Singleton District Cricket Association Life Member Gregory Thrift provided the individual highlight of week eight of the Coalfields Cup at the weekend.

The legendary curator smashed a ton for Valley/JPC in the second grade match at Cook 5.

The 60-year-old veteran took on Bellbird’s new-ball bowlers, blasting 146 off 127 balls, including 20 boundaries and three maximums.

In a successful day for the Valley/JPC club, fourth grade number six batsman Michael Cole also scored a century against Denman at Alan Mills Oval.

He remained unbeaten on 104, facing 99 balls, including 13 boundaries.

Valley/JPC remains at the top of the first grade ladder following a hard-fought 51-run win over Creeks at Howe Park.

The side posted a healthy 7-235 from its 40 overs, with Alex Thrift blasting 81.

Former skipper Dan Storey also returned to form with a typical 72, with Mick Hamson (28) and Ross Parker (27) scoring freely.

Chad Solman (2-22 off 8) and Bayden Mulholland (2-23 off 8) were the pick of the Creeks’ attack with tidy spells, with Steve Abel (2-58 off 8) also picking up a brace of wickets.

They then made a fair fist of the run chase, but three ducks in the middle order prevented them from posing any real threat.

Creeks paid the ultimate price of not batting out the overs, eventually dismissed for 184.

Opener Jack Morris made it back-to-back 70s with 75, Dan Tracey was promoted to number nine and did the role justice with an unbeaten 31, with Abel (20) and Rhys Bradfield (15) making starts.

Tristan Muir (3-59 off 8), Parker (3-39 off 8) and Kashintha Ambagahawatte (2-36 off 4.5) shared the scalps for the home team to keep it at the top of the table.

PCH/Glendon recorded just its second win of the season, and a much-needed one at that by disposing of an out-of-sorts Piranhas/Bellbird by eight wickets at Cook 1.

The Bellfish posted 179, with former skipper Joey Main leading the way with 66 opening the innings.

Captain Luke Sweeney backed him up with 41, with Jack Turner (22) and Rob Drage (17) contributing.

Anthony Bailey proved a handful for the visitors on the bouncy turning deck, collecting 4-34 from his eight overs, with Barton Jones (2-35 off 6) and Karl Bowd (2-37 off 7) supporting nicely.

Gleights then cruised to victory with still plenty of wickets in hand and 10 overs to spare.

Skipper Jackson Cox backed up his efforts from the T20 the previous night with an unbeaten 80, with Jack Turner (36no) and Bowd (32) doing enough to ensure they remain in touch with the competition.

Zac Kronholm (1-37 off 8) and Zane White (1-29 off 4) were the wicket-takers for the Bellfish.

Greta-Branxton got out of gaol in a tight finish against Wine Country at Allandale.

On a beautiful cricket wicket, the Blues won the toss and batted first.

As had been the case in their previous two losses, they were below par with the bat, dismissed in the final over for 157.

Looking to match the feats of his previous century on the ground earlier in the season, Patrick Andrews was well-short but managed to top score with 35.

Most other batsmen made starts without pushing on, with Reuben Andrews (31), Joey Butler (28) and Connor Thomson (23) all chipping in.

Luke Jeans was the pick of the home side’s attack with 4-25 off six, with off-spinner Ben Wood also keeping a lid on things with 3-31 off eight.

The Wood Ducks patiently went about their business in the run chase, with Matt Lightfoot making a flawless 61 at the apex of the order.

Captain Sam Peacock was equally as solid with 28.

However, the other willowmen all fell pretty cheaply and they eventually ran out of overs just four shy of the target.

Greta-Branxton’s Jace Lawson turned the game with his left-arm tweakers, bagging 3-16 off his eight overs.

Patrick Andrews capped a fine all-round match with 2-30 off eight, as did Thomson with 2-31 off eight.

PCH/Glendon shrugged off the dreaded curse of batting second under lights at Howe Park on the Friday night.

And, they proved far too good for Valley/JPC by eight wickets in round two of the Tier One T20 competition.

