THE last day of the Swan Hill District Cricket Association’s home and away season will be staged tomorrow.
For some the end of play will bring relief as the end of the season, while others will look towards semi-finals action.
For St Mary’s Tyntynder and Swan Hill — up against Woorinen and RSL respectively — tomorrow’s play will be the difference between end of season celebrations and semi-final preparations.
Other matches see Ultima TUF chasing a consolation win against Lakers, while Nyah District is in cruise control against Tooleybuc Manangatang.
St Mary’s Tyntynder v Woorinen
ONE of the two matches that will shape the final appearance of the top four is poised in Woorinen’s favour at Ken Harrison Sporting Complex tomorrow.
To St Mary’s Tyntynder’s advantage, however, is its four point buffer from fifth-placed Swan Hill: meaning it can lose and still make a semi-final should RSL get up over the Swans.
The on-field equation for St Mary’s tomorrow, however, will be tough.
Club president Lyndon Chaproniere said the side was “struggling a bit”.
“((Woorinen is)) only chasing 124 and they’re at 2-47,” he said.
“We need some early wickets in the first hour.”
Corey Daniels and James King are expected to open for St Mary’s, with Matt Heffer to be the first change bowler.
Chaproniere forecast a do or die approach from the home side.
“I think they’ll start with a fairly attacking mindset. We’re going to have to bowl them out, we can’t let the match roll on,” he said.
Regardless of tomorrow’s result, Chaproniere said St Mary’s Tyntynder had enjoyed a successful season.
“Only one of our sides has missed out on finals. Out of the five sides, only the under 14s missed out,” he said.
“Other sides have made the finals or, in the case of A grade, been in the hunt.”
Chaproniere acknowledged however the part weather had played in St Mary’s Tyntynder’s rise to contention in the final weeks of the A grade season.
“Inclement weather has played a big part shaping the season. There were two games where points went begging, so it could have been different,” he said.
Swan Hill v RSL
SWAN Hill must win tomorrow over RSL to regain its spot in the top four.
The Swans will be confident of a win after success in the recent Kookaburra Cup final, and decent start on day one last weekend.
The home side managed to get to 95 before the first wicket fell, when Brenton Foott was ran out by Brad Jones.
Foott’s dismissal sparked a mini-collapse, with Jones enjoying an inspirational purple patch which saw him claim the wickets of Kane Griffiths, Tom Lister and Ryan Shepherd
Due to inclement weather, only 32 overs could be bowled last week.
Swan Hill’s Matt Lanigan said the scenario had proven challenging for the Swans’ openers.
“Obviously coming in batting after the rain was a bit difficult but our openers handled it really well,” he said.
Lanigan said the Swans’ Kookaburra Cup win gave the players some confidence ahead of the last day of the home and away season.
“It does give us confidence that we’ve beaten them just a couple of weeks ago but at the same time anything can happen. Any team on their day can beat any team in the league,” he said.
Swans captain Daniel Cruickshank has left town to pursue further tertiary studies, but will travel back home for the remaining fixtures.
If Swan Hill wins tomorrow, and Woorinen defeats St Mary’s, the Swans top four spot will be reinstated.
RSL will finish on top regardless of the weekend’s results.
Nyah District v Tooleybuc Manangatang
NYAH District will storm into semi-final weekend over a beleaguered team looking for the end of the season.
Not much has gone right for Tooleybuc Manangatang this summer — and a quick glance at the state of play in its final match confirms this.
Day one netted Tooleybuc Manangatang a two-innings combined total of 110 for the loss of 12 wickets from just 34 overs.
In between those knocks, Nyah amassed 4/248, declaring after 43 overs.
The Demons’ bowlers will look to cover wrap up the outright win quickly tomorrow and turn their attention to a sterner challenge in the semi-finals.
Ultima TUF v Lakers
ULTIMA TUF looks like finishing its season on a high note against Lakers tomorrow.
UTUF’s hopes of a late dash in to the top four were always pretty remote, and that didn’t change on day one — despite bowling Lakers out for just 80 in the first innings.
Father and son duo Rob Hatcher (27) and Alan Hatcher (25) led inspired mid-order charges for the visitors, but their contributions weren’t enough with the Lakers unable to form lasting partnerships.
Alistair Ward inspired with the ball for TUF, taking five wickets for 19 runs off an 18.3 over spell.
Rod Power and Des Martin helped clean up the rest of the Lakers line-up with figures of 3-19 and 2-6 respectively.
Ultima TUF finished the day on 2-13 with Nick Launer and Toby O’Grady not out at stumps.
If UTUF wins as expected tomorrow, it will relegate Lakers to the wooden spoon for 2013/14 while TUF will probably finish sixth.
