Norths snapped a three-match losing streak and booked a Bundaberg Rum City Foods Division 1 Premiership finals berth with a six-wicket penultimate triumph over leaders Waves at Salter Oval on Saturday.
Waves won the toss, but their recent batting slump continued as Norths’ Nathan Van Eekeren (2-26) and in-form all-rounder Shannon Smith (3-26), and veteran spinner Bruce Worthington (2-29) were instrumental in bowling them out for just 133 in 39.1 overs.
Norths then staged a calculated run chase, with opener Blyton leading them home with 8.2 overs to spare with an unconquered 61.
East Bundy Magpies shored up second position, holding on to a tense two-run victory over Brothers.
Easts had many contributors as they racked up 9-226 against the Brethren with Lennon Childs top scoring with 57.
Brothers, in reply, crashed to 4-32, then 6-115 when opener Luke Solano departed for a fighting 54 and Aaron Johnson followed three balls later.
But Josh McInnes and Sam Pearson combined in a 91-run fightback before Hayden Pope, who had claimed the first three wickets, returned and removed the former for 72, then grabbed another scalp to finish with the excellent figures of 5-41 from his nine overs after also chipping in with 24 with the bat.
It came down to the last over, and Sam Pearson was left stranded on a classy unbeaten 73, when Arden Lankowski had No. 11 Jayden Santacaterina caught by his brother and wicket-keeper Keegan on the third ball.
Waves are now on 84.85 points, with East in second on 76.33, Norths on 69.72, and Brothers on 54.41, and the reigning premiers now must beat Brothers in the last round on Saturday week, otherwise they could be beaten for poll position by the Magpies if they can have a huge win over Norths and make up the extra 2.53 incentive points on Waves that they would require.
In the Wide Bay Cricket Open Championships Goodchild Shield title, paceman Mitch Waters continued his superb season, claiming the Man of the Match award with 3-14 as Bundaberg racked up a fourth straight grand final victory over South Burnett with a six-wicket win.
The match, which was played in Kingaroy on Sunday, saw the previously unbeaten South Burnett elect to bat, crashing to 4-28 with their first three batsmen all falling to Mitch Waters.
They never recovered despite a signature fighting knock of 51 from stalwart captain and No. 5 Ashley Sippel, and a handy 23 by his son Harry, and they were eventually fired out for just 133 in 39.2 overs of their allotted 50, with South Queensland Country quicks Nathan Van Eekeren (2-36) and Arden Lankowski (1-29), and captain and spinner Chris Duff (2-27) completing the route.
Arden also opened the batting and got the Rum City off to a bright start with 26 from 18 balls, before Blyton Pendergast (27 not out), Ryan Norton (41 from 34 balls) and Nathan Van Eekeren (18 not out) guided them home with 23.4 overs to spare.
SOFTBALL
It was a red-letter day for the Waves club on Sunday, taking out the Coral Coast/Hervey Bay Softball A Grade Ladies and A Grade Men’s minor premiership double with their women pilfering the crown from two-times defending champions Brothers United Firesticks, who had headed the table all season, with a well executed 8-3 victory over them at Brothers Sports Complex on Sunday.
Firesticks had burnt Terrors 10-3 on Saturday, while Tsunamis overpowered Bargara Bullets 9-5, so it all came down to Sunday’s postponed games, and Waves delivered.
Meanwhile, Bargara held on to third place despite being outgunned by fourth and last placed Terrors 9-3.
Waves also sealed the A Grade Men’s No. 1 with a 3-1 dispatch of Misfits on Saturday, before their Sunday game was cancelled.
Wooden spooners Brothers United Heat forfeited to Misfits on Saturday, with Misfits winding up fourth after Terrors joined Maryborough/West in equal-second on 35 points apiece after beating them 6-2 on Saturday, and Misfits 9-1 on Sunday.
Waves also claimed the B Grade Ladies minor premiership with their Tidal Waves team clinching top spot with a 7-5 victory over Brothers United Inferno on Sunday, while Terrors also took out the minor titles in B Grade Men, Under-16, and Under-14, with Brothers United Sparks finishing on top in Under-12.
Saturday’s round was the Association’s Blue Day for Beyond Blue and $406.60 was raised, with more money to come in from the clubs.
FOOTBALL
Across The Waves, who made a clean sweep of Football Wide Bay Premier League silverware in 2021, picked up where they left off, white-washing their hosts Doon Villa 5-0 in their first match of the knock-out Football Federation of Australia Cup in Maryborough on Saturday night.
