Upsets Draw Attention From Showpiece Clash
Newcastle Herald
Friday October 21, 2005
SINGLETON cricket heavyweights Creeks and Valley clash tomorrow at Cook Park but the all eyes will be on the rounds other game after amazing results last Saturday.
PCH and JPC meet at Howe Park tomorrow on a high after causing major upsets last week.Defending champions Creeks were sent in to bat at Howe Park by PCH and appeared to be cruising at 1-53, but the depleted side crumbled to be all out for 112.Paceman Jamie Tudor (4-19) was the chief destroyer and newcomer Darren Wilkinson chimed in with 3-5 for PCH.Teenagers Kurt Neely and Hugh Smith then guided PCH to victory. Neely scored his second half-century in a row, finishing unbeaten on 53, and Smith was out for 35. JPC, last season's battlers who lost their leading two players coming into this campaign, downed a Glendon outfit boosted by the return of Matt Kelly and Darryn Hobden.Glendon batted first on a damp Cook Park pitch and were bundled out for 112.Daniel Thrift took 3-22 for JPC. Zane Nelson (30) and Anthony Bailey (29 not out) were Glendon's best.Greg Thrift hit 44 for JPC in the run chase but regular wickets fell after his solid opening stand with Brendan Duck ended. JPC then rallied to crawl over the line with seven wickets down.The wins set up tomorrow's third-round match where JPC will have an excellent chance of continuing their bright start. PCH will be without in-form batsman-wicketkeeper Kurt Neely, who will be away representing Hunter Valley under 17s.His absence has handed his cousin Edward Neely a shot in A grade.The under-16 batsman will play alongside his father, Ian Neely.JPC captain Matthew Richardson will be searching for his first back-to-back wins with the club after the first-up success at the helm."It was fantastic," said Richardson, who has not won two in a row in three seasons at JPC. "We partied pretty hard."The best thing was that we played like a team, a lot more than compared to last year."Hopefully now we can keep on top of the table for a while."He praised the efforts of pacemen Robbie Hedges and Daniel Thrift.In the other game, Creeks captain Gavin Wake expects his side to come back hard from their shock loss.They have seven regular top graders returning for the match with main rivals Valley, who had the bye last week. "Motivation won't be a problem for us this week," Wake said. "It was disappointing to lose, but it will probably be good for us in the long run." ? Experienced PCH fast bowler Peter Winsor may be happy to be under pressure for his first-grade spot in the near future. Winsor was overshadowed by his son Andrew last week when the 13-year-old took 6-33 in third grade.
© 2005 Newcastle Herald