Chasing 114 for victory, Gleights did it in style with still 26 balls remaining after losing just the two poles.

Brad Cox batted beautifully at the top for an unbeaten 62, with brother Jackson (35no) also with him for the winning runs.

Luke Dempster (1-22 off 4) and Matt Wilkinson (1-24 off 3.4) were the wicket-takers for Valley/JPC.

Earlier in the evening, Valley/JPC was dismissed on the final ball of the innings for 113.

Ross Parker (33), Alex Thrift (28) and Dempster (18no) were their best three.

Meanwhile, Tom Stacy (2-9 off 4), Cooper Bailey (2-19 off 4), Anthony Bailey (2-33 off 4) and Hayden Moorcroft (2-23 off 4) shared the scalps for PCH/Glendon.

Round one of the Newcastle Summer Bash starts on Friday 5 December at Howe Park, where our very own Hunter Thoroughbreds take on the Cardiff Black Roses.

The action begins at 7pm.

The following Friday night will see the final round two Coalfields Cup Tier One T20 encounter featuring Creeks and Piranhas/Bellbird.

• Mark Bercini

Second grade 

• Valley/JPC 7/240 (Gregory Thrift 146, Dean Moore 32, Pat Cagney 2-33 off 8, Jake Riley 2-38 off 8) defeated Bellbird 196 (Matt Fairlie 66, Joey Millington 30, Gavin Plunkett 24, Peter Brennan 17, Chris Howard 3-29 off 7, Siaan Carman 2-57 off 8) at Cook 5
• Wine Country 7/64 (Mark O’Hara 16, Jeshua Ball 15no, Archer Turner-Zeller 12no, Luke Meyn 5-41 off 8) defeated PCH 63 (Matt Pearce 24, Callan Hungerford 13, Jeshua Ball 5-12 off 4.3, Jaiden Herbert 2-12 off 4, Wayne Harris 2-13 off 4) at Civic Park
• Greta-Branxton 214 (Jamie Moore 43, Tony Williams 42, Fazel Khan 32, Andrew Wright 22, Nigel Charnock 21, Adam Kerry 19, Pat Nugent 15, Mark Unicomb 3-44 off 8, Greg Cooper 2-34 off 5, Brendan Leach 2-37 off 7, Graham Unicomb 2-21 off 3.4) defeated Creeks 189 (Steve Unicomb 51, Graham Unicombe 46, Chris Unicombe 28, Ganesh Kumar 21, Jamie Moore 4-35 off 8, Fazel Khan 3-25 off 6, Tony Williams 2-43 off 8) at Miller 1
• Denman 220 (Hunter Ball 94, David Sowter 36, Peter Mills 18, Chris Sowter 14, Scott Burgess 3-41 off 8, Aaron Zechel 2-40 off 8, Brandon Zechel 2-14 off 2.2) defeated Piranhas 8/214 (Matt Zechel 47, Mark White 34, Brandon Zechel 30, Lucas Zechel 18, Andrew Beer 17, Aaron Zechel 17, Peter Mills 2-42 off 8, Hunter Ball 2-51 off 8, Chris Sowter 2-46 off 8) at East End

