A hat-trick to Jackson Moodie and an unbeaten 58 from stand-in skipper Greg Garlick have handed the Cowra Valleys a four wicket victory in this week's cross-town showdown at Holman Oval.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With the Bowling Club and the Valleys carrying significant outs, both teams were forced to dig deep and test their depth, though you wouldn't have known it given Moodie's work at the top of the order.
Claiming the wicket of the experienced Ross Graham at the end of his first over, Moodie quickly followed up when the ball came his way for his second over, getting the scalps of Chris Day and Blake Bourke, leaving the Bowling Club at 3/10 after four overs.
While Ben Colby and Dave Howarth eked out a partnership to get to 3/28, Sam McNaught, and later, Ben Cole struck, while a later wicket to Kelsey Pollard leaft the batting side in the unenviable position of 6/66 at drinks.
However, former Valleys player Scott Gray (37 not out) and young fast bowler Matt Gault (35 not out) proved to be the thorn in the Valleys side, batting patiently before putting some fours on the board to ensure that Bowling Club had a target to bowl at, finishing the innings at 6/134.
I wasn't worried about bonus points or anything like that, I just wanted to win.
- The Cowra Valleys' Greg Garlick
While Garlick's runs were crucial in ensuring the Valleys ran down the total, the vice-captain, who stood in as skipper while Jacob McNaught was away, said he certainly didn't think it was going to be easy.
"I thought 140 was going to be really hard to chase, just because there's really inconsistent bounce and speed [on the pitch], and we haven't got a great deal of batsmen that are in pretty good touch," he said, with the team's leading run scorer for the season, Ben Houghton, also absent.
While Garlick was the standout performer for the team, like the Bowling Club, there weren't many dominant performances with the bat, with Sam McNaught's 23 runs the best of the other Valleys' players.
"I wasn't worried about bonus points or anything like that, I just wanted to win," Garlick said, paying tribute to Pollard, who made his first grade debut, and all-rounder Riley Marsh.
However, he was particularly effusive about Moodie's start to the day, saying it gave his side the spark they needed.
"It just got everyone's energy and enthusiasm up, you can't go past that... we never lost momentum from there."
Meanwhile, youngster Matt Gault, who bowled well - his 0/28 didn't reflect his bowling's quality - alongside Chris Howarth's 2/21 and Kayne Veney's 2/23, said the Bowling Club would need to work on their fielding during the bye.
"It was a bit sloppy there at the end and that's what's costing us... five or ten runs here or there," he said, noting he has enjoyed his recent stint in first grade.
The Bowling Club's Mick Curtale Mikey McNamara, Emerson Baratto and Tom Thuaux were all absent from this week's loss.
READ ALSO:
