Match Reports from last minor round game

The A grade lost on Saturday at home to GAZA in what was an up and down contest. We batted first on another belter of a wicket and were reeling at 3/5 before Darren `Beep` Hortop and Tristan `Trip` Glover put on a wonderful partnership of 203 for the fourth wicket. This included Tristan`s first hundred for the club and not surprisingly it came pretty quickly, his `tinny` old powerspot was again hitting them a long way and his teammates gave him a nice reception once he passed three figures. Beeper just fell short of a ton too making 88 and those two guys put us back in the game. Kyle came in and looked at ease making 43 and his uncle Rob `Luko` Lukosius hammered 67 enjoying his time on the wicket he knows like the back of his hand. Unfortunately we didn’t bat our overs out which didn’t go down to well with the lads even though we posted what should`ve been a winning score of 356. The day belonged to Trip (122 runs) and a hundred that he was keen to get.
We had a short bowl before stumps and got a one wicket head start with GAZA 1/21 overnight.
Wes `Snipes` Farley and Drewsal `Hank` Parsons opened up and bowled really well without luck, Drewsal`s first 9 overs were maidens so he wasn’t giving much away, a suicidal run and good work from Dave `Kara ` Karanicolou got us going but as the day panned out regular wickets were hard to come by. We went to tea with GAZA at 3/153, still needing 200 but with the deck playing well we had the job ahead. We missed a few chances and had a bit of bad luck with some adjudicating but tried to soldier on and make our own luck, Rohan `Roey` Way tried hard and bowled a long spell and was fired up, he copped some nasty cramps during the day but the hitout will do him good, Luko tied up the batting as well and was right on the money but their batsmen were riding their luck and as it turned out they only needed a run a ball in the last half dozen overs. We thought we may have got a late handy run out but it wasn’t given and their last few batsmen held on and scored the winner of the last ball, not a great day for our A graders, suffering loss number one.
Beep made his thoughts clear straight after the game, the lads were flat because they care and `The Falcon` is sure you will see them come out firing in the last two minor round games and then finals.

B2 FULHAM 135 def FLINDERS PK 105 and 8/235

The B grade pulled off a crucial win over the top team Flinders Park to keep their finals chances alive. Flinders Park batted first with the game being played also at home alongside the A grade which was a nice change and after a 59 run opening partnership our bowlers went right through them. Evergreen Dave `Butsy` Butler had the ball talking on his way to a brilliant 5/51 whilst big Brett `Ken Mcgregor,Moose` Mrowka was causing mayhem taking 3/38. Our former chairman Nick `Richie Cunnigham` Andrews also picked up two wickets as we dismissed them for 105 in which the last 10 wickets fell for 46. Butsy led them off the field after Paul`John Dyson` Roberts took a low down one handed screamer at mid off to finish the innings, seen by plenty of onlookers it will go down as one of the best catches at home in a long time.
Our batsmen stuck to their task on day one when chasing the total, prolific run scorer Jeff `Holla` Holloway was the key making a solid 31 well supported by the current chairman Paul `Chazz Michael Michaels` Sibley who is such a Fulham tragic he resisted the chance to figure skate at the Winter Olympics to play in this crucial match he made 18. At stumps we were 4/84 and in a good position overnight.
Early wickets caused a little panic on day 2 but young Aaron` Edward Scizzorhands` Faneco held his nerve making a match winning 32 with some help from Nicko who made 17 and hit a few nice shots. There were still plenty of overs remaining so we went out for another bowl. Flinders Park batted better this time making 8/235 but the guys stuck it out okay, best with the ball was the recently engaged Jeff ` Rob Canning,Tightass` Rhodes whose leggies reaped 4/56, hes been bowling well recently and deserved some luck, the nickname Tight Ass resulted from his alleged $20 worth of fish and chips he bought to a grand final show, it wouldn’t have fed an ant!
Big win by the lads and they have to win the next two games to give the finals a shake, they have a strong line up and you could see the keenness in them in the field, especially on day one it was great to watch.

FULHAM 62 and 9/124 lost to FLINDERS PARK 101 and 3dec 89

The C grade had a loss against Flinders Park but almost snatched an outright in the second innings. We rolled them for 101 in the first innings on a tough pitch to bat on, you almost felt the ball may have travelled in reverse on occasions it was that slow. Josh ` African earrings` Schwarz was on fire, he took 5/22 and the young lad has been in good knick hes a handy player, Ken `Killa` Kilpatrick took a miserly 2/2 off 4 overs and it was good to see Johnny Rowswell chime in with a couple too.
We went out to bat and were in a bit of trouble from the start, it was extremely tough to score and we were 4/38 with the job ahead at stumps. Day 2 went different to the update `The Falcon` got, I heard 6/90 chasing 101, I wish it was but I would say my informant was dyslexic. We only could manage 62 off 61 overs so im guessing the scorers were needing rotations. Luke Adcock top scored with 15 and I would say its just a hiccup as this team have batted well all year. Flinders Park set us a run chase to spice up the game and the lads had a real crack only falling 3 runs short. Skulls got us going with 29 at the top and the rest of the guys did the team thing trying to score quickly on a tough pitch to do so with plenty of small contributions nearly getting us an unlikely outright. As per the norm the C`s fought it out to the last ball and they have plenty to offer in the coming weeks.

LO.C FULHAM 9/190 def GEPPS CROSS 103

Our one day wizards pulled off a great win over the top team Gepps Cross on Saturday. Whilst Neil Craig had a bad day flogged by the power, his brother separated at birth Mick `Craigy` Brister had a field day with bat and ball. Batting first we made a very competitive 9/190, top scorer Mick made 78. Jamie Khoo who also opened made 31 and Mr Consistency Brad `Smithy` Smith made 40 n.o.
So we had a good total to defend and the bowlers all did their job, headed by Mick Brister who took 5/20 possibly career best figures, in fact surely career best figures. Dave `Kenners` Kennewell took 2/30 and Pete Dinedios bowled a tidy spell taking 1/7 off 6 overs. It ended up being a comprehensive victory, the only negative was former club legend Dave `Burbags` Burridge was run out for a duck in his comeback match. Great effort lads, we needed that win and as is the case with our other grades it is all going to come down to the final games.

CHEERAGE
THE FALCON