The Falcons - Under 15 1's Grand Final Report

Under 15 1's Grand Final Report – Season 2010-11
Posted by Ben McLean on Wednesday, 23 Mar 2011 at 9:02am

KNOX GARDENS Under 15 1's Grand Final vs FTG Footballers. The Under 15 1's had a great 17 run win over FTG Footballers on the weekend in a game that had many highlights. We had lost to them in our only meeting earlier in the year and their demeanor on that day didn’t really endear us to them so we were keen for revenge. Our first win for the day was the toss in which skipper Campbell Craigie successfully chose heads; Campbell yelled 'we'll bat' before the coin landed! Unfortunately we lost our leading run scorer Dan Carr early for 1, and then quickly had Zach Flintoff (1) following him back to the pavilion. We were 2 for 9. Campbell tried to work a straight one to mid-wicket only to have his middle stump knocked over for 3; we were 3-14 off 8 overs and in early trouble. Josh Wylde and Niraj De Silva put on a steadying 68 run partnership to take us to 3-82 before Niraj was caught & bowled for a stylish 32. Josh and Mitch Tsirtsikos then put on 35 before Josh retired making a brilliant 50no....at 4-117 off 35 overs we had steadied the ship. Mitch and Lachie Gray put on 52 before Mitch was dismissed in his best innings of the year for 45. At 5-169 with 5 overs to go, our middle order had responded well. Whilst Lachie made a great 26no, his best moment was the hip and shoulder he delivered to Rob McComb; the Knox Footy Club wants you Lachie! Hard hitting Mike Brearley made a valuable 11 before we ran out of overs with the score on 196. Our start was perfect with leading competition wicket taker Jayden Hawkes knocking over one of the openers in his 1st over. Mike Brearley got the next one in his 4th over with Footballers now on 2-13 off 7 overs. The two McComb brothers came together to take the score onto 65 before Luke missed a floating Mitch T off spinner and was beautifully stumped by Josh Wylde for 24. Lachie Gray got the next wicket in his 1st over with score on 4-101 off 27 overs. With Rob McComb getting his 50no we were into their tail; a great run out by Dan to Josh saw the score go to 5-110 and was evenly poised. At over 41 skipper Craigie thought it was time to bring our openers, Mike and Hawksy, back into the attack and go for the kill. The best opening attack in the competition then took 5-17 between them in the final 6 overs. With the score on 179 Rob McComb, who had come back in to bat, attempted a lofted cover drive off Hawksy only to get a thick outside edge and sky the ball very very high towards point; Mitch T cleared everyone out of his way and camped under the ball. Mitch collapsed to the ground as he safely held onto the tough catch to win Knox Gardens the flag! Mike Brearley finished with 3-24 including a fantastic final spell of fast bowling. Hawksy finished with 4-20, taking 3-10 in his last 3 overs. Our State baseballer Jordy Grimston fielded like a champion all day, Patty Gould bowled a couple of tidy overs when the game was tight and our 12th man Paul DiBenedetto fielded well when he got his chance. Our regular keeper Nick J was unavailable on the Sunday but played a key role for the team during the year. A great team effort by all the boys!