Corey Leggett and Bryce Hibberd notched doubles but Peter Bock, who has stepped up to the position of Head Coach after being the Assistant last year, said they “overpowered them in the second half” after a scoreless first half.
“It was just our first hit-out of the year, and we were a bit rusty and clunky in the first half, but the second half was good, and all the boys put in, and it was a good result,” Peter said.
Beaten Premier League grand finalists United Park Eagles also played their first match on Saturday, but they were beaten by Fraser Flames 3-1 at the Fraser Coast Sports Complex.
AFL
Across The Waves Eagles, who swept all before them last season until a heart-breaking shock grand final loss to Hervey Bay, turned the tables on them and showed their potential to go one better this season with a 6.4 (40) to 3.3 (21) blitz of the Bombers in their AFL Wide Bay Takalvans Senior Women’s Premiership first round away showdown at N E McLean Oval on Saturday.
The arch-rivals kicked 1.1 apiece in the first quarter but the Eagles established a seven-point lead by the long break, before taking control with a 3.2 third term during which the four-times defending champions hosts could manage a solitary behind.
The Eagles were held score-less in the run home, but they were always in control.
Hayley Gash kicked two goals for the Eagles, but they had many stars, and they are looking forward to their first home match of 2022 this Saturday against Gympie Cats, who were also good first-up home victors against Brothers Bulldogs 5.9 (39) to 1.4 (10).
After not winning a game last season, the Bulldogs were very competitive throughout, Elsie Kerwin kicked a good goal, and their young team will only get better.
Here are all the scores:
AFL WIDE BAY
TAKALVANS SENIOR WOMEN’S PREMIERSHIP
Round 1:
GYMPIE CATS 2.3, 3.5, 4.8, 5.9 (39) d BROTHERS BULLDOGS 0.0, 1.3, 1.3, 1.4 (10).
Goals – Cats: Cass Cummings 2, Brooklyn Warren 2, Emily Bevan; Bulldogs: Elsie Kerwin.
Best – Cats: Kiah Monk, Ella Findlay, Cass Cummings, Charlotte Blackwood, Brooklyn Warren, Lillianne Chambers; Bulldogs: Michala Collins, Emily Kerwin, Bo Tankey, Josie Baker, Holly Stone, Tayah Hiscocks.
ACROSS THE WAVES EAGLES 1.1, 3.2, 6.4, 6.4 (40) d HERVEY BAY BOMBERS 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.3 (21).
Goals – Eagles: Hayley Gash 2, Taylor Jardine, Sage Roussety, Ruby Rowlands, Scout Strong; Bombers: Gracie Finn, Brooke Lewis, Hayley Torresan.
Best – Eagles: Sage Roussety, Sarah Pizzey, Hana Sherlock, Taylor Jardine, Hayley Gash, Sabrina Shead; Bombers: Gracie Finn, Amy Clapp, Kirsten Fuller, Brooke Lewis, Gracie Eadie, Brittany Lea-Hewson.
BAY POWER 15.15 (105) d MARYBOROUGH 3.0 (18).
CRICKET BUNDABERG
RUM CITY FOODS DIVISION 1 PREMIERSHIP
EAST BUNDY MAGPIES 9-226 (Lennon Childs 57, Keegan Lankowski 34, Hayden Pope 24, Tim Kidd 22, Harry Kuorikoski 9-2-20-2, Sam Pearson 6-0-31-2, Jack Hargreaves 9-1-59-2) d BROTHERS 224 (Sam Pearson 73 no, Josh McInnes 72, Luke Solano 54, Hayden Pope 9-1-41-5, Lachlan Donovan 6-1-32-2).
NORTHS 4-137 (Blyton Pendergast 61no) d WAVES 133 (Chris Duff 27, Shannon Smith 7-0-26-3, Nathan Van Eekeren 9-2-26-2, Bruce Worthington 9-0-29-2).
RUM CITY FOODS DIVISION 2 PREMIERSHIP
WAVES 3-191 (Tahj Coates 90no, Mat Fleming 71) d NORTHS 187 (Richie Sharman 52, Dean Kronk 40, Mat Fleming 3.4-0-14-4, Kynan Hard 8-2-37-3).
BROTHERS 8-236 (Mitch Parsons 108, Luke Solano 51, Dustin Collin 30, Alex Claridge 6-0-38-3, Lewis Williams 7-0-36-2) d EAST BUNDY MAGPIES 9-220 (Lewis Williams 43, Keegan Lankowski 40, Paulson Antony 35, David Bonser 33, Mitch Parsons 4-0-22-3, John Howard 8-1-41-2).
