LISMORE Emerging Greys were crowned Northern NSW Over 60s Cricket Carnival champions on debut after beating Quirindi by seven wickets in yesterday’s final at the Armidale Sportsground.
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The Emerging Greys were making their first appearance at the carnival and chased down Quirindi’s 9-155 with four overs and seven wickets to spare.
Rick Sampson (47no), Greg Tideman (31) and John Lobsey (22) were the main contributors to Quirindi’s total.
John Southam (20) and Ray Bastian (15) also chipped in with valuable runs.
Six of the Lismore bowlers figured in the wickets, with Bill Crane claiming 2-28, Roger Boyd 2-16 and Bernie McDonald, Greg Pearson, Peter Gow and Graham Rose a wicket apiece.
Lismore then made good progress in the run chase, with Richard Lockwood (35), Gow (37) and Peter Trimble (36) all retiring.
Greg Evans also made 22 before Glen Roff (23no) saw them to victory.
The Quirindi bowlers shared the three wickets around.
The final day of the carnival was a good one for the two Tamworth sides, with the Blue and Gold both picking up wins.
The Gold avoided the wooden spoon for the third straight year, handing that honour over to the hosts with a nine-wicket win while the Blues beat Newcastle by 56 runs to finish third.
They produced one of their best batting performances for the carnival, making 5-206 from their 35 overs.
The foundation for the big total was laid by a 69-run opening stand between Albie Barwick and Chris Crowell.
Barwick hit 30 while Crowell retired for 35.
Rob Haling (35) and Greg Kellett (37) also retired.
They then bowled Newcastle out for 150.
Already chasing a big total, the Novocastrians were 3-20-odd and never recovered, with Rob Flemming (32) their top-scorer.
Peter Boyd bowled well early and got the Blues on the front foot, taking 2-9 from his five.
He was well supported by Terry Murphy (2-16) and Rob Laurie (2-26) particularly.
Crowell also picked up a couple of “lucky” dismissals at the end, Tamworth vets publicity officer and Blues player David Head said.
“Our bowling was very good,” Head said.
At one stage they had to umpire themselves, with the umpire on duty having to leave for an eye appointment.
The fifth/sixth play-off between Mid North Coast and UNEX was the closest game of the day and came down to the final ball.
Chasing Mid North Coast’s 8-185, UNEX needed four off the last ball to win. But they could only manage a single.
Rowan Chandler led the chase with 32, while Dave Warner struck 29 and Dick Hodgson 28.
He was there at the end with Garry Griffiths (12no) but they couldn’t quite get them home.
Sandy Racklyeft and Mick Hawkins did most of the damage, with Rackyleft taking 3-21 and Hawkins 2-18.
Earlier, the top four scored the bulk of the runs, with John Leahy making 35, Merv Burke 29 and Alec Rullis 22.
Mark Stevens (2-18) and Tom Vincent (2-13) were the pick of the UNEX bowlers.
The Gold had a good day with bat and ball.
After restricting Armidale to 7-85, they replied with 1-98 with Mike Morgan unbeaten on 28 and Mike Cashman retiring for 30 and Doug Truman 26.
Cashman was also among the wickets.
He bagged 2-7, while Steve Beaton chimed in with 1-14 and Ron Farrell 1-10.