Third grade 

• Piranhas White 208 (Sam Apthorpe 48, Tyler Threadgate 46, TJ Roe 31, Isaac Dever 20, Oliver Spruce 18no, Byron Whyburn 15, Asher Olsen 4-38 off 8, Sonny Olsen 2-46 off 7) defeated Piranhas Blue 152 (Sonny Olsen 35, Noah Perrin 35, Daniel Olsen 18, Oliver Spruce 2-26 off 6) at Turner Park
• Valley/JPC 9/157 (Rob Willoughby 56, Adam Morris 38, Jake Domek 16, Nic Siers 2-33 off 8, Ty Cowley 2-26 off 4, Shaun Burgess 2-37 off 7) defeated Bellbird 156 (Nic Siers 45, Shaun Burgess 33, Jon Schatz 22, Ty Cowley 15, Lachlan Anderson 4-36 off 7.2, Adam Morris 2-33 off 8, Corey Martin 2-18 off 3) at Carmichael 2
• Glendon 192 (Oliver Gunn 47, Ryan Jurkans 41, Jack Land 34, Clancy Cameron 31, Lewis Sinclair 2-40 off 4.5, Darren Sutton 2-15 off 5, Peter Davis 2-22 off 7, Cohen Brook 2-37 off 5) defeated Wine Country 164 (Toby Shields 45, Darren Sutton 37, Jarryd McMichael 26, Ethan Newman 5-23 off 8, Tom Pearce 2-48 off 8) at Albion Park
• Greta-Branxton 6/150 (Henry Beverley 47, Harry McNamara 36, Brett Stewart 29no, Heath Cameron 4-30 off 8) defeated Hotel Cessnock 149 (Matt Bullen 47, Graham Stoker 30, Dylan Stoker 25, Henry Beverley 3-31 off 8, Noah McNamara 2-12 off 8, Jamie McNamara 2-17 off 5) at Miller 2

Fourth grade 

• Denman 8/198 (Allan Murphy 91no, Maclaine Spinks 38no, Adam Whitten 15, Jack Richardson 3-30 off 7, Alison Dempster 2-21 off 7) defeated Valley/JPC 8/198 (Michael Cole 104no, Matt Richardson 25, Jarrod Thomas 18, Ben Stevenson 16, Mason Hewitt 4-31 off 8, Allan Murphy 2-45 off 8) at Alan Mills Oval
• Piranhas 2/114 (Adam Campbell 36no, Tammie Beer 27, Craig Beer 20, Jasper Wright 1-36 off 6, Cameron Charnock 1-20 off 2) defeated Greta-Branxton White 113 (Brooklyn Johansen 29, Justin Bartley 25, Jordan Minter 3-26 off 4, Adam Williams 2-23 off 6, Logan Marino 2-15 off8) at Miller 3
• Supporters 4/144 (Glenn McHugh 60no, Tomas Woods 37, Kane Jordan 25no, Buddy Hogan 2-18 off 6) defeated Greta-Branxton Blue 142 (Ben Lahey 38, Richard Sundberg 27, Riley Sundberg 18, Robert Chard 14, Glenn McHugh 3-32 off 8, Ben Hughes 3-21 off 8, Kane Jordan 2-21 off 2.4, Nev Taylor 2-15 off 8) at Baddeley 1
• Bellbird 9/143 (Brian Smith 40, Shane Sheridan 26no, Zaviar Fullbrook 21, Mark Fullbrook 18, Trenten Mascord 3-22 off 8, John Crowe 2-5 off 2) defeated Hotel Cessnock 64 (Jarrod Scanlon 21, Brian Smith 4-26 off 7.5, Hana Sharpe 2-15 off 4, Zaviar Fullbrook 2-22 off 4) at Drain Oval
• Bye: Wine Country

Points tables

• First grade: Valley/JPC 38, Greta-Branxton 34, PCH/Glendon 27, Wine Country 27, Piranhas/Bellbird 26, Creeks 26
• Second grade: Creeks 41, Bellbird 38, Greta-Branxton 37, Wine Country 34, Piranhas 26, Valley/JPC 24, Denman 24, PCH 24
• Third grade: Hotel Cessnock 41, Greta-Branxton 34, Piranhas White 33, Wine Country 30, Valley/JPC 28, Glendon 27, Piranhas Blue 26, Bellbird 25
• Fourth grade: Hotel Cessnock 35*, Bellbird 30, Denman 28*, Supporters 26*, Valley/JPC 26*, Piranhas 25*, Greta-Branxton Blue 23*, Greta-Branxton White 23*, Wine Country 18*

* bye received, no points awarded

For more sports stories:

• Maitland Tigers roar into Hunter Gridiron League
• Brilliant Delianov inspires Jets’ triumph in atrocious conditions
• It’s game on for Maitland Magpies at Cooks Square Park

Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, real estate, entertainment, lifestyle and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.