RUM CITY FOODS DIVISION 3 PREMIERSHIP
NORTHS 1-116 (Julian Bond 50no, Shaun Pinney 38no) d BROTHERS 115 (Andrew Weeks 23, Shaun Pinney 7-0-21-4, Craig Fritz 5.2-0-18-3, Michael Penny 7-1-17-2).
WAVES 8-229 (Dan Unwin 77, Nick Laffey 36, Josh Wormington 35, Ethan Reeves 5-0-30-3, Andrew Hill 4-1-11-2) d ISIS 119 (Jack Rowan 32, Ryan Maclean 6-0-18-3, Jesse Beveridge 7-0-32-3, Liam Heads 3-0-10-2).
EAST BUNDY MAGPIES 149 (Priyantha Mudalige 54, Will Barritt 33, Brett Woodward 2.2-0-2-4, Joel Faint 7-0-25-3, Lance Baker 6-1-38-2) d YMCA 102 (Brett Woodward 34, Roderick Jensen 4.2-0-19-3, Laurie McCloskey 7-2-30-3).
RUM CITY FOODS JUNIOR CRICKET 3-16S PREMIERSHIP
BROTHERS PUMAS 5-143 (Oliver Boge 91no, Toby Lamond 30, Tyler De Martin 4-2-5-2, Catherine White 3-2-8-2) d ISIS 5-131 (Jayden Santacaterina 38no, Cooper Rehbein 26, Patrick Marshman 4-0-9-2).
HERVEY BAY COLTS 114 (Ben McGrath 37, Bailey Fagg 6-1-31-3, Logan Eade 2-0-6-2, Ned Jenner 3-0-9-2, Louis Webster 4-0-20-2) d YMCA/NORTHS MARAUDERS 102 (Ned Jenner 54, Ben McGrath 5-0-14-3, Josh Reid 6-0-17-2, Fin Ignatenko 6-0-18-2).
WAVES 7-160 (Sam Stuchbery 74no, Brenton Catasti 30, Ben Jones 6-0-22-3, Nate Scanes 4-0-9-2) d MARYBOROUGH 144 (Curtis Farrell 55, Kori Pope 3-0-8-3, Ben Grey 4-1-15-3, Tarah Staines 5-1-17-2).
RUM CITY FOODS JUNIOR CRICKET 3-14S PREMIERSHIP
WAVES 7-162 (Nic Delacy 51ret, Tahj Coates 26, Riley Pimm 3-0-18-2, Jack Tyers 4-1-20-2) d N0ORTH BUNDY POWER 119 (Beau Donnison 20, Travis Kapernick 20, Levi Faint 6-4-9-3, Alex Stuchbery 3-2-3-2).
NORTHS CHOPPERS 166 (Jordan Mather 37, Tom Elphinstone 27, J Hazelden 4-0-14-3, S Grimsley 6-2-17-3, B Shelton 5-0-27-2) d HERVEY BAY COLTS 8-150 (B Kratzmann 43no, Marcus Crawford 3-1-14-3, Tom Elphinstone 4-0-16-2).
MARYBOROUGH d ISIS BROTHERS MUSTANGS ON FORFEIT.
RUM CITY FOODS JUNIOR CRICKET 2
BROTHERS 7-194 (Ashton Lamond 58no, Isaac Law 38, Cale Anderson 35no, Jack Juster 4-0-29-2) d NORTHS AVENGERS 86 (Jake Ferrara 23no, Zac Honor 3-1-8-2).
YMCA 6-193 (Archie Webster 66no, Atlas Felstead 35no, Luhan Erazmuz 32, Fisher Hill 4-0-17-2) d ISIS 4-164 (Zak Onoprienko 63no, Charles Higgins 33no).
NORTHS SEI STRIKERS d WAVES ON FORFEIT.
WIDE BAY OPEN GOODCHILD SHIELD
Grand final: BUNDABERG 4-137 (Ryan Norton 41, Blyton Pendergast 27no, Arden Lankowski 26) d SOUTH BURNETT 133 (Ashley Sippel 51, Mitchell Waters 8-1-14-3, Chris Duff 10-1-27-2, Nathan Van Eekeren 10-2-36-2).
FOOTBALL FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA CUP
ACROSS THE WAVES 5 (Corey Leggett 2, Bryce Hibberd 2, Nicholas Chatfield) d DOON VILLA 0.
