Barrage of Bouncers at Barnett Park

The penultimate round of the season saw The Neuf up against the top team Sumner at Barnett Park. With Barnett Park being a very small ground square of the wicket, we were not really wanting to chase leather all day so the plan was to bat first if we won the toss. Unfortunately they were able to win the toss and sent us in to the field.

With the new ball on one of the dodgiest pitches we have played on this season the first few overs saw it nip around a bit and we got one of them back in the shed early. But that was about the highlight for us in the first 20 as they proceeded to dispatch us to and over the boundary at regular intervals. So at drinks Sumner were 117/2. The heads were down but the beer was tasting rather refreshing as we contemplated what the next 20 overs had in stall for us. Well something must have been in that beer because Corey and Grant bowled in tandem and started taking wickets in an inspired bowling spell. In the next ten overs The Neuf had changed the game taking 8 wickets for 40 runs as Sumner went from going at nearly 6 runs an over to being all out for 157, with Corey and Grant taking 5 and 4 wickets respectively.

But we still had to bat.

It is fair to say that this part of the game has not been one of the strengths this year for The Neuf. We were once again like the Black Caps looking for another opening pairing to see the shine off the new ball. With the grit shown last week Scarf was drafted again to open, and as there was no other volunteers willing to take the challenge I promoted myself to partner Scarf at the top of the innings. The theory being I was going to just grind out the first stanza in order to protect the others coming in after me. What we had not taken in to account was the fact that these a-holes thought we must have been back in the Body-Line series as they sent down short ball after short ball.

As balls whizzed by just missing our heads, wickets fell around me and I was trying to remain positive and not be intimidated by their filthy tactics. That was until I was unable latch on to a slower bouncer that just held up off the pitch and hit me square in the jaw. Wanting to just shake it off and keep it going for the team it was soon evident not all was well as a bit of a gash opened up and blood started pouring out. As I left the field to get some makeshift patch work done the wickets kept falling and we kept getting hit as Corey took one to the head that gave him a bit of a shiner, the temporary patch work did not stem the flow and off I went to get stitched up feeling gutted I had let the team down by not being able to get back out there to try and win the game. By all accounts from the guys we put up a little resistance down in the tail but were eventually gone for 94 the lowest score we have had this season.

So another pretty good effort with the ball but once again the job with the willow let us down. As we play the final game next week against Old Blue's team I think we will be looking to finish on a high and put in a complete performance.

M. Mace

P.S.

As a footnote we did get told from Sumner that they have played about 80% of their games at Barnett Park, no wonder they have won the comp if they are trying to hit every batsman in the head with their bowling.

The SNCC Youth Academy Bears Its Fruit

This Saturday saw us play at another new and unfamiliar ground at Centennial Park against an Addington team we beat on the last ball in the first round. With numbers looking a bit tight after a late, season ending injury to Matt Gower the Neuf needed to replenish the stocks from the Youth Academy. Which saw the call-up of a young 17 year old by the name of Daniel Messervy.

Having seen quite a bit of rain the day before looking at the pitch you could tell that it was a crucial toss to win since some parts of the pitch were actually a bog. We won the toss and sent them in to bat confident of nabbing a few early wickets and not having many runs to chase. Addington shut up shop straight away and the pitch did not seem to play too badly considering. Going into drinks they were on a respectable 76/2.

After drinks saw the young man come in to the attack. A nervous start saw him take a bit of tap in the first over and the selectors wondered if it had been a good idea bringing him in to the side this early. He soon composed himself and bowled a good spell of 8 overs, 4 wickets, for 32 runs, returning the faith the selectors had in him.

Set 163 to win, it was probably a few more runs than we wanted to chase since we had lost our usual opening pairing of Richard and Reid. So a makeshift pair of Scarf and Kelvin were asked for some grit up the top in order for us to get home. Sadly only two overs were enough to break the partnership, and another wicket followed shortly after that. Hopes were still high as the Neuf's Premier All Rounder strode to the wicket with Scarf. But, after hitting a glorious 6 down the ground he to was marching back to the pavilion. The middle order put up little or no resistance and once the gritty innings from Scarfy ended the tail was exposed.

With plenty of overs left and around 100 runs to get, the stand-in skipper Matt Mace and the young Daniel set about resurrecting the innings. Whilst the skip wanted to just try and swing at everything to get the game over with the cool young head convinced him that it was not out of our reach and played a supporting role as Dan started putting them to all parts of the boundary.
Unfortunately it was all in vain as Dan departed for a handy 33 we were bundled out for 117

So another loss goes down in the book but the future is looking bright for future seasons.

I would also like to thank Richard and Bevan for their help in bringing together the vision I had for the SNCC stumps. They looked awesome out there on the field, especially when Tom sent the middle stump flying out of the ground.

M. Mace

Seasons End Family BBQ

Notice is hereby given of the upcoming Seasons End BBQ to be held at the Principle Seat of His Most Excellent Excellency March 27 at close of days play.

All members/players and partners and offspring and dogs(on leads) are cordially invited. Gas and Butterfly Lamb provided, bring a salad and a banger or a lefty, pinky, sandal- wearing tofu pattie that we may openly challenge your sexuality on account of, and something refreshing to drink
(I draw your attention to the links at right in this regard). And perhaps a chair also.

Two matches left Gentlemen...Onward The Order of The Triple Swine!

PS: Skippy's back - a tally bloody ho!

Brown Brown's at Bower Park

The latest draw of the 4A grade saw the Neuf rostered to play at the home of Otautahi Rugby against New Brighton Gold. As one could imagine it was not the most idyllic of places to play, combined with the fact we were to play on an artificial pitch, something the Neuf has not done since it dominated teams at Burnside Park many seasons ago. We felt it necessary then to purchase a couple of big red suitcases of Brown Brown's to get into the vibe of the place.

The day also saw the return of another stalwart in Kyle Rennie pulling on the colour for the SNCC. Having beat NB Gold in the first round we knew if we could get some good runs on the board we would have a good chance of winning again. This time however they had a new bowler who some of the lads had been told the night before could bowl in excess of 130kmph. He soon accounted for two top order wickets, but Cameron and Shaun Knapp set about dispatching a few balls to the boundary. This resistance was short lived as another couple of men fell and was up to Cameron and Tom McRae to be the rocks in the middle order. A valiant half century and a few starts by the lower order and tail saw the Neuf get through to 202/9.

The team felt once again that we had fallen a bit short in the runs department. The bowling effort did not start the best and were on the end of a bit of tap. But an inspired yet slightly intoxicated bowling change saw Spackman take a much needed wicket. Unfortunately that would be about as much in the game as we would get. Having one of the more potent bowling attacks in the grade, we struggled to get any penetration on the artificial pitch. We had a chance when their top batsmen hit a lolly of a catch to Luke at short mid-wicket which he butchered, from then on the heads went down and so did a few more beers as we plunged in the end to a fairly hefty defeat as their top batsmen hit a six to win the game and get a century in the process.

Only three weeks to go in the anniversary season for the SNCC, so anyone who was thinking about playing a game before the end of the season better get in quick!

M. Mace