Weekly Update 2nd March

Welcome to this week’s Rovers update.

As we edge closer to the end of the season, it’s hard not to reflect on what a year it has been for Rovers. From our juniors right through to senior grades, the commitment, sportsmanship and club spirit have been outstanding.

A huge good luck to our Rovers boys representing Peninsula this week. Pulling on representative colours is a great achievement and a testament to the hard work you’ve put in all season. The entire club is proud of you. Photo below of Will, Blake, Brodie, Tommy, Archie, Lucas and Ian.

Don’t forget to lock in our End of Season Presentation Night at the Red Beret. It’s always a fantastic evening celebrating our players, volunteers and families, and recognising the effort that has gone into the season across all grades.

Mark your calendars now and come along to help us wrap up the year in true Rovers style.

Let’s finish the season strong and continue to support each other both on and off the field.

ALL GRADE RESULTS 

TWOMEY SCHRIBER PROPERTY GROUP 1ST GRADE

Rovers faced cross-town rivals Norths on a hot and sticky day at Griffith Park. Winning the toss, Norths elected to bat.

Tommy King started strongly, creating two chances in the opening over. Rovers struck early in the second, with a sharp catch from Tadgh McDavitt off the bowling of Marcus Berryman to dismiss Corey Domic. Rovers continued to bowl well, and when Elliot Lord and then Coby Edmondstone were dismissed, Norths were in trouble at 3/48.

Norths’ middle order then dug in, with Daniel Freebody and Tom Harslett adding a steady 40-run partnership. Archie Ferguson provided the much-needed breakthrough after a tight spell, removing Harslett. Freebody continued to tick the scoreboard over, but disciplined bowling from Henry King and Brenton Edwards at the back end saw Rovers regain control, eventually dismissing Norths for 140.

In reply, Rovers didn’t get the start they were after, losing Dev and Kael early. Edwards looked dangerous before being dismissed for 15, and after a few clean strikes, Berryman fell for a quickfire 27. Wickets continued to fall before Tommy King and Brodie North combined for a promising 45-run partnership that looked capable of getting Rovers over the line. Unfortunately, both were dismissed in quick succession, and Rovers were bowled out for 120.

The loss sees Rovers narrowly miss out on finals contention with one game remaining. However, there is still plenty to play for as Rovers look to finish the season strongly when they take on Mareeba next week.

RED BERET 2ND GRADE

Rovers 163-6 defeated Punjabis 90.

A thoroughly enjoyable win for the 2s to finish the home and away season off in style.

We were sent in after losing the toss. Joel (34) in a new role, put away sensibly the bad deliveries on a slow outfield. Value for shots was a no no this afternoon but the 80 run stand between Chaddy (64) & Xavier (23) was excellent if not outstanding given the conditions we were faced. We finished on 163 after our innings.

In response, Thresher (3/13) struck in his first over to get the wicket party started, with Xavier joining quickly after. Our bowlers were certainly backed up in the field, a stand out was Lockie’s slip catch in the opening overs. Everyone who had a chance to bowl, bowled really well…showing the great depth we have at the club. The win was sealed in the 31st over. Great work team!

A nice period for the 2s with a run of solid performances paying off. Let’s train hard the next couple of weeks, keep moral up and get around eachother. Don’t take this for granted, yewww.

FGF DEVELOPMENTS 3RD GRADE

FGF Development Rovers 93l ost to Bhutanese Rovers 5-94

3RD GRADE BHUTANESE ROVERS

5-94 defeated FGF Development Rovers 93

HALPIN PARTNERS COLTS (CPL)

Halpin Partners Rovers CPL Colts (8-203) beat Norths 99

A special opportunity for our fellas to play at Cazaly…..and it was sunny!

Ian won the toss and put us into bat. We batted well with a great contribution from Will Palmer (25/37) gradually returning to form after injury. A magnificent century partnership between an outstanding Lucas Brierley (77/64) and his ever reliable supporter Taj Walker (29/67) took us from 61 to 161, setting us up strongly. With further sensible batting in the tail we set North’s 204 to win.

North openers put on a solid opening partnership, eventually broken by Ian. Then entered Carter Peters, coming up from Tier 3, who took 3 wickets for 13 runs off 7 overs from his very consistent off spin. He was backed up by an excellent bowling performance from Taj Walker with 2 wickets for 5 runs off 5 overs. The wickets tumbled and with further good bowling all round we managed to hold Norths to 99.

It was a memorable day with Taj notching up his 100th game with Rovers.

A special thank you to Sanet for scoring the whole game and for Jacinta for a great afternoon tea.

Awards went to Carter, Lucas and Taj.

TIER 3 U18 FNQ NATURE TOURS ROVERS

FNQ Nature Tours Rovers 3-84 defeated Barron River 75

TIER 3 U18 SUPER GLOBAL SERVICES ROVERS

Rovers 3/101 defeated Cyclones 7/100

If anyone needed proof that the business end of the season has arrived, this was it. Second versus third on the ladder, one round to go, and a game that may well decide who finishes 2nd going into the finals.

The Super Global Services Rovers didn’t just turn up, they put on an absolute cricket clinic at GP1.

Captain Mungus won the toss and elected to bowl, and from ball one Hughie and Evan built suffocating dot-ball pressure. The Cyclones batters were immediately under the pump, struggling to score runs.
Then the ball was handed to Riley who bowled out of his skin. By the fifth ball of his spell neither Cass Coast batter wanted to be on strike. Chaos followed when our super sub Will Holloway produced some brilliant fielding and fired the ball in to Rocco for a sharp run out. The Super Global Services train had officially left the station.

