The Saturday clash against University resulted in one of the best Charlestown 1st Grade wins over the time of my tenure as President. With one old warhorse leading the way for 8 young Charlestown lads and a couple of Pommies they defended 153 on a fast running Bernie Curran Oval and against one of the better batting line ups in the competition.

Batting first we lost two early wickets but Hitchy (23) and Harry (44) shared a 50 run p’ship to get us back on track. Harry again showed a touch of class in his driving and combined with Jacko’s 35 no they gave us a defendable total finishing on 153 with one ball remaining.

With both Armsy and Jedi on rep duty the ‘Pies went into the game with a threadbare attack which took another blow when Parth was unable to take the field after the innings break. Payney gambled and opened from the Ray Watt end with Harry’s offies, a move which soon bore fruit. Maddo at the top of his game castled Sam Logan and McKechnie soon followed trapped in front by Harry to leave Uni 2-9. Rushy and Gawthrop then pushed Uni back into the picture with a stand of 61. Debutant Jake Richardson then struck a double blow having Rushford caught down the leg side by Benchy and Harry pouched a smart catch at point from Lole. Soon after Maddo trapped the dangerous Gawthrop in front and the Magpies were back in the game with Uni 5-83.

While a middle order p’ship put on 30 odd the game was still in the balance but good outfielding and throwing from Sav and Harry, which resulted in two run outs, allied with young Richo’s tight bowling saw Uni lose their last 5 for 11 runs and a convincing win for the Magpies. Payney proved an astute captain in Jed’s absence and kept the lads focused in a tight game. Jake Richardson had one of the more auspicious debuts of late finishing with a bag of 5-29 off 8 and all the bowlers performed creditably.

Maddo showed the pace and control that could make him a genuine force in the competition this season and many to come and he finished with figures of 7-1-2-11. Harry proved a revelation with his darts and will be a useful weapon come the 2 day games finishing with 1-23 off his 8 while Payney was his usual miserly self finishing with 7-0-0-14. Isaac again bowled with tight control and was dangerous throughout his spell despite the fact that he bowled the bulk of his allotment to Rushford and Gawthrop. He has proven to be a more than worthy replacement for Chilli and his attitude to the game is a great example for the others.

The 2nds had a disappointing day out at Kahibah Oval where Uni batted first and compiled a solid 7-165 by the close. Nick Standing (2-29) and the reliable Nick Chapman (2-35) were the main wicket takers for the Magpies and Dan Standing contributed an economical spell of 8-2-0-14. The ‘Pies got off to a good start primarily thanks to Laura (35) and the in form Jacob Mulhall (31). At 2-107 they were well on target for a comfortable win but then lost 7-33. The Standing boys combined for an unbroken last wicket p’ship of 20 but couldn’t up the run rate and we fell just 6 runs short of the target at the close of play.

At Ray Watt Oval a poorly prepared wicket provided a low scoring game and the usually reliable batting order of the 3rds never really recovered from a disastrous batting collapse. Uni batted first and tight spells from our opening bowlers Cyrus (8-4-2-9) and Kye (5.5-3-1-6) allied with the effective old stagers in Moorey (2-15) and captain Dave (2-4) had Uni back in the pavilion for 97. Unfortunately a monumental collapse saw them virtually out of the game at 8-19 !! Stando (45) then combined with Moorey for an 18 run p’ship and another of 42 for the last wicket with young Chilli (9 no) but it was too big a chase and they eventually fell 18 runs shy.

The 4’s again battled hard at Charlestown Oval and with solid contributions from Joah (21) and debutant Alex Frith (21no) they finished their 40 on 8-107. In reply Uni knocked off the target in 30 overs with main wicket takers being Matt Temple (2-15), Joah (2-21) and Kade (2-18).

Overall the great win by 1st Grade was balanced by a disappointing day out for the lower grades with losses in all 3 grades a scenario we haven’t seen for quite a few seasons. The loss of so many players over the off season has been difficult to overcome but it has provided opportunities for a group of younger guys to make their grade debuts and has given them a greater degree of participation than they would have had in times gone by. Patience and experience will develop these players and we will reap the benefit in seasons to come. I should add that the rumour that Diz named his first born Jake to commemorate Richo’s debut 5 for is totally unfounded but it could be possible !!