NORTH OTAGO
- Terry O'Neill
Valley and Union were winners in the first round of the Dick Hunt Trophy played in Oamaru on Saturday.
Albion won the toss and put Valley in to bat and after 15 overs Valley was 44 for one. Nine overs later Valley looked strong at 71 for two but then lost four wickets for the addition of only 22 runs with Albion captain Ricky Whyte taking six for 24 off his 10 overs.
Valley added a further 61 runs before the 10th wicket fell at 154 in the 48th over with James McNally adding 31 and Gareth Duncan taking two for 29.
Albion slumped to 74 for six after 22 overs but Jeremy Smith (39) and Scott Guyton (21) took the side within sight of victory before the 10th wicket fell 16 runs short. Hamish McKenzie took three for 33, Blair Malcolm, two for 19 and James McNally, two for 33.
• Oamaru decided to bat first on its home ground against Union and was dismissed for 159 in the 45th over.
Josh Gutsell made 25 up the order but it was an unbeaten 48 from Matt Murphy that gave the Oamaru total substance. Craig Robertson took three for 15 for Union with Glynn Cameron and Isaac Shields taking two wickets each.
Cameron (51 not out) and Paul Johnston (53 not out) put Union through to 161 for four with Josh Gutsell taking two for 15 and Gary Clearwater two for 25.
Bowls
Meadowbank won the right to represent the North Otago Centre in the regional playoffs when it won the local interclub women's sevens on Saturday. Meadowbank finished with four wins and a differential of +19 ahead of Phoenix, three wins and minus four, with Awamoa in third place with two wins and minus 15.
Meadowbank's Anne McDonald won both of her singles with wins over Colleen Hamilton (25-19) and Kerry Kelly (25-20). Phoenix skip Brenda Direen won both her games with wins over Dorothy Breen (16-15) and Joan Larcombe (18-13) while in the fours Awamoa's Wilmae Caldwell beat Brenda Hope (20-9) and Daphne Campbell (20-4).
Rowan Breen and lead Mike Blyth took the Centre pairs title yesterday defeating Ken Piner and Bill Kingan in the final, 20-7. Breen was one of the seven qualifiers and in postsection play beat Bruce Kelly (20-18) and Doug Harwood (20-9), while Piner won his way through with wins over Trevor Wilson (12-11) and Colin Falconer (13-12).
Breen led from the start in the final, leading 7-2 after five ends. He extended this to 13-2 after eight ends. Piner picked up three shots on the next end but Breen surged away with seven shots on the next two ends, then Piner conceded.
Softball
Dodgers took an early lead over Industries with a run in its first innings with the opposition unable to score in its first turn at bat. Dodgers doubled its lead in the second innings with Hayden James getting home.
Industries struggled against the accurate pitching of Michael Familton who struck out the first three batters in Industries' third innings. The batting power of Dodgers continued with six runs coming in the third innings courtesy of a home run by C. J. Smith with the bases loaded. Wayne Kinzett put Industries on the board but Dodgers wrapped up the game with a single.
Tennis
Waimanui and Hampden won their games in the Southern sub-association tennis on Saturday.Waimanui beat Weston 6-3, winning five of the six singles but losing two of the three doubles games. For Weston Jeremy Ferguson had a 9/4 win over Dave Robins.
Hampden was too strong for Waikouaiti with a 7-2 win with Justin Lobb and Shelley Rowland scoring wins for Waikouaiti and Hampden beat Oamaru Central by six matches to three.
CENTRAL OTAGO
- Rhys Chamberlain
In the final round of Vincent twenty/20 cricket matches before finals day next weekend Cromwell beat Queenstown at Anderson Park on Saturday afternoon.
Batting first, the home side scored 152 for the loss of four wickets with Mark Knox not out on 47 at the end of the innings. He had support at the crease from Ross Anderson, who scored 38 off 28 balls. Sean McKone was the best of the Queenstown bowlers, picking up two for 19 off four overs.
Queenstown came up nine runs short in the reply, getting through to 143 for six after 20 overs. New Otago rugby signing Michael Collins continued his good cricket form, scoring 46 from 44 balls. He was eventually dismissed thanks to a Knox runout. His 71 came on the back of two hundreds last weekend at the Gillette Cup where he was playing for Otago Boys' High School. However, he had little support with the bat and Andy Ritchie's two wickets helped stem the flow of runs.
• At Alexandra, the home side made 151 all out to beat Albion by 16 runs. Captain Brendan Domigan was again in excellent batting form scoring 48 but the bowling of Richard McLeod with three for 25, Ryan Wheeler with two for 22 and three runouts kept the total within reach.
Albion could only manage 135 for seven in 20 overs, Wheeler the top batsman with 55.
• The third match of the weekend featured Dunstan picking up a very good win over Blacks Hill at Clyde by 12 runs.
The home side put a total of 171 for three together off 20 overs, Hadley Grubb (36), Nathan Hawker (35) and Scott Paulin (30) the best of the Dunstan batsmen.
