Under-13s take cricket grand final

The Umina Under-13a cricket team won a grand final victory over Matcham on Saturday, March 29.

On a very slow James Brown Oval, Umina batted first and ground out 110 runs from their 50 overs.

Daniel Friend (32) held the innings together receiving strong support from Chris Clement (18) and Matthew Jones (16), while the late order partnership between Evan Smith (9*) and Daniel Bryant (11) proved to be crucial as the game unfolded.

Best bowling figures were those of Evan Smith (3/19) and Matthew Jones (2/13) and they combined with a brilliant but unlucky Chris Brown - 0/17 from 10 overs including four maidens.

Tight fielding from all the Umina boys saw pressure build on Matcham and two crucial run-outs came from dynamic throws from Shane Burraston and Matt Jones.

Two crucial wickets at vital stages had huge impact on the result.

Daniel Friend removed Matcham's top scorer Alex Patterson who had blasted his way to 34 in quick time.

This began to slow the Matcham momentum to a point were they lost their last five wickets for 24 runs.

The final blow was Chris Clement's screaming delivery that knocked all three stumps out of the ground and gave Umina victory by three runs.

This was the 11th straight victory for the team and added the Premiership to their already great summer that saw them as minor premiers..

The boys will receive their Premiership baggy's and trophy at Mingara on May 7.

Kerrie Friend, April 1