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Jonty's Jottings - December 6-8

by Brendan Rhodes

TONIGHT we have barefoot bowls on after training at the bowls club over the back at Ormond Park. All juniors and parents are welcome to come along to enjoy some bowls and a barbecue, with the bar being open as well.

SATURDAY is the club's annual Christmas Party at Ormond Park. The 2nds (v Gellibrand) and the 5ths (v Craigieburn) are playing at home from 1pm, with the festivities starting at 3pm. Come down to watch the games, have a hit in the nets and a barbecue. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for juniors and $25 for families. Everyone is more than welcome to upgrade and stick around after 6pm as the evening continues including a major raffle with 15-20 prizes which will be worth a total in the vicinty of $1500. These prizes include $500 cash, a weekend away at Phillip Island, a cubic metre of firewood, electrical goods, bar/canteen vouchers and more. Your entry to the day is free if you sell a book of raffle tickets (20 tickets at $2 each), or $15 for adults and $10 for under 17s.

A couple of notable individual performances that must be highlighted, both from juniors and seniors.

A huge congratulations to Tomas Morrissy, who has become our second representative player this season with selection in the NWMCA Under-14 team for January's carnival. Well done and good luck Tomas, I'm sure you'll do us proud.

Also to Josh Norsetter, who showed on Saturday he can do it with the bat as well, top scoring with a magnificent 66 in 6s to ensure the undefeated top team didn't have things all their own way. It is his first 50 in senior cricket and only his second overall in the many matches of cricket he has played, but I'm certain it will be a long way from the last. Josh has played two practice matches in his NWMCA rep team. He made 12 and took the only wicket in the first game and went even better in the second, taking 3/25, getting two run outs and making 18 in two overs.

We also saw a first ever 50 from Michael Ozbun in 2s and a first-ever five-wicket haul for Sagar Bhatia in 3s.

The seniors had four wins and three losses on the weekend, which could have been six wins but for 20 more runs. The older junior teams are halfway through two day games, all of which we are a chance to win, while the under 10s won a silver medal but performed very well.

Here's the results from the past few days:

1st Grade - 40 overs - Moonee Valley 2/133 def Bellbridge 9/132 by 8 wickets with 41 balls to spare. A strong victory, although not as spectacular as the last match against this opposition a couple of weeks ago (the scoring record). This was Sameera Vithana's game. He took 4/27 with support from Jack Newman (2/15) in the field before making 77no with the bat, backed by Channa de Silva (24) and Anthony Cafari (23no). Ladder Position: 3rd

2nd Grade - 40 overs - Moonee Valley 1/217 def Bellbridge 89 by 128 runs. The 2s needed to bounce back from a disappointing loss and did so emphatically. Our American Michael Ozbun (63no) broke through after a few years of hard work learning our great game, carrying his bat as Mark Gauci (63) and Dan Phillips (58no). The ever reliable Jim Polonidis (4/13) made sure it wouldn't be in vain, while Matt Thomas (2/33) also got among the wickets. Ladder Position: 5th

3rd Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 136 lost to Indigos 150 by 14 runs. Disappointing fielding allowed the ladder leaders to make a few more than they should have, despite the outstanding Sagar Bhatia (5/21). The target blew out when we collapsed to 4/7 before club legend Ian Denny (54) and Peter Golding (21no) gave us a sniff that ultimately fell short. Ladder Position: 4th

4th Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 7/180 lost to Parkville District 9/186 by 6 runs. So close, yet so far. An even team effort in the field led by Geoff Shiell (2/31) and Manu Singh (2/35) held a top-four opponent to a gettable target before Heath Webb-Johnson (54) anchored a chase that had us right in the game to the end. Sam Carbone (27) and Jay Patel (26) got it close, but we fell one over short. Ladder Position: 8th

