If the Valleys players' drift of attention in the first innings from the rising wicket count to phone-based entertainment wasn't an acceptance of their fate, the scoreboard cleared up any lingering confusion.
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Greg Garlick and his team struggled on Saturday afternoon, as a multi-pronged Bowling Club bowling attack wreaked havoc, bowling last year's preliminary finalists all out for 102 en route to an easy bonus point victory.
New Bowling Club recruits Emerson Baratto (2/6) and Kayne Veney (2/11) were impressive with the ball, while the versatile Ben Colby (2/29 and 47 not out) had a fair claim on any hypothetical man of the match honours.
For the Valleys, who won the toss and chose to bat, Sam McNaught's quick-fire 31 (featuring five fours and a six) and 2/17 was a positive out of a difficult day, with Scott Wilson did well to anchor the attack, posting 39 runs as the Valleys ground their way from 4/30 into a total that gave them something to bowl at.
Despite the one-sided nature of the contest, the modest total did create some interest, with the Bowling Club attempting to ramp up the run rate in search of two bonus points, but wickets to the likes of Blake Bourke, skipper Mick Curtale (30 from 27) and Tom Thuaux scuppered that possibility, as the team hit the winning run off a wide in the 23rd over.
Curtale, speaking after the match, admitted that in a competition where bonus points are crucial, the decision to go after the two points probably helped create a final result that didn't reflect the dominance of the Bowling Club.
"It's a tough one," he said.
"We were in a position to grab the double bonus points so we went for it because you never know how critical it could be.
"You can't read too much into the last three wickets we lost; [we were] just going hard trying to get the double points."
Regardless, the skipper had plenty of praise for his young bowlers for helping to set-up the win, which comes after a 2018-19 season where the Bowling Club failed to defeat to anyone other than the Canowindra Cricket Club.
"Emerson [Baratto] with the new ball was very good," Curtale said of his cousin, who was crucial to taking apart the Valleys' top order.
"He's proved his worth already."
He also made mention of Kayne Veney, a 14-year old making his debut in first grade who also the rare honour of taking a wicket with his first ball (a stumping of Jared Mason), while also dismissing Valleys' opener Scott Wilson.
"He bowled pretty well. He's only little but he can handle himself, he's good enough," Curtale said.
"He's definitely going to be one for the future, if not by the time this season ends."
Meanwhile, Valleys' all rounder Ben Houghton admitted the team had a bit to work on ahead of next week's clash at home against last year's premiers, the Cambridge Cats.
"I know we've got a few out again next week... [we] probably haven't had the ideal pre-season," Houghton said.
"[We'll] just have to see who they bring over, really."
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