ULTIMA TUF have stunned the Swan Hill and District Cricket Association with a three-run victory over defending premiers RSL.
Heading into bat first, Ultima TUF’s opening batsmen Ryan Callaghan and Kaine O’Connell scored 68 and 72 runs respectively for the away side to get the jump on their opponents.
RSL found some momentum taking wickets through the middle order before Kyle Symons dug his heels in to score 40 runs, helping his side set a total of 6/202.
Heading into bat, RSL needed to dig deep to find the runs they needed but would eventually fall short as their overs expired.
RSL’s number two Stuart Patterson found 59 runs to get his side on the attack, with Brenton Gurnett picking up 39 runs, but it wasn’t enough as the defending premiers crashed to another loss.
With the Ultima TUF Cricket Club celebrating Christmas, a host of current players and old boys were on hand to celebrate the side’s first victory of the year.
President Symons said it was a good feeling to get off the duck for the 2015/16 season.
“We put on a score and that set us up for the match. They needed at least five [runs] an over for a bit there and then it got out to six … we just kept trying to stop the boundaries and get some dot balls, keep them down and it tightened up a bit,” he said.
“Hopefully we can win a few more, we want to make finals but we had a lot of things go right for us, it was a decent score of 200 and that is hard for anyone to chase down on the day.
“We played our shots freely. The feeling is pretty good, a few of the guys have had their first A grade win and it is a pretty young side … there are a few young blokes.
“It is good to win. Smashed them.”
Although the victory won’t lift Ultima TUF from the bottom of the ladder, the win could help push them into a top four spot if the side can string a few more victories together.
RSL captain Ryan Hinton said his side did themselves no favours on the day.
“Not much went our way, a few dropped catches and it put us on the backfoot,” he said.
“We are disappointed to get so close and not pull it off.
“It is not what we planned for after [winning the grand final] last year, we are still winning more games than next year.
“We are looking forward to the two day games … in the one day games it only takes one guy from the opposition to score quick runs … in the longer game we are more in control generally.”