5th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 1/133 def Maribyrnong Park-St Marys 8/129 by 9 wickets with 102 balls to spare. Back on track after two losses in a row, we had a huge win over the second-placed Lions. Ryan Chirgwin (3/16) starred with the ball before Liam Shaw (72no) clubbed his way to the target, backed by Manu Poulose (28). Ladder Position: 2nd

6th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 8/146 lost to Burnside Springs 3/293 by 147 runs. A powerful, undefeated opposition, and it proved too much for our boys in Allan Cumming's 200th game for the Valley. Well done Al! As mentioned above, Josh Norsetter was the star, taking 2/46 before making his 66 in a terrific performance. Luca Nimorakiotakis (41) was his support in a great partnership of 102 to save us from a slow start. Luca (0/50) and Josh also took a catch each. Ladder Position: 6th

7th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley BYE The withdrawal of Shakti Lions meant the 7s got a week off. Ladder Position: 8th

Under 16 (1) - One Dayer - Moonee Valley 0/19 v Doutta Stars 9/170 . A very strong bowling performance has put our boys in a winning position. Fletcher Ware (3/10) was terrific, while Nicholas Botheras (2/16), Lukas Mizis (2/20) and Dylan Pleban (1/5 off 6) all combined brilliantly. Well done boys, bring it home on Friday! Ladder Position: 6th

Under 16 (2) - One Dayer - Moonee Valley 4/116 v Greenvale 3/105. Our boys are also right in this game, with the match being well in the balance. Tomas Morrissy (2/18) was terrific with the ball and Nam Nguyen (58no) was outstanding with the bat, supported by Thomas Kruspe (16) and Luca McMonagle (11). Just got to get Krish out 😉! Ladder Position: 3rd

Under 14 (3) - One Dayer - Moonee Valley v Strathmore Heights. No scores submitted. Ladder Position: 8th

Under 12 (4) - One Dayer - Moonee Valley 3/116 v Keilor Park 6/129. A big chance for a win here, with three less wickets being down after day 1. Jeremy Sevenson (21no), Max Talone (20no) and Antonio Baldino (17no) all batted beautifully, while Max (2/2), Dante Mazzarella (1/9), Diego Surace (1/10) and Arlo Tori-Lay (1/12) also got wickets. Ladder Position: 5th

Under 10 - One-dayer - Moonee Valley 7/87 lost to Airport West-St Christophers 5/118 by 31 runs. Thanks for this report! We bowled first with two good run outs being highlights and Isaac Richardson (1/2) and Levi Richardson (0/6) bowling good spells. Andy (1/6), Luke Sevenson (1/3) and Luke Blanch (0/3) were also accurate. We made a good chase, with Ben Simon (10) the topscorer and other good efforts from Isaac (6) with one boundary and Luke Sevenson (5) and Luke Blanch (4) opening the batting against some fast bowling. Massimo made 5 as the other opening bat and Levi 4. Well done on a good game by the whole team.

Back to normal with seven teams to select this week, so hopefully I can get as many of you as possible into teams for a game. And don't forget the Christmas Party on Saturday. Good luck on Friday night - let's have a clean sweep!

Here are the games this week:

FRIDAY

Under 16 (1) - Two Dayer v Doutta Stars at Buckley Park South 1, Essendon 6th v 4th

Under 16 (2) - Two Dayer v Greenvale Roos at Barrymore Rd Reserve, Greenvale 3rd v 7th

Under 14 (3) - One Dayer v Strathmore Heights at Debneys Park 8th v 3rd

Under 12 (4) - One Dayer v Keilor Park at Ormond Park East 5th v 1st

Under 10 - One Dayer v Aberfeldie (3) at Ormond Park West

SATURDAY

1st Grade - Two Dayer v Gellibrand at Digman Reserve, Newport 3rd v 1st

2nd Grade - Two Dayer v Gellibrand at Ormond Park West 5th v 3rd

3rd Grade - 45 overs v La Trobe CBD at Flemington Road Oval 4th v 5th

5th Grade - 35 overs v Craigieburn at Ormond Park East 2nd v 8th