A four-wicket haul from Kyle Walker and a hard-hitting cameo from Pat Giuffre led Orange City to a nervy victory over Cavaliers on Saturday, the win setting up a second consecutive Orange District Cricket Association second grade grand final showdown with Gladstone.
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Walker snared 4-35 to help the greens skittle Cavaliers for 133 before, with his side sitting precariously at 4-60 in its chase, Giuffre smashed a quick-fire 39 to catapult the Warriors to 6-123 when he was dismissed.
Orange City did lose another two wickets though, which made for a nervy final period as the greens’ lower order negotiated the remaining 11 runs needed.
The Warriors’ semi-final victory sets up a mouth-watering clash with Gladstone in the decider, which is a rematch of last year’s second grade grand final as well.
The latter side finished the regular season fourth, but annihilated the minor title-winning CYMS on the synthetic of Moulder Park on Saturday afternoon.
Luke Wilson (4-22) was the main destroyer as the green and golds – a side which had only lost two games until that point – was restricted to just 8-118 from their 40 overs.
Kyran Bubb (47) and Ray Milner (34 not out) did the bulk of the damage in the chase. Gladstone only lost four wickets as it chased the meagre total down, only using up 26 overs as well.
In third grade’s semi-finals Wanderers, as expected, took care of Waratahs to win through to the decider while Orange City upset CYMS Bourkes to eliminate the green and golds from the title race.
Nic Freedman (3-4) and Mark Wiegold (3-6) bowled miserly spells to roll the sky blues for 71, which should’ve been a simple chase for the minor premiers.
It wasn’t, Wanderers lost six wickets along the way. Kurt Gander (37 not out) made sure his side claimed a win though.
In Orange City’s win over CYMS, Mick Evans (3-8), Jason Corby (2-22), Mark Kennedy (2-19) and Shaun Kirby (2-6) all took multiple wickets as the Warriors skittle the Bourkes for 92.
Louis Shea (34 not out) and Evans (17 not out) combined for an unbeaten 37 run, fourth wicket partnership to get Orange City over the line easily.
Kinross Young Guns and Tens will face off in a local derby Centenary Cup grand final next weekend after the later side accounted for Cavaliers in Saturday’s preliminary final.
Angus Andrews compiled a well-made 27 to lead the Tens to 9-97 from their 35 overs, before Lachlan Hunt ran through, taking 5-6 as Cavaliers succumbed for 40.
All three lower grade grand finals will be contested on Saturday afternoon.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
