Jonty's Jottings - January 11-12

• THE CLUB WILL BE HOLDING A PIE DRIVE FROM TONY'S PIES IN ESSENDON OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS. KEEP AN EYE ON HERE FOR DETAILS. ORDER FORMS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH YOUR COACHES IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.

Even with the juniors being on holiday, there has been a lot of cricket played in the past week and a bit, with some excellent performances by junior players across the board.

Let's start with the junior representative program, where our three young stars have been doing our club proud.

Josh Norsetter (Keith Mackay Shield U16)

Round 1: NWMCA 6/130 (Josh DNB) lost to Diamond Valley 3/134 (Josh 9/3/1/21, 1 catch) by seven wickets with 42 balls to spare.

Round 2: NWMCA 7/144 (Josh DNB) def Ferntree Gully 136 (Josh 9/4/1/17) by three wickets with 24 balls to spare.

Round 3: NWMCA 153 (Josh 1no) lost to Mornington Peninsula 162 (Josh 7.3/0/3/34) by nine runs.

Round 4: NWMCA 7/150 (Josh 0) lost to South East 7/208 (Josh 4/0/0/14, 1 catch) by 58 runs.

Round 5: NWMCA 95 (Josh 3no) lost to West Gippsland 4/101 (Josh 5/0/0/21, 1 run out) by six wickets with 126 balls to spare.

Round 6: NWMCA 6/174 (Josh 12) def Ringwood 5/173 (Josh 3/0/0/12, 1 catch, 1 run out) by four wickets off the last ball.

NWMCA finished sixth with a 2-4 record. Josh 15 runs at 7.50, 5 wickets at 23.80, 2 catches, 2 run outs. 

 

Tomas Morrissy (Des Nolan Cup U14)

Round 1: NWMCA 9/175 (Tomas 5no) def Ferntree Gully 9/104 (Tomas 4/0/1/15) by 71 runs.

Round 2: NWMCA 7/165 (Tomas 3no) lost to Eastern 7/166 (Tomas 7/0/1/34) by one run.

Round 3: NWMCA 9/132 (Tomas DNB) def Melton 109 (Tomas 3/0/0/12) by 23 runs.

Round 4: NWMCA 97 (Tomas 4no) lost to Box Hill Reporter 8/101 (Tomas 3.4/0/1/17) by two wickets with 62 balls to spare.

Round 5: NWMCA 8/119 (Tomas DNB) lost to Western Region 6/120 (Tomas 6.3/1/2/28) by four wickets with 15 balls to spare.

Quarter Final: NWMCA 132 (Tomas 9) lost to Diamond Valley 7/181 (Tomas 7/2/0/29, 1 catch) by 49 runs.

NWMCA finished eighth with a 2-4 record. Tomas 21 runs at 21.00, 5 wickets at 25.80, 1 catch.

 

NWMCA and Tomas can feel hard done by after losing the quarter-final in strange circumstances. Diamond Valley recovered to 7/181 after being 6/82, with Tomas and his teammates bowling beautifully early but tiring in the 35-degree heat. Tomas had 0/9 off 5 before going for 20 at the end. In reply NWMCA was 0/4 in the 2nd over when play was halted by police & the fire brigade due to a grass fire in nearby paddocks. When play resumed Tomas' team still had to make the entire 181-run target, but in 15 less overs, with VMCU rules having no clause to reduce the target in line with the overs lost. The NWMCA boys gave it their all but it was too high a mountain to climb.

 

Katherine Baker (Claudia Fatone Shield U12-2)

Round 1: NWMCA 11/98 (Katherine 4) lost to Western Region 7/202 (Katherine 3/0/0/11) by 104 runs.

A tough outing against a well-drilled team boasting Youth Premier League players.  Katherine bowled 3 tidy overs for 0/11.  She batted at first drop and defended well against a quality attack.  4 runs off 20 balls, plus she ran 10 byes with her partner.  Unlucky to be bowled on her final ball (one of the 11 wickets that fell from seven of the nine batters).

