North West manager Peter Mead was delighted with how his side acquitted themselves at this weeks State PSSA Boys Cricket carnival in Southern Sydney.
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The boys finished in ninth, on quotients, but it wasn’t a true reflection of how well they played.
“I was very happy with the way the team performed,” Mead said.
“We were only 21 runs off the team that came third.
“We were very very competitive.”
They finished with two wins and two losses after just falling short chasing against Western in their final game.
“They (Western) batted well early in their innings and their running between the wickets was good,” Mead said.
“We found it hard to stop their flow.”
They managed to claw their way back to restrict them to 7-176.
Billy Youman (Guyra Central) topped the wickets with 2-15 with Adam Williams (Tamworth Public) and Dillan Gardner (Inverell) also striking.
“It was then hard for us to score early. They bowled very tight,” Mead said.
“There was a bit of pressure on us to get six and over in the middle.”
“The boys made a valiant effort to lift the run-rate.”
Zack Doring (Wee Waa) led the way with 48 off 45.
“It was a magnificent innings under the circumstances,” he said of a knock that included six boundaries.
Skipper Sam Johnson also made 44, and was beginning to find the boundary when he skied one.
In the end they just fell short – making 8-159.
Johnson (Armidale City) was superb all carnival and named most valuable player for North West for the tournament with his final day 48 following 50 on the second day and 65 in their win over a Polding side containing Narrabri’s Joey Fowler and Moree’s Edward Montgomery.
Oliver Brennan (Nemingha) also chimed in with 36 and “played some beautiful shots” as North West compiled 8-188 from their 50 overs. Coming together at at 2-33 he and Johnson put on 110 for the second wicket in a brilliant partnership.
“We batted the 50 overs, which is always the aim,” Mead said.
Montgomery opened the bowling for Polding. He didn’t have any luck in the wicket department but was tidy, conceding just six runs off his four overs, while Fowler finished with 0-7 off two.
The game ended up being called off early after a storm hit and the umpires deemed it unsafe to continue.
North West were well on top at that stage with Polding 4-75 off 31.5 overs.
“Our bowling was amazing. We didn’t bowl a wide,” Mead said.
Doring showed his allround capabilities with 2-11, Nick Mead (Tamworth South) and Gardner chipping in with the remaining wickets.
Navida Geeganage (Tamworth South) and Johnson were also impressive with Geeganage bowling two maidens on his way to 0-3 off his four overs, while Johnson finished with 0-5.
Mead also made mention of Charlie Henderson’s (Nemingha) tidy work behind the stumps.
“The wicket was keeping low, it wasn’t easy,” he said.