A patient century to teenager Lachlan O’Neill kicked off the all-new combined Cessnock and Singleton Districts Cricket Competition in fine style at the weekend.

The Wine Country fourth grader opener hit an unbeaten 101 in the side’s 71-run victory over Supporters Club at Baddeley Park.

The 14-year-old faced the very first ball of the day and accumulated his innings nicely, with three boundaries, to reach his maiden ton in the final over.

Wine Country then knocked over its rivals for 139.

In firsts, Greta-Branxton started its first grade premiership defence strongly with an emphatic 99-run win over Piranhas/Bellbird at Miller Park.

In the grand final rematch, the home side showed zero signs of a hangover.

Batting first, they compiled a healthy 6-226 from their 40 overs, with Connor Thomson picking up where he left off last year with an entertaining 87 from just 55 balls before he eventually holed out on the fence.

Chris Murray was next best with a sturdy half century (50), with Mark Bercini making 44 at the top of the order.

Zac Kronholm (2-33 off 8) and Inverell import Jake Riley (2-47 off 8) were the pick of the Piranhas/Bellbird attack with a brace of wickets each.

In uncannily similar fashion to last year’s decider, the Bellfish got off to a flyer through club secretary Rob Drage, who blasted 33 in next to no time.

Skipper Joey Main made 32, with co-skipper Luke Sweeney freeing his arms in the latter stages of the game with 24.

However, they were all out in the 27th over, with Jack Roberts (3-20 off 5), Jace Lawson (3-14 off 4) and Bercini (3-39 off 7) claiming a treble of scalps apiece.

Joint-venture club PCH/Glendon started its new era off with a gritty seven-wicket win at the expense of Valley/JPC at Howe Park.

The latter was cruising at 3-141 until a massive middle and lower order collapse saw them lose 7-14.

Abe Jones was the main reason behind the commotion, bagging 6-23 off six outstanding overs.

Kye Dann (56) was solid at the top of the order with a well-constructed half-century, with Alex Stafa (32), Ross Parker (23) and Simon White (18) all contributing.

PCH/Glendon cruised to victory inside 33 overs, with skipper and incumbent player-of-the-year Jackson Cox timing the ball sweetly for an unbeaten 79.

He was well-supported by Karl Bowd (57) who made his Coalfields Cup debut after a stint in Maitland.

They lost just the three wickets, with Stafa (1-29 off 5), Brandon Carman (1-21 off 8) and Parker (1-21 off 5) claiming these for Valley/JPC.

At Allandale, Wine Country overcame Creeks by four wickets in a low-scoring affair.

Chasing a neat 100, the hosts reached the target just before the drinks interval after losing six wickets.

Club president Mark O’Hara (26), Jack Morris (17), Luke Jeans (16) and Andrew Fensom (12) did enough to get the Wood Ducks home.

Creeks president Dan Tracey was the pick of their attack with 3-32 off seven.

Earlier in the day, the visitors were skittled inside 26 overs for 99, with Bayden Mulholland (17), Ben Thomas (16) and Chris Unicomb making starts.

Veteran South African off-spinner Brendon Briedenhann stole the show with the four-piece, bagging 6-27 off his 7.5 overs.

He was well-backed up by Matt Lightfoot, who took 2-30.

