The Soldiers Club have brought the Royal Hotel Pirates crashing back to earth, after easily accounting for them in the major semi-final at Victoria Park.
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The Pirates were on a high after claiming the minor premiership against the same opponent last weekend, but they were a shadow of that team on Saturday.
The Snipers won the toss and elected to bat on the turf pitch, with captain David Field (41) and Ben Mudaliar (27) getting them off to a solid start.
However, it was Craig Irwin’s 53 that really propelled the Snipers to the formidable total of 5/164 off their allotted overs. Chris Rawlinson also chipped in with a handy 20 late in the innings. Both Shaun Davis and Alex Waters toiled with the ball, but could only claim two wickets each.
In response, Pirates batsmen Tom Parr (25) and Matt Lawrence (23) performed well, but they received little help from teammates.
Craig Irwin continued his stellar day out and had the ball on a string, taking five wickets for 22 runs to help restrict the Royal Hotel side to just 78.
In the minor semi-final the Buffaloes proved too good for the Yass Golf Club.
Bowning won the toss and batted first with David Brown (47) and Beau Walker (35), kick-starting what was to be a strong first innings.
The ever-reliable Andrew Swaffield (55) posted another half-century and both Mark Dyball (19) and Jim Burleigh (16) chipped in.
After an impressive 45 overs the Buffaloes had 193 runs on the board, having lost just four wickets.
The Piranhas were stubborn in response but were eventually all out for 145 in the 39th over.
Adam Forth (30) and Daniel Kemp (38) batted well, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Golf Club in the Triggs Shield title race.
Swaffield and Brown were able to continue their good form, taking three wickets apiece.
With the Snipers progressing to the decider, Bowning have a date with the Pirates at Victoria Park tomorrow, starting at 12pm.
In the Sweeney Cup the Soldiers Club Horns edged the Dingoes in a thriller at Dalton Oval.
The Soldiers Club won the toss and batted, with Josh Payton (63) and Luke Darmody (38) helping the visitors to 168 before they were bowled out.
Dalton’s Brent Poidevin and Michael Poidevin were most impressive with the ball, taking four and three scalps respectively.
Brent Poidevin was just as good when it was his side’s turn to bat, opening up with an impressive 61-run innings. Brent Poidevin has been, arguably, the form batsman of the Sweeney Cup and his teammates will be hoping that will continue next week.
He got strong support from number three batsman Neil Corby (54), but what was to follow was a disastrous batting collapse.
The last five batsmen could only manage five runs between them and the Dingoes fell two short of the 169-run target. Joe Logue was the pick of the bowlers for the Horns, taking three wickets for just nine runs.
In the Sweeney Cup’s minor semi-final Gundaroo put an end to Bookham’s 2014/15 season.
Bookham won the toss and in a poor move, elected to field. Gundaroo proceeded to thrive on the Bookham pitch, scoring 8/202 off its 40 overs.
Clint Harvey (50) and D Glass (27) were the pick of the batsmen and Gundaroo was further helped by the 22 extras committed by the Bulls bowling attack.
Andrew Harding was the saving grace for Bookham, toiling with the ball and taking four wickets to help keep the score a chaseable one.
When it was their turn to bat, the Bulls looked lost with serial run-scorers Elliot Southwell (4), Roy Robertson (2) and Brad Hazell (6) all dismissed cheaply.
Tailenders David Hazell (46) and Sean McMullen (35) were inspirational late on, but it was too little too late, with Gundaroo wrapping things up in 31st over.
While the Soldiers Club have earnt the week off, Dalton will play Gundaroo for a spot in the decider.