By Joshua Hamilton
Wandin 1st XI Vs Yarra Junction 1st XI at Wandin North Reserve:
This is a game that had absolutely everything in it as these two very long Yarra Valley rivals collided. Ups, downs, momentum swings, and roundabouts! Yarra Junction Eagles would win the toss and choose to bat first on a gorgeous Wandin deck. Young Tarkyn Nicolandos (3/26 off eight) and Jordan Poynton (1/45 off eight) did the damage at the top of Junction’s top order as Jordan struck the first big blow by rattling the stumps to see the score on 1/6 while Tarkyn dismissed one of the openers courtesy of a fine catch by Bryce Edwards while also removing the opposition skipper for a mere two runs when Troy Poynton hung onto his chance to have Junction in deep trouble at 3/28.
Glen Poynton (2/16 off eight), Mitchell Kogelman (3/31 off six), and Hamish Lamont (1/16 off 4.4) much like Jordan and Tarkyn at the start would do everything possible to limit any Yarra Junction fight back. Steady and regular wickets would see the score go from 5/71 to all out for 165. This had the Doggies upbeat and positive heading into the innings break.
Ryan Thompson seemed to feed off the sides positivity as he absolutely smashed any ball and bowler that came his way as he raced to a boundary rich (including seven fours and two sixe’s) 48 from just 34 balls opening the batting innings which left the score on 4/67 when Ryan departed the crease. Superb effort from a supremely talented junior taking the game right on. Dave Thorne (25 off 20 including five fours) and Jason Cornish (39 not out including five fours and two sixes) battled extremely well as they put Wandin right in the box seat when Dave’s innings came to an end Wandin were 6/134 with plenty of overs left to get 32 runs.
As mentioned at the top of the report, the momentum swing then suddenly shifted against Wandin as Yarra Junction struck to claim the last four wickets for just 15 runs which saw Wandin fall agonisingly short by 16 runs. Gut-wrenching result for Wandin as they were only inches away from knocking off the ladder leading Eagles.
Wandin 2nd XI Vs Coldstream 2nd XI at Halle Supple Oval – Coldstream:
Fresh off having a week off due to a forfeit victory, the Wandin boys rolled into Coldstream looking to continue their winning ways and momentum charge towards hosting a home semi-final. After winning the toss, Wandin would bat first which sent Rhett “Cobra” Smith and Daryn Trembath in to open the innings. While one of the Coldstream opening bowlers would bowl his first 4 overs with his figures reading four maidens and one for nothing, this didn’t stop the Dog’s maintaining a very nice run rate. Miles Rayner would hit a few big balls as he finished on 32. David Marshall would blast 43 while being well supported by Daniel Trembath who narrowly missed out on a deserved half-century. This momentum flowed throughout the whole innings as the team finished on 8/188 after the maximum 35 overs as all batters chipped in with handy runs.
Time to defend a very good score on a big Coldstream oval and we would start extremely well when Jason Kneebone would take two early wickets via cannoning into the stumps and a catch in the gully and Daniel Trembath would pick up one of the openers via a Miles Rayner catch in close. The main Coldstream wicket-taker would be Joel Galvin as he help himself to three wickets which could have easily been four or five while young Jackson Kneebone would be seriously unlucky not to get himself a wicket or two as he was bowling a very consistent, attacking line and length which often beat the batters but narrowly missed the stumps on several occasions. One Coldstream batter tried to keep his team in the game by batting the best part of 20 overs to finish on 40 before being dismissed by a ripping one-handed catch from Rhett Smith which brought the Coldstream’s innings to a declared close of 6/93.
Wandin 3rd XI – BYE:
This week it was the 3rd XI’s turn to have a week off and secure a much-needed six competition points as the side sits 12 points (two games) and a large amount of percentage inside the top four with two games to go. Barring any sort of large negative hiccup, the 3’s are finals bound and looking very dangerous once the sink or swim like finals roll around! As we sit 4th as of right now, the 3rd placed Ainslie Park this week at home and 2nd placed Warrandyte (also at home) both lay ahead and present a big challenge to overcome, this is only outdone by the excitement this team and club has coming into these next two games.
