The Johnny and Joe Show - a memorable milestone match
Moonee Valley legends John Talone (left) and Joe Ansaldo (right) played their 300th games together on December 6, and it was fitting that they brought up their milestone at our Ormond Park home ground.

At right: Joe Ansaldo (left) and John Talone enter the field through an honor guard of past and present players for their 300th games.

They are both ornaments to the game and to our Club, and the milestone match against Sydenham Hillside in the North West Metropolitan Cricket Association's Barron Shield grade gave them a memorable opportunity to celebrate their milestone.

They're both Premiership players - Joe saluting for the first time only last season - and have made significant contributions to Moonee Valley both on and off the field.

John was Club Secretary for a record 14 seasons during our heyday, when the Valleys won flags at will, and is still contributing by running our Milo In2Cricket program to give youngsters their first step in our great sport of cricket.

At left: John  Talone got his own personal banner for the match - holding it here with sons Luke (left) and Max and wife Jodie.

Joe is a past committee member, and famous as Riverboat Joe for his wonderful poker night fundraisers.

Only two other Valley players have reached the 300-game milestone - Darren "Spud" Nagle and Ian "Egbert" Denny.

We had a strong line-up of past and present players put their hands up for selection in the milestone match, so we had a hard time fitting everyone in.

We invited all past and present Moonee Valley players and supporters to come down and cheer on our legends in their milestone match, and weren't disappointed with the line-up.

Their Sixths teammates got with Joe and John in our changerooms along with the First Eleven players who were on the turf ground, and heard from Club legends Darren Nagle and Sandro Capocchi about their great contribution to Moonee Valley.

We also received plenty of messages of support to pass on to them, including from Club founder Ray Storey and 300-gamer Ian Denny.

At right: A rare glimpse at what goes on in the senior changing rooms - Club legend and past President Sandro Capocchi talks to the Firsts and Sixths players about the contributions of John and Joe.

The Sixths "did it" for the milestone players, rolling Sydenham Hillside for 108 in 33 overs. Joe Ansaldo took 1/34 off his seven overs, with several dropped catches harming his figures. John bowled one over for a miserly two runs.

John also had the honor of opening our innings with the great Mick Harvey, and carried his bat for an unbeaten 36 as we passed the score two wickets down after 17 overs. It was a fitting end to a memorable occasion.

**For more pictures from the remarkable day, click on this LINK.

Our Moonee Valley Christmas Party: Sunday, December 21
Mark down the Moonee Valley Cricket Club Christmas party in  your diaries now - and don't forget the date of Sunday, December 21.
There will be fun and enjoyment for both seniors and juniors.
Timetable:
12.45pm - Fourths game on the turf wicket starts, v Toorak-Prahran
1pm - Christmas Party starts
1pm - Spud's Bar and our canteen open for business
5pm - Meal: pasta, salads and barbecue starts
7.30pm - Raffle draw - more than 20 great prizes
The $15 entry fee gets you an excellent barbecue meal, salads and pasta, and the bar will be open from 1 to 9pm. Children aged under 17 are $10.
Entertainment on the main stage (the turf wicket) will be our Fourths in action against Toorak-Prahran, while we'll see if we can find numbers for a hit on the eastern oval.
The canteen will be well stocked with soft drinks.
A highlight of the late afternoon will be the drawing of our big Christmas raffle, with up to two dozen prizes, including $500 cash, $250 cash, bar and canteen vouchers, and a cubic metre of firewood.
Club Life Member Danny Terzini is busy selling raffle tickets now, so see him around the club or the matches over the next week or two.

The records tumble for Valley's Mighty Fighting Sixths
Three Moonee Valley batsmen pulverised the opposition when our Sixths played Ascot Vale in the Barron Shield match on October 19.

As well as setting a new record score across all grades, the Mighty Fighting Sixths had three individual players notch up centuries, and another two with half-centuries.

Our centurions were Sam Carbone with 119, captain Mark Gauci with 106 and the returning Paul Edwards, who topped all-comers with a stylish 136.

It was Eddo's first game for more than 20 years, and his feat demonstrated why experienced Valley hands like Brett Curran and Tony Gleeson have been trying to get him back in the whites. Needless to say, Moonee Valley went on to win the match comfortably - despite a century by a ring-in player who captain Gauci graciously allowed to play on Week 2 of the two-day game at Ormond Park, and an injury drama when our John Petropoulos took a fantastic catch to dismiss their century-maker on the boundary and then hit his head on the ground. John P may have spent a night in hospital with concussion, but he held the catch!

For more details of the match, click HERE.

Above: Triple centurions: In a Moonee Valley first, three of our players each got a century in the one innings of a game. From left - Sam Carbone, Paul Edwards and Mark Gauci.

 Main Club contact details:

* Charlie Walker - President 0409 237 543; 9370 1802
* Adam Patchell - Club Secretary 0407 552 141 
* Peter Golding - Club Treasurer 0419 009 721
* Simon Thornton - Vice President 0417 570 779
* Kevin Gardiner - Junior Co-ordinator 0417 536 896

Email: mooneev@club.cricketvictoria.com.au


For more contacts, see " Office bearers & Officials " under "Club News & Info" at the top of the page

Last updated: December 7, 2014.

For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE