Valley/JPC and Greta-Branxton remain undefeated at the top of the ladder after the first full round of Coalfields Cup matches was completed at the weekend.

At Howe Park, Valley/JPC proved too good for PCH/Glendon, prevailing by four wickets.

Chasing a modest 149 for victory, last year’s grand finalists cruised home inside 26 overs after losing six scalps.

Ross Parker (52) seems to have recovered from a spate of jetlag on his return from the mother country with a run-a-ball half century.

Former skipper Dan Storey is improving with every hit, via an unbeaten 29, with skipper Alex Stafa (24) and Tate Edwards (17) also productive with the willow.

Anthony Bailey (2-37 off 7.4) and Karl Bowd (2-39 off 4) took a brace of wickets each for PCH/Glendon.

Earlier in the day, Gleights struggled to make any decent inroads on the scoreboard other than skipper Jackson Cox who made 62.

Karl Bowd made a start with 20, as did Hayden Moorcroft (15no) against his former side.

Stafa (3-14 off 6), Archit Bele (2-40 off 8) and Matt Wilkinson (2-11 off 2.5) kept a lid on things for Valley/JPC.

Meanwhile south of the border, Greta-Branxton did enough to hang on against defending premiers Piranhas/Bellbird by 11 runs at Miller Park.

The Blues recovered from 8-114 to post a competitive 175 from the 34.2 overs they occupied the middle.

The tail wagged nicely with Will Regan (34) and Jace Lawson (32no), while earlier in the day Nathan Holz (28), Chris Murray (17), Ben Regan (15) and Connor Thomson (14) all chipped away.

For the Bellfish, skipper Joey Main was the pick of their attack with (3-27 off 4).

Matt Hopley (2-13 off 7) and Luke Sweeney (2-19 off 4.2) also bowled tidy spells.

The match hung in the balance in reply, even after the competition’s best player Hopley was dismissed after retiring earlier in his innings for 51.

Their tail also wagged but were eventually all out with 16 balls remaining for 164.

Billy Orr made 25, with Mark Crowfoot (22) and Luke Sweeney keeping their side in the contest.

Ben Regan (3-26 off 7), Lawson (2-22 off 8) and Will Regan (2-25 off 5.2) were the main wicket-takers for the home side in the important win.

In the final match of the round, Wine Country and Creeks were both desperate to break their duck for the year.

And, it was the Wood Ducks who got the biscuits by three wickets at Allandale in a low-scoring affair.

Creeks’ batting woes continued as they were skittled for just 93 batting first, with Ben Thomas (19), Chad Solman (15) and Chris Unicomb (14) making starts.

English import Dave Hornby continues to impress with his leggies as he took 5-37 off eight overs for Wine Country, with Ben Wood (2-14 off 8) and Resham Singh (2-13 off 2.2) grabbing a couple each.

The home side achieved the target, not without a struggle, in the 30th over with three wickets left in the sheds.

The experience of Matt Lightfoot guided his side to victory with an unbeaten 42, with Drew Olsen supporting with 18.

Dan Tracey (2-30 off 7) and Owen Daley (2-13 off 8) bowled well for the visitors, but the mediocre target was always going to be difficult to defend.   

The final week of round one action of the Tier 1 T20 competition concluded on the Friday night at Howe Park, with a “Super Over” needed to decide the result after Wine Country and Piranhas/Bellbird played out a 136-all tie.

Batting first, the Bellfish accumulated their total nicely, with Zac Kronholm promoted to face the new ball and notching 47.

All other batsmen made starts, with Luke Sweeney (16), Hopley (15no), Billy Orr (15) and Matt Fairlie (14) all contributing.

Resham Singh was the pick of the Wood Duck attack with 2-25 off four.

Needing 15 to win the match in the final over, Wine Country managed 14 after a maximum each from Dildar Singh and Drew Olsen.

They required two runs off the last ball but managed just the one to remarkably take it into the tournament’s third Super Over in the past three years.

Jayden O’Connor batted beautifully at the top for 49, with Mick Mascord (17), Hornby (17) and Olsen (15no) almost getting the job done.

Batting first in the Super Over, the Wood Ducks managed 12, which they may have well been satisfied with.

However, the calm hand of Hopley guided the Bellfish to victory with two balls to spare in what was an exciting finish. 

T20 round two action starts on Friday 14 November when Wine Country backs up to take on Greta-Branxton at Howe Park, where both teams will be desperate for their first win after narrow first-up encounters.

• Mark Bercini

Second grade

• Bellbird 8/160 (Cameron Martin 61no, Gavin Plunkett 28, Stef Durie 22, Joey Millington 22, Jaiden Herbert 3-39 off 5, Jacob Edwards 3-28 off 7) defeated Wine Country 159 (Mark O’Hara 43, Dave Plumridge 35, Rob Sidebottom 20, Brendon Briedenhann 20, Jacob Edwards 14, Tylar Carter 5-36 off 8, Daniel Burford 3-27 off 7.4, Stef Durie 2-15 off 7) at Carmichael 1
• Creeks 7/221 (Mitch Bourke 75no, Steve Unicomb 55no, Macauley Johnsson 14, Ganesh Kumar 13, Alex Loredo 2-20 off 4) defeated Denman 4/220 (Shaun Wilkins 63no, Jack Mann 49, Cameron Saunders 39, Kyle Eriksson 21, Thomas Mclean 18, Macauley Johnsson 2-33 off 8) at Cook 5
• Piranhas 8/248 (Matt Zechel 48no, Gavin Knipe 43, Ben Read 34no, Andrew Beer 32, Mark White 30, Aaron Zechel 19, Matt Pearce 3-39 off 8, Luke Meyn 2-39 off 8, Jackson Skinner 2-41 off 8) defeated PCH 89 (Will Holz 16, Evan Moss 16, Luke Meyn 13, Matt Zechel 4-27 off 6, James Hutton 3-18 off 4, Hayden Farrell 2-13 off 2.1) at East End
• Greta-Branxton 4/130 (Adam Kerry 48no, Tony Williams 20, Nigel Charnock 16no, Kashintha Ambagahawatte 2-21 off 8) defeated Valley/JPC 126 (Daniel Thrift 37no, Preston Miller 24, Adam Kerry 3-25 off 3, James Halpin 2-12 off 5, Fazel Khan 2-19 off 5, Jamie Moore 2-24 off 4) at Cook 1

Third grade

• Greta-Branxton 6/164 (Brad Stewart 86no, Jayden Galvin 23, Brett Stewart 22, Henry Beverley 20no, Jett Lantry 2-32 off 5) defeated Piranhas White 160 (Max Buller 61, Jett Lantry 30, TJ Roe 17, Oliver Spruce 12no, Brett Stewart 4-24 off 8, Henry Beverley 2-29 off 8) at Miller 2
• Wine Country 1/51 (Myles Crosdale 18no, Riley Sutton 18no, Fraser Anderson 1-18 off 2) defeated Valley/JPC 49 (Corey Martin 18, Cody Rowe 11, Darren Sutton 3-16 off 4, Archer Turner-Zeller 3-7 off 4, Peter Davis 2-2 off 2.1) at Baddeley 2
• Piranhas Blue 7/154 (Sonny Olsen 47, Jamie Perrin 30, Matthew Kemp 23no, Noah Perrin 13, Oliver Gunn 4-15 off 8) defeated Glendon 98 (Taj Vesper 51, Jack Land 36, Nicholas Wells 4-15 off 7.1, Matthew Kemp 2-47 off 5, Sonny Olsen 2-23 off 4, Ryder Hopley 2-13 off 2) at Turner Park
• Hotel Cessnock 8/236 (Andrew Taylor 45, Liam Beckett 44, Ben Rowlands 37, Jordan Field 36, Dylan Stoker 34, Andrew Chalker 3-43 off 8, Nic Siers 2-50 off 8, Lachlan Howells 2-46 off 5) defeated Bellbird 9/222 (Ty Cowley 86, Andrew Chalker 61, James Skinner 20no, Lachlan Howells 15, Noah Cooper 3-25 off 8, Heath Cameron 2-37 off 8, Jordan Field 2-41 off 8) at Drain Oval

Fourth grade

• Supporters 8/242 (Isaac Minter 84, Kobe Minter 51, Nev Taylor 38no, Kane Jordan 36, Kaiden Howson 3-41 off 7, Adam Williams 2-35 off 8) defeated Piranhas 116 (Steve Burgess 35, Glenn Kemp 31, Glenn McHugh 4-23 off6, Scott Minter 2-14 off 6, Ben Hughes 2-32 off 5.4) at Carmichael 2
• Valley/JPC 9/287 (David Newman 158no, Bruce Dempster 43, Michael Cole 33no, Daniel Andrews 27, Max Wild 4-39 off 8, Michael Burgess 3-31 off 6, Mac Burgess 2-68 off 8) defeated Bellbird 110 (Chris Sharpe 21, Michael Burgess 21, Max Fullbrook 20, Ben Stevenson 3-14 off 4, Daniel Andrews 3-11 off 3.4, Jake Street 2-16 off 4) at Civic Park
• Denman 172 (Allan Murphy 66, Conner Hewitt 18, Angus McLean 14, Mason Hewitt 13, Ethan Ayre 13, Riley Sundberg 4-52 off 8, Regan Rolfe 3-14 off 5, Richard Sundberg 2-43 off 4.3) defeated Greta-Branxton Blue 102 (Declan Pearce 17no, Ben Lahey 15, Alistair Leslie 14, Allan Murphy 4-4 off 3, Angus McLean 4-15 off 4) at Miller 3
• Bye: Greta-Branxton White

Points tables:

• First grade: Valley/JPC 24, Greta-Branxton 24, Wine Country 16, PCH/Glendon 16, Piranhas/Bellbird 16, Creeks 12
• Second grade: Creeks 30, Bellbird 27, Wine Country 23, Piranhas 19, Greta-Branxton 19, PCH 14, Denman 14, Valley/JPC 10
• Third grade: Hotel Cessnock 30, Bellbird 19, Piranhas Blue 19, Wine Country 19, Valley/JPC 18, Piranhas White 18, Greta-Branxton 16, Glendon 13
• Fourth grade: Hotel Cessnock 27, Denman 21*, Valley/JPC 17*, Piranhas 16, Bellbird 16, Greta-Branxton Blue 13*, Greta-Branxton White 13*, Supporters 11*, Wine Country 10

* bye received, no points awarded

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