 2 games.
We then won our first game against Logan Village in a hard fought
affair. We made 229 off 79 overs and bowled them out for 213 in 58
overs. Best batters were Luke Presley 68 Ben Torrenbeak 36 and Jono
Lane 33. With Mark George 3 wickets and Andrew Stinson 4 wickets the
pick of the bowlers.
Our next game was against Runaway Bay and we batted first making 6
for 259 off 54 overs. Then bowled out the bay for 154 off 56 overs
with Mark George again the star with the ball taking 6 wickets.
Steven Baker and Chris Bauman excelled with the bat with 86 and 47
respectively.
Round 5 saw our batting grow in confidence and we declared 5 down
for 265 off 66 overs. A great performance by Luke Presley to make
his first 1st grade century 101 n.o. and special mention to Steven
Baker 81. We then bowled Helensvale out for 193 off 70 overs with
Mark George (3) and Andrew Stinson (2) the pick of the bowlers.
Our next game was against a typically strong Palm Beach Currumbin.
Palmy batted first and we bowled them out for 159 off 56 overs, with
Shane Davis the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets. Thanks to a
quick fire 50 by Chris Bauman and 70 from Sean Fitzsimmons who
shared in valuable partnerships with Jeff Hill 21 and Jono Lane 42
we passed their total with ease and declared for 240. In dominate
fashion we then got 4 2nd innings wickets and left the field knowing
we could mix it with the best.
Round 7 was reduced to a 1 day game due to rain in a tight affair we
came out on top against Alberton. Best batters were Luke Presley 51
and Jay Skinner 36, best bowler was Luke Presley with 4 for 22 in a
man of the match performance.
Round 8 saw us put in another dominant performance with the bat
making 8 for 367 in reply to Surfers Paradise's 217. Best batters
were Sean Fitzsimmons 157 and Ben Torrenbeck 102 and Jay Skinner 52.
Best bowlers were Sean Fitzsimmons 3wickets and Shane Davis 3. In
the 2nd innings we had them 7 down and just missed out on outright
points. With Shane again taking 3 wickets and 3 to Luke Presley
also.
Round 9 proved to be our first and only loss of the regular season
going down to Southport Labrador. Our batters grafted on a difficult
pitch making 9 for 255 with Sean Fitzsimmons making 54 and Tony
Andrews making 50n.o. Southport then batted extremely well to post 7
for 306. Shane Davis the best of the bowlers with 2 wickets.
Round 10 saw a very tough battle against the reining premiers
Mudgeeraba. We batted first and made 6 for 251 off 75 overs with
runs coming from Sean Fitzsimmons 57, Andy Mannion 47 and Luke
Presley with 36. Joel Kennan who bowled well all day was rewarded by
getting the last wicket in the last over. He was well supported by
Shane Davis and Luke Presley.
The last game of the season saw us playing first placed Loganholme.
Once again our batters led from the front and we posted 8 for 266
off 78 overs with Andy Mannion top scoring with 61 and Luke Presley
giving good support with 46. Loganholme started their innings with a
draw in mind but we were too good for them and bowled them out for
122 in 68 overs. Mark George put his hand up when it counted by
getting 5 for 36 off 17 overs.
Finals time and we ended up playing 1st placed Loganholme because we
finished 4th. Understandably we were pretty confident after the last
game. Loganholme decided to try to bat for 2 days as they didnt have
to win to advance. To their credit they batted for 109 overs for 235
with all our bowlers toiling hard for 1 and a half days the best
being Luke Presley with 4 wickets. We then had about 40 overs to
chase 235 but with a bit of rain and some key wickets falling at key
times we fell agonizingly close to be bowled out for 185. Best
batters were Sean Fitzsimmons 73 and Andy Mannion 37.
In summing up we all believe that we were probably the best team
throughout the year as we weren't bowled out and we lost fewer games
than anyone else. Hopefully we can go all the way next year and win
the competition.
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