Round 2: NWMCA 10/107 (Katherine 3no) lost to Ringwood 4/186 (Katherine 3/0/1/5) by 79 runs.

Played away against another quality team including YPL players and captained by a Victorian Schools U12 player.  Katherine was again the most economical bowler, taking 1/5 off three overs.  Only made 3 runs off 20 overs, but again batted at first drop and faced their better bowlers, including a few from the state player.  More importantly, was one of only three batters to finish not out.

Round 3: NWMCA 6/79 (Katherine 4no) lost to Box Hill Reporter 6/99 (Katherine 2/0/1/6) by 20 runs.

This one was more of a thriller, and went down to the final few overs when a few late wickets were not enough to claw our way back into the match.  Katherine opened the batting and made 4 from 13 balls, retiring not out again.  She kept wicket for half the innings, then bowled the death overs and took 1/6 off 2 overs.

 

NWMCA finished ninth with a 0-3 record. Katherine 11 runs at 11.00, 2 wickets at 11.00.

 

Generally speaking, you could see her four years with the Valleys in everything she did.  She insisted on fielding at fine leg because it saw the most action and required the most amount of ground to be covered.  She led the way in backing up throws, backing up from the non-striker's end, calling runs and finding the sneaky byes and overthrows.

Special mention to Under-12 coach Josh Gorry, who came to watch a decent amount of all three of Katherine’s matches (including the away game at Kilsyth).

A fantastic effort by all three of you. You should be as proud of yourselves as your families and the whole club are of you! Thankyou very much to Tony Morrissy and David Baker for such comprehensive reports of their young stars' efforts!

Okay, let's now head bush to Barooga, where Moonee Valley's over-35s team was defending its title from last year. Unfortunately a first-round loss put paid to our chances of bringing home the bacon again, but we finished strongly with two good wins to finish second overall. It was a great experience, and one the club's veterans look forward to every year.

Round 1: Moonee Valley 168 (Glen Courts 75, Mark Gauci 34, Dan Phillips 21) lost to Castle Hill 9/217 (Craig Pridham 7/0/3/44, Nate Wolland 7/1/2/23, Heath Webb-Johnson 5/0/1/25. Run outs: Sean O'Kane-Nate Wolland, Sean O'Kane direct, Adam Chapple-Dom Gibaldi. Catches: Allan Cumming 2, Heath Webb-Johnson) by 49 runs.

Round 2: Moonee Valley 6/118 (Heath Webb-Johnson 40ret, Dan Phillips 15no, Tony Gleeson 13, Adam Chapple 13, Nate Wolland 11no) def Grace Landscapes 117 (Nate Wolland 7/1/4/17, Mark Gauci 5/1/2/10, Tony Gleeson 3.5/0/2/19, Craig Pridham 7/0/2/31, Sean O'Kane 3/0/1/7. Catches: Tony Gleeson 2, Glen Courts 2, Heath Webb-Johnson 2, Adam Chapple, Dan Phillips) by four wickets with 71 balls to spare.

Round 3: Moonee Valley 2/183 (Mark Gauci 31ret, Adam Chapple 30ret, Tony Gleeson 30ret, Sean O'Kane 30ret, Brendan Rhodes 19, Allan Cumming 11, Nate Wolland 10no) def Yarrawonga-Mulwala 7/182 (Craig Pridham 3/1/2/12, Heath Webb-Johnson 4/0/2/20, Mark Gauci 4/0/1/11/, Sean O'Kane 5/1/1/29, Nate Wolland 6/1/1/41. Catches: Tony Gleeson 2, Adam Chapple 1) by eight wickets with 24 balls to spare. 

Finally, let's head to the weekend action, where Moonee Valley recorded four wins from six matches in an impressive return to the field after the Christmas break.

