Semi Final Match Report –Manly Warringah versus North Shore @
Hassell Park, St Ives
Full scorecard: Match Details | NSW Youth Championships (nswyc.com.au)
Manly 2/67 [Henry Matthews 24, Charlie Bradstreet 21, Guy Jenkin 10, Aidan Kurtis 9]
beat North Shore 66 [Jayden Cook 4/10, Conor Mulcahy 2/9, Dylan Thompson 1/6, Will
Cunningham 1/7, Archie Cooper 1/15]
Catches: Jayden Cook, Conor Mulcahy 2 each, Henry Matthews, Ollie Cassie 1 each
Run Out: Guy Jenkins 1
The semi-final of the U13 Div 2 NSW Youth Championships saw the Manly boys head out to
a rather sodden Hassell Park to play North Shore. With the opposition unable to provide a
backup ground, Manly presented a number of dry and available options to move the game
which were unfortunately turned down by our opponents. There was no chance of play
starting before mid-day so while the Manly parents kept soaking up water from the pitch, we
kept the boys relaxed and ready to play. Play would kick off right on midday when the pitch
was deemed fit by the Umpires, but we were already warned that if any one skidded the
match would be called off.
With things on a knife edge, Manly’s captain Will Cunningham won the toss, putting North
Shore in to bat to control things from our side in the hope the pitch dried out and eliminated
any threat of the match being called off if the opposition skidded, which would have seen the
lower ranked Manly team eliminated.
We were back to a full complement of players this week, as Will Cunningham returned to
resume skipper duties, while James Pallant, Guy Jenkin and Will Jenkin were back among
the team this week which gave everyone a boost.
Will Cunningham took the new ball with Archie Cooper and opened the attack. Once again,
we didn’t need to wait long for the first wicket with Guy Jenkin striking in the 2nd over to send
the opener on his way with a direct hit run out. Next over, Henry Matthews took arguably the
catch of the season low to his left off a sharp edge from Will Cunningham’s swing bowling that
was otherwise destined for a boundary. 2/4 was a dream start.
Conor Mulcahy opened his spell with a maiden, followed by a wicket maiden as he bowled a
great ball that hit the top of the stump to send panic into the home team at 3/9 after 7.
Jayden Cook started with his usual pace and was rewarded with 2 wickets thanks to a good
catch by Conor Mulcahy at mid off, then an LBW shout that went his way a few overs later
leaving North Shore in trouble at 5/23 after 16.
With drinks approaching, we brought our spin on and Dylan Thompson started with a
maiden and Freddie Schneidereit was also miserly ensuring North Shore struggled to 5/27
at drinks.
We continued our spin after drinks, with Dylan Thompson firing a quicker straight one at the
stumps, that was missed and had the bails flying. Now 6/32, North Shore needed to dig in,
and they put on a 21 run partnership over the next 9 overs before Ollie Cassie took a clean
one-handed reflex catch off Archie Cooper’s bowling.
It was no surprise Ollie took the catch, he had been stopping almost everything coming past
him all day, not unlike James Pallant who was able to stop a ball fired at him despite the
splint protecting his finger.
Shortly after Conor Mulcahy claimed a 2nd wicket maiden, courtesy of the safe hands of
Jayden Cook to make it 8/55 with 7 overs left. North Shore never saw all those overs, as
Jayden Cook struck twice in the 36th over – with an overhead catch to Conor Mulcahy at
mid-off and a caught and bowled off a leading edge to end the inning. North Shore bowled out
for 66.
It was the team’s best fielding performance by some margin, making amends for a previous
encounter between the teams at the same venue earlier in the season.
After our well earned lunch break, we carried the momentum into our batting innings, with
Henry Matthews and Aidan Kurtis showing our intent, running a single from ball one and
then a 2 a few balls later, maintaining a rate around 3 across our first 10 overs. They then
brought on spin, with immediate effect as Henry 24(42) was out hitting one back to the
bowler. Charlie Bradstreet then joined Aidan, and an early run-out near miss had the boys a
little rattled and allowed the opposition to bowl a few maidens and build pressure.
Our U13 Div 1 team had showed up to support the boys, after their success against similar
opposition earlier in the day, which gave our boys a lift.
Unfortunately Aidan Kurtis 9(38) was caught trying to up the rate leaving us at 2/34 in the
16th over, still 33 runs adrift. Guy Jenkin saw out a maiden as he sought to get us to drinks
with his wicket intact.
With a score of 2/41, the discussion at drinks centred on taking on the bowlers, hitting gaps
and most importantly running hard. This resonated with Guy and Charlie, who ran a 2 on
resumption, followed by 3 more singles to set a tone for the next 8 overs. With their Div 1
mates looking on from the boundary, the boys ran like men possessed, and Charlie showed a
deft touch to drop and run a cheeky single that had us within touching distance of victory. In
the end Guy Jenkin 10* (41) hit the winning single, with Charlie Bradstreet not out on
21*(50) in an unbeaten 3rd wicket partnership of 33.
A very satisfying win on so many levels, not least of which was the superb team first mindset
demonstrated in the field in the first inning, after training hard on that all week … and a great
running effort by our batsmen.
Thanks again to all parents that rallied to get the boys on a playable pitch… a real team effort
on and off the field.
Onwards to the Grand Final against Penrith next week.
Go Manly!
