Jonty's Jottings - December 20-22

Senior cricket returns this week, as does the Moonee Valley Masters team defending its title at Barooga, while I also believe the junior representative program is getting underway.  I'd love to hear regular updates on how Josh Norsetter, Tomas Morissy and Katherine Baker are going so I can let everybody else know. Good luck to all three of you, I know you'll do Moonee Valley proud.

 

If you're not busy this week, get along and give these three stars your support!

Josh is playing in the Keith Mackay Shield U16 team : TODAY 6th v Diamond Valley at Eltham Lower Park 2. TOMORROW 7th v Ferntree Gully at Hansen Reserve, Airport West. WEDNESDAY 8th v Mornington Peninsula at Hansen Reserve, Airport West. FRIDAY 10th v South East at Bailey Reserve 2, Bentleigh East. MONDAY 13th v West Gippsland at Cardinia Recreation Reserve. TUESDAY 14th v Ringwood at Hansen Reserve, Airport West. THURSDAY 16th Semi Final (if qualified). SUNDAY 19th Grand Final (if qualified).

Tomas is playing in the Des Nolan Cup U14 team: TODAY 6th v Ferntree Gully at Maribyrnong Park 1, Essendon. TOMORROW 7th v Eastern at Balwyn Park North, Balwyn. WEDNESDAY 8th v Melton at Blackwood Drive Reserve 3, Melton South. FRIDAY 10th v Box Hill Reporter at Maribyrnong Park 1, Essendon. MONDAY 13th v Western Region at Galvin Park 2, Werribee. TUESDAY 14th Quarter Final (if required). THURSDAY 16th Semi Final (if qualified). SUNDAY 19th Grand Final (if qualified).

Katherine is playing in the Claudia Fatone Shield U12 (2) team: MONDAY 13th v Western Region at Oak Park Reserve South. TUESDAY 14th v Ringwood at Pinks Reserve, Kilsyth.  WEDNESDAY 15th v Box Hill Reporter at Oak Park Reserve South. FRIDAY 17th Semi Final (if qualified). SUNDAY 19th Grand Final if qualified.

I didn't get the chance to bring you up to speed on what happened on that last weekend before Christmas, so here goes:

We ended up with three wins and one loss from the four matches that were completely on the weekend of December 21-22, a great way to wrap up 2019 and build some momentum into 2020.

 

1st Grade - Two-Dayer - Moonee Valley 9/218 def Gellibrand 153 by 65 runs.The 1s resumed on day two needing 58 runs with seven wickets in hand, and were never in danger thanks to a great knock from Anthony Cafari (98). He took us to safety before falling heartbreakingly short of a second century for the season, with the game being concluded when he was dismissed mid-afternoon. Ladder Position: 3rd

 

2nd Grade - Two-Dayer - Moonee Valley 156 and 9/136 lost to Gellibrand 6/265 on 1st innings by 109 runs. This game could only be described a nightmare from start to finish as we were badly outplayed from the opening ball. Resuming at 3/114, Gellibrand cruised past our score losing just one more wicket and went on to a big lead, despite Jim Polonidis (3/63) toiling hard as usual. Our batting then crumbled again, and we limped to 9/136 to narrowly avoid the outright defeat. Josh Norsetter took 1/43, but it was his 14no at No.11 that helped Luke Brock ensure the match was saved. Ladder Position: 5th

 

3rd Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 6/95 def Youlden Parkville 93 by 4 wickets with 84 balls to spare. Another excellent bowling performance as the 3s picked up a victory to get back on track heading into the break. Matt Esmore (3/11) was outstanding alongside the retuning Sunil Bhandari (3/11), while Josh Norsetter (2/10) backed up with another good performance. The batting again let us down unfortunately, apart from one man. Sam Carbone (67no) single handedly lifted us over the line with a brilliant and experienced knock. Ladder Position: 3rd

 

4th Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley BYE. Ladder Position: 7th

 

5th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 8/186 def Northern Lions 180 by 2 wickets with 18 balls to spare. A hard-fought victory for the Shiners heading into the Christmas break to consolidate our position near the top of the ladder. Shane Chalmers (4/31) was the star in holding the big-hitting Lions to a respectable score before Jarrad Sims (48) led the chase. There was trouble at 8/145, but but No.8 Declan Barlow (17no) and No.10 Cassidy Box (20no) held their nerve. Ladder Position: 2nd

 

6th Grade - Two-Dayer - Moonee Valley lost to Burnside Springs on forfeit. Ladder Position: 6th

 

7th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley BYE.  Ladder Position: 8th

 

All seven senior teams are in action in one day matches this weekend - four on Saturday and three on Sunday, and it is almost certain we will be looking for boys to play across the grades. Please either reply to Charlie's email or to me here and we will work on getting you a hit so you don't have to wait until school goes back to have a game of cricket. Looking forward to seeing you all back on the park! 

 

Here are the games this week:

 

SATURDAY

1st Grade - 40 overs v Gellibrand at Ormond Park West 3rd v 4th

2nd Grade - 40 overs v Gellibrand at Digman Reserve, Newport 5th v 3rd

5th Grade - 35 overs v St Albans at Bon Thomas Reserve East, Deer Park 2nd v 4th

6th Grade - 35 overs v Royal Park Reds at Ormond Park East 6th v 2nd

SUNDAY

3rd Grade - 45 overs v National at Ormond Park West 4th v 1st

4th Grade - 45 overs v Brunswick at Holbrook Reserve, Brunswick West (just over the creek) 7th v 5th

7th Grade - 35 overs v Donnybrook at John Laffan Reserve 2, Donnybrook 8th v 2nd

 

GO VALLEYS!

 

Jonty (Brendan Rhodes)