• Mark Bercini

Lower grade results

Second grade

• Piranhas 115 (Andrew Beer 27, Gavin Knipe 22, Mark White 19, Pat Cagney 3-17 off 8, Jon Schatz 3-33 off 7.4, Daniel Burford 2-15 off 8) defeated Piranhas 105 (Matt Fairlie 38, John Cleary 25, Joey Millington 19, Zane White 4-11 off 5, Ben Read 2-12 off 7, Keshaboina Akhil 2-27 off 8)
• JPC 2/130 (Rod Luxford 57, Rod Pearce 40no, Rhys Giles 17, Bruce Dempster 13no, Eden Andrews 1-17 off 5, Mark Donnelly 1-32 off 4) defeated Denman 128 (John Apps 48, Hunter Ball 25, David Sowter 23, Farooq Yousaf 4-12 off 7, Sam Pearce 2-17 off 5, Tim Gore 2-12 off 2)
• Wine Country 4/117 (Rob Sidebottom 42, Liam Hurst 34, Thomas Vaughan 19no, Macauley Johnsson 1-20 off 3, Chris Butler 1-26 off 4, Troy Bowditch 1-6 off 4, Brendan Leach 1-19 off 4.2) defeated Creeks 114 (Harley Davis 37no, Chris Butler 35, Macauley Johnsson 15, Jaiden Herbert 6-31 off 8, Wayne Harris 3-34 off 5)
• PCH 160 (Matt Pearce 44no, Hugh Smith 37, Lachlan Nicol 25, Ben Regan 5-30 off 5.5, Fazel Khan 2-28 off 7, Jason Varley 2-17 off 5) defeated Greta-Branxton 148 (Henry Beverley 30, Pat Nugent 16no, Adam Vernon 16, James Allerton 14, Tanveer Singh 13, Brock Hamson 3-41 off 7, Chris Ryan 3-17 off 8, Matt Pearce 2-22 off 8)
• Bye: Valley

Third grade

• Piranhas 152 (Ben Hipwell 23, Patrick Jurd 23, Kaiden Howson 20, Matt Kemp 16, Tom Lantry 14, Dean Campbell 13, Nigel Charnock 3-32 off 8, Cameron Charnock 3-32 off 8, Mal Hedger 3-37 off 8) defeated Greta-Branxton 8/140 (Nigel Charnock 45, Sean Wright 17no, Craig Gillings 12no, Richard Sundberg 12, Brandon Zechel 2-17 off 8, Matt Kemp 2-23 off 8, Patrick Jurd 2-26 off 8)
• Hotel Cessnock 206 (Mick Mascord 77, Gavin Kronholm 38, Martin Ashton 33, Paul Robinson 13, Matt Bullen 13, Toby Shields 4-36 off 7.2, Tallen Howson, 2-25 off 8, Tim Shields 2-34 off 8) defeated Wine Country 158 (Lachlan Eather 52, Aaron Moyle 30, Greg O’Connor 17, Matt Bullen 3-26 off 8, Trenten Mascord 2-38 off 7, Joel Butterfield 2-27 off 8)
• JPC 9/224 defeated Glendon 6/222 (no other details available at time of writing)

Fourth grade

• Wine Country 5/210 (Lachlan O’Neill 101no, Fletcher Phillip 25, Myles Crosdale 20, Matt Hollis 19, Noah Holt 17, Scott Minter 1-24 off 8, Aaron Field 1-31 off 5, Kane Jordan 1-32 off 3, Tomas Woods 1-27 off 4) defeated Supporters 139 (Luke Smith 65, David Scott 21, Scott Minter 15, Matt Hollis 3-26 off 6, Lewis Sinclair 3-14 off 5, Noah Holt 3-6 off 2)
• Greta-Branxton 9/120 (Rob Chard 36, Sebastian Sinclair 15no, Mick Shipley 13, Mac Burgess 3-14 off 5, Rawson Drage 2-4 off 5) defeated Bellbird 102 (Garry Kirby 26no, Mac Burgess 18, Shane Sheridan 12, Peter Watson 2-31 off 8, Ashlie Waters 2-0 off 4)
• Hotel Cessnock 9/74 (Jordan Field 46, Matt Blake 10, Anthony Worth 6-10 off 5.3) defeated Denman 73 (Allan Murphy 50, Darren Read 5-5 off 3, Matt Blake 2-11 off 8, Jordan Field 2-6 off 5)
• Bye: Piranhas

Points tables

• First grade: Wine Country 6, Greta-Branxton 6, PCH/Glendon 6, Valley/JPC 2, Piranhas/Bellbird 2, Creeks 2 
• Second grade: JPC 6, Wine Country 6, PCH 6, Piranhas 6, Bellbird 2, Greta-Branxton 2, Creeks 2, Denman 2, Valley 0*

* bye received, no points awarded

• Third grade: Hotel Cessnock 6, Piranhas 6, JPC 6, Glendon 2, Greta-Branxton 2, Wine Country 2

• Fourth grade: Hotel Cessnock 6, Wine Country 6, Greta-Branxton 6, Bellbird 2, Supporters 2, Denman 2, Piranhas 0*

* bye received, no points awarded

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