Phew!!! A well deserved WIN at last. The boys played as a team and won as a team. The one thing that makes Pat and I particularly proud is that all boys made a significant contribution to the win. It wasnt the brilliance of one or two players but all players "put in" when it was needed and they and their parents can have "bragging rights" for the next fortnight at least.

We started the game well by winning the toss and deciding to field so that we would not have to field at the hottest part of the day. We managed to restict Caringbah to just 38 runs at the end of their batting time. This was by far our best effort of the year to date. All ten bowlers bowled tightly and Josh and Samuel claimed wickets. Marley was able to affect a run out. The hard work that we had been putting in at training with our fielding also stood out as our fielding was sharp and purposeful.

When our turn came to bat Riley and Koby laid a solid foundation for, firstly ,Josh and Sean and then Nathan and Luke to plunder the bowling and give us a lead of 12 runs at the end of the first day. We only lost 4 wickets with 2 of these being run outs. The coach will take the blame for the run outs as I have been telling the boys to chance their arm at taking runs. The 2 run outs were affected by the same fielder who threw down the stumps from gully. ( Dont know if it was a fluke or wonderful fielding from the player, but to be gracious I will say wonderful fielding)

Day 2 started with Engadine batting and again Samuel and Luke Tripi gave us a good start with a solid partnership, followed by Marley, Nick and Spence who kept the momentum going, giving us a very competitive total of 83. There was still plenty of work to do but we felt we could win from this position.

Our second stint at the wicket produced our best performance of the year. All the players put there best foot forward and helped us achieve a very deserved win. Highlights included Nathan and Nick getting wickets with consecutive balls (and just missing getting hat tricks), run outs by Sean and Luke and catches by Luke and Nathan. Other wickets were taken by Sean , Samuel (2) Riley and Spence. Our wicket keepers also deserve special mention as they put their body on the line to help restict the Caringbah score. Our keepers were Marley, Koby ,Luke, Nathan, Sean and Spence. Well done fellas.

I cant wait for the coming matches. If the boys can continue to improve at the rate they have so far we will win more games, and even have a chance of getting into the final, as we play 3 of the top sides in the final 3 games. Good luck boys and keep training hard.

 
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