Blacks Hill was cut short by the bowling of Alistair Banks, who picked up three for 22 but not before Tom Cooney made a match of it scoring 70.
The final of the twenty/20 competition will be played between Cromwell and Queenstown at Cromwell this weekend after Cromwell finished two points clear of Queenstown in the standings.
Blacks Hill and Alexandra will play off for third and fourth at Poolburn.
The Koford Cup 50-over competition will start on January 7.
• In the Maniototo Eastern Districts competition, Ranfurly continued its winning ways by accounting for Waikouaiti by 45 runs. It has lost just one match this season.
At Waikouaiti, the visitors put together a competitive 179 for eight off 40 overs. Kieran Parker was instrumental with the bat, scoring 104. He was the only batsman to stand out as Waikouaiti bowlers Warren Simpson and Chris Vickery picked up five Ranfurly wickets between them.
The chase from the home side saw it bowled out for 134, 45 runs short of the target.
Murray Dempster was again his side's best, scoring 29, but he had help from Barry Hansen (21), Aaron Ray (18) and Simpson (18). Ranfurly's Luke Steele took four for 28 and Steve Pringle had figures of three for 9 to ensure Waikouaiti would not chase down the target.
• Palmerston scored a five-wicket win over Gimmerburn at Gimmerburn.
The home side was rolled for just 78, Charlie Hore a beacon of hope before he was out for 22.
Palmerston chased the total down with relative ease, the visitors losing five wickets in the process.
Naseby beat Macraes by default.
Softball
It was semifinals time for Central Otago softball and the one match that was played in the A grade saw a lopsided affair, Dunstan hammering Queenstown 25-5. Sophie Johns, Jenna Keane and Danielle Tohill all featured with home runs for Dunstan in the win.
The other scheduled semifinal match between Alexandra and Dunstan Ex Girls was won by default by Alexandra.
In the B grade, Maniototo Area School beat Dunstan B 17-10 with a triple play by Colleen Hollows the defining moment in the match.
Junior Boys beat Junior Girls 8-0 in the second semi.
Bowls
It was the Clyde teams who put up the best showing in round 10 of the ECNZ Trophy competition in Alexandra over the weekend. Both Clyde 1 and Clyde 2 picked up three wins along with Alexandra SL and Roxburgh. Four teams, Alexandra CB, Clyde 5, RSA 1 and RSA 5 all finished the round without a win.
The round leaves Alexandra SL clear by three points at the top of the standings.
Out West, Queenstown is six points clear of Wanaka and 10 ahead of Bannockburn to lead its competition.
SOUTH OTAGO
- Norman Woods
Clinton continued on its winning way, in the latest round of South Otago club cricket, holding off Lawrence to win by 20 runs.
Batting first, Clinton scored 193 for five wickets, with Kerry Craig showing the way with 87, supported by Kurt Thomson with 57. Best bowling for Lawrence came from Tony Omelvena with three for 33 and Adam Wilson one for 26.
Lawrence n reply could only manage 173 for eight from 40 overs. Mark Paterson top-scored for Lawrence with 40, followed by Sam Wyber with 27. Best bowling for Clinton came from Lachie Johnston with two for 21.
Kaitangata began well against Owaka, scoring 35 for the first wicket and then added 98 for the second wicket as they reached 209 for seven at the end of 40 overs. Roger Pennell top-scored with 57, with Matt Herring and Brad Storer each contributing 51 runs. Best Bowling for Owaka came from Jamie Shaw with three for 43 and Reece Pullar, two for 32.
In reply, Owaka were all out for 136. Jeremy Gray (32) and Quentin Gare (30) were the main contributors. Mark Phillips was impressive for Kaitangata taking four for 18 from seven overs. Brady Carmichael (two for 33) and Matt Herring (two for 22) ensured Kaitangata secured the win.
Bowls
Round seven of the men's interclub competition was played on Saturday, with leaders, Kaka Point scoring 8-4 win over Lawrence. For Kaka Point, Ken Stephens, John Hurst, John Bisset and Graeme Thomas all scored wins. Best for Lawrence came from Geoff Slack with two very good wins.
Finegand were too good for Milton Blue, winning by 9-3. For Finegand, Jack Harrold scored two wins, while Wally Melvin and Charlie Wyndham, helped out with one win each. In a pairs game, Wyndham partnered with Blue Andrews, played a thriller against Bill McDonald and Dave Robinson, and the game ended at 19-all.
Stirling and T and C drew 6-all in their game at Stirling. For T and C, Bruce Campbell picked up two wins, including the day's highest score. In a triples game, Campbell was too good for Bob Sanders, winning by 33-3. Max Collet, Bob Sanders and John Sutherland were the best for Stirling.
In the local derby at Milton, the White team drew with the Gold team six games all. For the White team, Murray Grant scored two wins, while Alan Philip picked up the other two-pointer. For the Gold team, Max Taylor, Colin Smith and Ian Wyber scored one win each.
