End of the line for Tigers

THE season is officially over for the A grade Tigers after losing their final match of the year to Wangaratta Magpies. Resuming at 0/4 at the Wangaratta Showgrounds, the Magpies breezed past the asking total of 111, piling on the pain to finish the match at 7/293. Jarryd Wallace was content to dig in, but edged one off Bailey Wyatt for only one, with the Magpies immediately on the back foot at 1/5. Dean Simmons would continue on, combining with skipper Cooper Matheson for a match-winning partnership of 137 runs. Simmons seized on any loose delivery, keeping a resolute defence for his 43 from 120, while the power hitting came from the other end. Matheson was imperious, clobbering 92 runs from just 101 deliveries to help lift his side over the line. After Matheson was dismissed, edging Wyatt to first slip, Jack Davies would continue the damage. Combining with Oliver Andrew (28 off 64), Davies would carve out a handy half century to boost the total past 200. Wyatt was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/56 from 14 overs, while Geeth Alwis picked up a wicket to draw level at the top of the A grade aggregate bowling charts. Ovens Valley United’s Dylan Bursill said the Magpies batters were better on the day. “They batted pretty well, to be honest,” he said. “We were a little bit flat, knowing it was a dead rubber for us. “We dropped a couple of easy catches in the field which didn’t help early on, so it was a long day. “The ground was still a bit slow too, so for them to score 293 was a really good batting effort by them. “They hit a few sixes as well “There were a few positives, we gave a few of the young fellas a bowl, Bailey Wyatt bowled really well with his left-arm pace, that was a positive. “Geeth really didn’t want to bowl even though he was right up there with the aggregate, he just wanted to give the others a bowl.” Despite not making finals, Bursill said the club was in an incredibly strong position both on and off the field. “I think the club’s in a really good position off-field,” Bursill said. “On-field, Geeth’s warming to his role - I think Geeth’s done a really good job, he’s led by example really well, and his coaching’s really good too. “It’s exciting for the young guys coming through to watch that and learn from some of his innings, how he bowls and how he sets fields. “I think we’re in a tricky position where there are a couple of older guys and our young fellas are still young, so we might have to recruit a couple of blokes in that middle age, which is hard to do these days. “There aren’t many blokes in that 22-30 age bracket who want to play cricket, so it’s really hard. “That’s where our club’s finding it hard, we haven’t got many players in that age group who want to play cricket, it’s a bit tough. “Hopefully we can convince a few blokes, maybe past players to come back and play.”

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