FRASER FLAMES 3 d UNITED PARK EAGLES 1.
SOFTBALL CORAL COAST/HERVEY BAY
A GRADE LADIES
Saturday: BROTHERS UNITED FIRESTICKS 10 d TERRORS 3; WAVES TSUNAMIS 9 d BARGARA BULLETS 5. Sunday: WAVES TSUNAMIS 8 d BROTHERS UNITED FIRESTICKS 3; TERRORS 9 d BARGARA BULLETS 3. Ladder: Waves Tsunamis 36, Brothers United Firesticks 35, Bargara Bullets 26, Terrors 23.
A GRADE MEN
Saturday: WAVES SCHOONERS 3 d MISFITS 1; MISFITS 7 d BROTHERS UNITED HEAT ON FORFEIT; TERRORS 6 d MARYBOROUGH/WEST 2. Sunday: TERRORS 9 d MISFITS 1. Ladder: Waves Schooners 41, Maryborough/West 35, Terrors 35, Misfits 31, Brothers United Heat 26.
B GRADE LADIES
Saturday: BROTHERS UNITED INFERNO 11 d BARGARA LEOPARDS 7; WAVES TIDAL WAVES 13 d WAVES SEASHELLS 6; WESTERN SUBURBS PANTHERS 14 d WESTERN SUBURBS COUGARS 3; TERRORS BLUE 16 d WAVES BREAKERS 6. Sunday: WAVES TIDAL WAVES 7 d BROTHERS UNITED INFERNO 5; TERRORS BLUE 15 d BARGARA BANDITS 5; WAVES BREAKERS 14 d WESTERN SUBURBS COUGARS 4; WAVES SEASHELLS 10 d BROTHERS UNITED CROSSFIRE 8; BARGARA LEOPARDS 16 d MISFITS 0. Ladder: Waves Tidal Waves 39, Brothers United Inferno 36, Terrors Blue 35, Western Suburbs Panthers 35, Bargara Bandits 33, Waves Breakers 33, Bargara Leopards 32, Misfits 25, Terrors Yellow 24, Western Suburbs Cougars 24, Waves Seashells 23, Brothers United Crossfire 21.
B GRADE MEN
Saturday: WESTERN SUBURBS LYNX 13 d WAVES CRUISERS 0; BARGARA BULLS 13 d WAVES CUTTERS 5; TERRORS 13 d BROTHERS UNITED FLAME 11. Sunday: TERRORS 13 d BARGARA BULLS 5. Ladder: Terrors 40, Bargara Bulls 34, Brothers United Flame 33, Western Suburbs Lynx 33, Waves Cruisers 27, Waves Cutters 27.
UNDER-16
Saturday: WAVES WAVERIDERS 12 d WAVES DRIFTERS 5; BARGARA BRONCS d WESTERN SUBURBS LIONS ON FROFEIT; TERRORS 19 d BROTHERS UNITED TNT 1. Sunday: BROTHERS UNITED TNT 15 d WAVES WAVERIDETRS 7; WAVES DRIFTERS d WESTERN SUBURBS LIONS ON FORFEIT; TERRORS 12 d BARGARA BRONCS 1. Ladder: Terrors 42, Brothers United TNT 41, Waves Waveriders 34, Waves Drifters 27, Bargara Broncs 26, Western Suburbs Lions 19.
UNDER-14
Saturday: TERRORS 16 d WAVES RIPTIDES 2; WAVES TORPEDOES 8 d BROTHERS UNITED BLAZE 5; BARGARA BANDICOOTS 15 d WESTERN SUBURBS TIGERS 6. Sunday: WAVES RIPTIDES 11 d BROTHERS UNITED BLAZE 4; TERRORS 16 d BARGARA BANDICOOTS 1; WAVES TORPEDOES 15 drew BROTHERS UNITED BLAZE 15. Ladder: Terrors 45, Brothers United Blaze 36, Waves Torpedoes 35, Waves Riptides 29, Bargara Bandicoots 28, Western Suburbs Tigers 19.
UNDER-12
Saturday: BROTHERS UNITED SPARKS 7 d TERRORS 6; WAVES MARINERS 15 d WESTERN SUBURBS JAGUARS 0. Sunday: WAVES MARINERS 10 drew WESTERN SUBURBS JAGUARS 10; TERRORS 12 drew BARGARA BEARS 12. Ladder: Brothers United Sparks 38, Terrors 35, Bargara Bears 29, Waves Mariners 28, Western Suburbs Jaguars 19.
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