Thomas and Riley tightened the vice even further. Then came what can only be described as the ball of the decade from Riley – a delivery that dismantled the in-form Cass Coast number three and may replay in his dreams every time he closes his eyes this week.

The top order procession continued. Sharp catching, relentless lines, and disciplined pressure had Cassowary Coast wobbling at drinks at 5/48 after 18 overs.

After the break, the pressure never eased. Wickets kept falling, scoring never accelerated, and our bowlers delivered a masterclass. Standouts included Riley the Destroyer with 2/9 off 6 overs, Luca 2/14 off 7, Bikram 1/13 off 5, and Joash 1/16 off 3. Thomas added two sharp catches as Cass Coast clambered to 7/100 off their 35 overs. A very chaseable target, but one that still required composure.

With the bat, Super Global Services looked like seasoned professionals. Thomas and Rocco opened confidently and looked in control before pushing for an ambitious second run. Rocco was sent for an early shower, and we lost a second wicket shortly after to keep things interesting.

That brought Thomas and Hughie together, and from that point it was calm, controlled, and clinical. The pair methodically built the chase, never looking rushed, never looking flustered. They controlled the bowling attack and quietly snuffed out any hope of a Cyclones comeback.
Hughie finished unbeaten on 39, Thomas contributed a classy 28, and by the time their partnership was broken, the poppers were practically out of the esky with just two runs needed.
Mungus strode in and fittingly struck the winning runs to seal a dominant victory with 10 overs to spare.

Players of the match went to Joash for some brilliant bowling with 1/16, Thomas for 2 great catches and a batting masterclass of 28 runs, and Riley for setting up the game with a bowling spell for the ages of 2/9 off 6 overs.

One round to go. Next week we face first-placed Barron in the perfect finals warm-up. Strap in. The Super Global Services Rovers are peaking at exactly the right time.

TIER 2 U 13 ZARRAFFAS ROVERS

Zarraffa’s Rovers 8/118 defeated Cyclones 8-97

The boys had been looking forward to playing on the turf of Cazaly’s for a couple of weeks. Losing the bat-flip could dampen the spirits as we went about our work in the field. Tight lines and a particularly tricky pitch saw regular wickets fall and we eventually bundled Cyclones out for 97. Neil took two wickets and Liam, Oliver, Andrew, Ronan and Will all chipped in with one each.

With the ball regularly keeping low, and the odd one keeping extra low, we knew that the opposition’s runs on the board were gold. However, steady and consistent contributions from everyone saw us comfortably pass the score and then be finally bowled out for 118.

Top scorers were Neil (22), Kai (12) and Alex M. (10).

TIER 2 U 13 WGC ROVERS

WGC Rovers 183 v Atherton 27.

As the boys bundled into the bus I donned my earmuffs and we headed up the mountain to Tolga. We got set up at the field to then be told it was the wrong one. This must have fired the boys up as we posted a very competitive 183 all out.

Isaak 29/32, Charlie 23/17, Aadit 34*/31, Riley 27*/23 and Jacob 17/15 all dominated the bowling with some sensational batting.

Jacob opened the bowling and must of thought he was a 10 pin bowler as he cleaned up one of the opener batters in the first over with a perfect strike. A slick run out from Riley and Oscar and a wicket from Aadit had the home side reeling after 2 overs. Jacob sent the stumps flying again in his second over and a Warne v Gatting like ball by Aadit pretty well put the game to bed.

Charlie and Ashton cleaned up the tail to have the game done and dusted by the 9th over. Jacob 2/12, Aadit 2/1, Charlie 2/2 and Ashton 1/1 all bowled out of their skin.

Players of the match went to Aadit Isaak, Riley and Jacob.

TIER 1 U11

AGL PAINTING ROVERS GREEN 

AGL Rovers Green 132 def Barron River 115.

After lending a few players to our opponents there were some immediate rivalries, even including a brother vs brother showdown between Josh and Charlie. Overall some tight bowling gave us a good start to the game. Roly was the leading wicket taker with 2. When the batting started, some explosive batting was on show with Charlie, Ollie, Roly, Henry and Luca all clearing the rope. In the end we held on despite losing a few wickets at the end.

Award winners were Charlie, Ollie and Henry. Thanks to Josh, Reuben and Emmett for filling in for the opposition.

TIER 1 U11
CNW ELECTRICAL ROVERS REDBACKS V ARCHER BODY CORP ROVERS

Rovers ABC 154 v Rovers Redbacks 139

It was great to see the sun out for another titanic green battle. Skipper Brianna won the toss for ABC and sent the Rebacks in. Progress was slow and steady until Shenuka (23) added some oomph to the innings. Though the runs flowed, so did the wickets with Aaron (3-6), Kitty (2-5) and Brianna (2-1) almost unplayable. Brilliant catches from Oscar and Teddy were highlights for ABC.

When it was ABCs turn to bat, an even contribution was made by all with Aaron (16) and Bradley (15) leading the charge. For the Redbacks Tiyan grabbed 2 wickets in his best spell to date and Damondeep snared a fine catch at midwicket.

The match got the close finished it deserved and both teams settled back for a well earned Bbq sausage at full-time. A fantastic morning for the future stars of our great club!