VECC Under 15's take on leaders and show considerable improvement

Match Report-Under 15 /2s Vs Waratah Mayfield
This was the weekend we knew we had to take on the top placed team. They had scored twice as many runs as had been scored against them with three comprehensive victories …. but a good training session in the nets had us primed for a good game.
We were without Daniel Gustard who was away, so it was left to Dom Bizzarri to lead the team.
Waratah/Mayfield won the toss and decided to bat and try and post a score. They certainly are a classy outfit and batted very steadily at the opening of the innings. Our bowlers were bowling beautifully restricting the scoring but wickets were hard to come by.
The openers, Matt Clancy; 5 overs 1 for 17 and Dylan Garland 6 overs 1 for 23 were outstanding.
They were very well supported by: Hayden Farrell; 5 overs 2 for 29, Barney Sheargold 4 overs 0 for 22 and Dom Bizzarri 3 overs 0 for 12.
They finished on 5 for 155 of 30 overs we had done a great job to restrict them.
The coach and the supporters agreed that a score over 100 would be a great result for us.
The Valentine run chase began in earnest. Matt Clancy and Scott Rumford opened the batting and the runs were flowing; after 6 overs we were 34 runs without losing a wicket. Matt Clancy was bowled for 17 and Dom Bizzarri came to the wicket. Dom was playing beautifully with his first 4 scoring shots netting 14 runs. Scott Rumford was out for 12 in the 10th over and Dylan Garland came in and kept up the pace.
The top team was a showing some signs of concern at 2 for 75 off 15 overs; yes they were definitely worried… very worried.
It was then that they bought on their fastest bowler. He has only bowled a handful of overs in juniors this year as they want him to bowl his full 12 overs in seniors in the afternoon. He had scored 40 odd runs as the opening batsmen and proved to be pretty slick as a bowler.
He hit Dom Bizzarri a sickening blow in the …box and like any red blooded boy, he took some time to recover. Dom was out two balls later sorry but it is true!!!
When he came off and removed his protective gear we realized how lucky he was to come through unscathed as his box was shattered. OOH makes you wince!
At 3 for 81 Dylan was batting well and was being supported by Alec Stocker and Hayden Farrell. But it was at this point that wickets began to fall at 97, 104, 109, 110, 112 and finally at 119.
While it may look like a comprehensive victory to the Ladder Leaders all of us there were so proud of the way these boys (and girl) played. The improvement in their cricket, their team spirit and their support for each other is great to watch. Russell and I are sure that a win is just around the corner.
Peter