Engadine Dragons 0-139 beat Gymea Bay 6-53 Well, what a wonderful Christmas present the boys presented to Pat and myself with this resounding win. It was a game where everything came together and the players played out of their skin. It was our best batting display with not one player being dismissed, our best bowling display with only 29 sundries been conceded and our best fielding display by far with the least runs conceded all year.

The game started with Gymea winning the toss and batting first. Their three pairings were kept down to 41 runs. We only managed to get 2 wickets but excellent bowling and sharp fielding kept the scoring in check. Both Koby and Marley got wickets.

When our turn came to bat we were dynamic. Nathan and Josh batted first and had a partnership of 38. Nathan scored 13 and Josh 14 and their running between wickets as well as backing up were excellent. Our second pairing was Marley and Luke Taylor and their partnership yielded 40 runs with Marley scoring 24 and Luke 7. Marleys score was the highest score by a player this season and included 2 fours and 2 threes. Again the running between wickets was excellent and the pressure put on the fieldsmen resulted in quite a few runs. Our third pairing of Luke Tripi and Spence continued thood work and resulted in 22 runs. Luke scored 7 and Spence 4. This was a personal best by Luke. At the conclusion of the first day we led 100 to 41, and confident of securing a win. But also in our mind was the previous game where the opposition came out the second day and completely outplayed our team .

We opened the batting the 2nd day with Koby and Sean. Their partnership yielded 22 runs with Koby scoring 6 and Sean 8 ,a personal best by Koby.Riley and Samuel were next and netted 17 runs. Nick rounded off our batting with 9 runs.

Our turn came to field again and it was the hottest time of the day. It was feared that the boys would lose concentration easily because of the heat but they were determined not to let this game slip away. They bowled superbly and fielded energetically, chasing everything down and gave Gymea no chance of staging a recovery. Josh, Samuel and Luke Tripi all effected runouts and wickets were taken by Sean and Luke Tripi. The result was a comprehensive victory to the boys and it was well deserved. It was impossible to signal one player out as man of the match so we gave it to 3 players (another first). They were Josh Samuel and Luke Tripi. Well done fellas. A special mention also to the on-field guidance of Pat who kept the boys on their toes . Both Saturdays were heat wave conditions and Pats guidance and care went a long way to helping the teams performance.

I cannot wait for the three remaining games and will be disappointed if the boys dont win at east two of them. They are now playing as a team and improving their own skills every week.