 

1st Grade - 40 overs - Moonee Valley 121 def Gellibrand 88 by 33 runs. What appeared to be a disappointing effort with the bat became enough with an excellent bowling display on a pitch that was not easy for batting. No.10 Shiwantha Kumara (30) led the way with the bat before Bede Gannon (2/10 off 7) and Jack Newman (1/8 off 5.2) turned the screws and Alec McIntyre (3/25) and Anthony Cafari (2/5) finished the job. Ladder Position: 2nd

2nd Grade - 40 overs - Moonee Valley 194 lost to Gellibrand 5/226 by 32 runs. After almost losing outright to the same opposition last game before Christmas, this was a much better performance, but it was still not enough as we gave up a winning position. Nate Wolland (2/26) and Jim Polonidis (2/36) led the way, but it was Luca Nimorakiotakis (1/27 off 6) who really impressed in his first game at this level. Heath Webb-Johnson (64) and Mark Gauci (31) got a flying start, while Jim Polonidis (38) did well later on. Josh Norsetter (4no) and Luca (4) also contributed. The 2s now face an uphill battle to make the finals. Ladder Position: 5th

3rd Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 9/152 def National 109 by 43 runs. A great victory for the 3s over the top team on the ladder, and it was Josh Norsetter (39no) who was the hero. He rescued the team from 8/93 to a defendable total and then took 1/10 off 6 overs to put the brakes on the chase. Matt Esmore (3/15) and Sohail Hussain (3/21) also proved impossible to get away. Luca Nimorakiotakis (8 and 0/13 off 3) also backed up from Saturday. Ladder Position: 3rd

4th Grade - 45 overs - Moonee Valley 123 lost to Brunswick 6/250 by 127 runs. Another tough day for the 4s as we fell to a heavy loss that leaves us needing to win every game in the run home. The bowlers couldn't make inroads into sensible batting, with veteran Graeme Bloom (2/42) being the best of them, while Jay Patel (1/32) bowled better than his figures. After a strong start from Tony Nilsson (32), the rest of the batting couldn't come to terms with the spin, apart from Sam Carbone (35). Felix Fischer took a brilliant one-handed catch with the gloves on and deserved much better than 1/37 off 5 before missing out with the bat.  Ladder Position: 7th

5th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 5/109 def St Albans 107 by 5 wickets with 84 balls to spare. No dramas for the Shiners as they won comfortably again. Shane Chalmers (3/22), Paddy Shelton (3/27) and Liam Farrell (2/4) were the destroyers with the ball before Liam Shaw (57) and Paddy Shelton (28no) dominated with the bat. Ladder Position: 2nd

6th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley 6/180 def Royal Park Reds 9/177 by four wickets with 18 balls to spare. A great chase and a terrific victory against the second-placed Reds. Muhammad Ashraf (3/38) was the most successful bowler, while club legend Darren Nagle (49) and Jesse Felle (48) took control with the bat to spearhead a crucial win. Dejan Gilevski also played a big role, taking 2/52 and a catch, before making 26no to anchor the chase home and lift us off the bottom again. Ladder Position: 5th

7th Grade - 35 overs - Moonee Valley lost to Donnybrook on forfeit. We didn't have enough players to send a team to the country this week, and the situation could be similar again, so if you want a game, please contact Channa de Silva, Charlie Walker or myself and let us know before Thursday night please! 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 Jacana at Ormond Park West 2nd v 9th

2nd Grade - 40 overs v Jacana at Jacana Reserve 5th v 8th

5th Grade - 35 overs v Aberfeldie St Johns at Fairbairn Park 3, Ascot Vale 2nd v 7th

6th Grade - 35 overs v Pascoe Vale Central at Ormond Park East 5th v 6th

SUNDAY

3rd Grade - 45 overs v La Trobe CBD at Ormond Park West 3rd v 4th

4th Grade - 45 overs v Monash University at Lord Reserve, Carnegie 7th v 2nd

7th Grade - 35 overs v Aintree at Ormond Park East 8th v 2nd

 

GO VALLEYS!

Jonty (Brendan Rhodes)