LJ Hooker League cricket: Wrap, results, standouts from round five

Catch up with a wrap of round five below as the ladder was turned upside down.

ALSTONVILLE SINKS PREMIERS

Alstonville has pulled off arguably the scalp of the season so far after defeating defending premiers Cudgen by 21 runs in a low-scoring contest at Hill Park Oval.

A stunning lone hand with the bat from skipper Kyle Yager helped the home side reach 127 before a brilliant team bowling performance skittled the Hornets for 106 to hand them their first loss of the season and push Alstonville into second place on the ladder.

“We were very, very happy with how it all went,” said Yager.

“Obviously we didn’t score as many runs as we would have liked. We knew it was a tricky wicket so we knew runs on the board were going to be huge.

“But I’m very happy with how we bowled and how we fielded to be able to defend that total. It was a massive effort. We spoke about how if we create 10 chances and take them all then we walk off the field winners. That was the main thing: just ticking it off one at a time.”

The Alstonville captain continued his outstanding run of form with a tremendous knock of 80, which constituted some 63 per cent of the team’s total runs, with the next best in the entire game being Cudgen’s Nathan Croft with 16.

After five games Yager is now well clear at the top of the competition as the leading runscorer with 302 at an average of 75.5.

“I’m probably one of the more experienced batters in our team and when I first came into first grade Hill Park was always tricky to play on, so I’ve always got experience on that,” he said.

“Because we’ve got such a young team, a lot of the boys just haven’t played on wickets like that. So I can tell them as much as I can and try and help them out but at the end of the day they’re going to get a ball that gets them in a bit of trouble, which happened to both teams.

“It was probably more experience and also having faith in the rest of my team,” he added.

“We were six out with about 15 overs to go but it wasn’t panic stations. I thought that we’ve still got 15 overs and I’ve got four other blokes who can hold the bat so I could keep batting the way I was going.”

After losing the toss and being sent into bat, Alstonville got off to a horror start as Ashley Thurgate was dismissed with the second ball of the game and Terry Murphy followed four overs later to leave the side at 2-7.

While Yager was a rock, at the other end wickets kept falling as the home side was reduced to 6-82 midway through the innings.

The Alstonville skipper brought up his half-century and started to put the foot down before eventually being dismissed for an outstanding knock of 80 from 98 balls. The team followed shortly after, all out for 127 from 37.1 overs.

It had been a wonderful performance with the ball from Cudgen, led by quick John Ainsworth, who took a stunning 4-15 from eight overs.

He was well supported by James Julius, Riley Weir and Hayden Wilson, who all picked up two each.

Cudgen’s good start to the game continued with the bat as openers Nathan Croft and Callum Gall putting on 34 for the first wicket, the biggest partnership in the match.

However just when it looked like the Hornets would cruise to the total, Alstonville’s brotherly duo of Will and Lachlan Barnes both struck to dismiss the openers in quick succession.

Following the breakthrough, right-arm quick Fergus Campey was introduced with devastating effect.

Striking with just his second ball, he took 5-26 from 7.5 overs to rip through the Cudgen line-up. All up, the defending premiers lost 8-57 to be bundled out for 106 inside 27 overs.

“They got off to a flyer but as soon as we took that first wicket we spoke about our Casino game and how they’d had one or two big partnerships but the game ebbs and flows, so if you break the partnership you’re right back in the game,” said Yager.

“Then we ended up taking wickets more consistently and it was probably at about four or five down that we thought, ‘We’re right in this.’

“It was still a pretty tight game when we had drinks at 20 overs: we still needed three or four wickets and they still needed 50-odd runs. There was a lot to play for, for both teams. But I told the boys to just keep ticking away and if we create another chance that’s another one for us.”

The skipper was also full of praise for his chief destroyer Campey, who has returned to the club after a couple of season in England.

“He’s come back and I’m just loving how he’s bowling. He did a lot of big spells of nine, 10 overs straight over, so he’s used to bowling a lot of overs.

“He’s just putting it on the spot, knows what to bowl when he’s at his best and was able to come out and keep taking wickets for us. He had a really good day.”

The result handed Cudgen its first loss of the season while it also continued Alstonville’s fantastic start to the campaign.

After just winning two games in a heavily rain-affected 2024/25 season, the team now has a record of three wins, one loss and one washout from the opening five rounds to be sitting in second place on the ladder.

“It is really good. We haven’t necessarily been on the winning end for the past couple of years, so the boys are really up and about at the moment and are really enjoying winning games,” said Yager.

“It’s a big month ahead for us, we’ve got Marist Brothers next week then Tweed, Terranora and Tintenbar, so they’re all teams that are winning a few games and have some really strong players. I keep telling the boys to keep playing our brand of cricket, keep enjoying it and results will come from all of that.”

TERRANORA SNAPS 15-YEAR HOOKER DROUGHT

Terranora Lakes has broken a 15-year drought after defeating local rivals the Tweed Banora Colts by three wickets at Dave Burns Field.

A great fightback with the ball saw the side bowl the Colts out for 192 before it overcame a middle-order collapse to chase down the runs with three overs to go to win its first game in the LJ Hooker League since 2010.

Returning to the top tier of Northern Rivers cricket this season for the first time in 15 years, Terranora had been competitive in its opening month and was denied a very good chance of victory due to the weather in round two. However the side managed to break through on a momentous day for the club.

“It was the best feeling beating the Colts,” said stand-in captain Matt Sutton.

“At the start of the year we had nine new players in first grade, everyone didn’t know each other so it’s obviously taken a couple of weeks to click.

“But from the club’s perspective, from where we were 10 years ago when we were on the brink of folding to having a first to fourth grade and juniors back again, it’s been awesome.”

In a seesawing contest, a few key moments really proved crucial in the context of the match.

The Colts were flying at 3-149 thanks to a nice 61 from opener Arren Laycock before a blistering period from quick Jack McDonald (3-23) and off-spinner Joshua Kinneally (2-27) turned the game on its head.

The pair combined to remarkably take five wickets in five consecutive overs as Tweed slumped to 8-166 in the blink of an eye.

“A couple of new boys to the club did really well,” said Sutton.

“Jack McDonald was awesome with the ball and probably could have got it earlier. He stood out with three quick wickets after drinks.

“Then Josh Kinneally tied up the other end with his off-spin and they couldn’t get him away. The boys were just right on top.”

He added: “To fight back and get them out for 190-odd was great, especially when we could have been on the back foot not having a win. But the boys didn’t go into their shell and stood up with the ball, which was awesome.”

In response, Terranora got off to a bright start as Waheed Hasan (77), Matt Sutton (27) and Sandeep Chauhan (22) all made contributions at the top of the order.

With the side sitting pretty at 1-118, the game took a turn as the Colts took a couple of quick wickets, before taking another 4-16 shortly after to leave Terranora at 7-171 and the game on a knife’s edge.

However with the contest in the balance, Michael Bedford and Kinneally guided the side home for a famous three-wicket victory with 3.2 overs remaining to ease the nerves of players and fans watching on.

“I’ve got no nails left, put it that way. I was scorer at the time and it was a very nervous feeling,” said Sutton.

“But Michael Bedford came up from second grade and hit 22 quickly at the end there and that got us over the line. Once again, Josh Kinneally held his nerve at the other end as well.”

The result moves Terranora into seventh place on the ladder with a record of one win, two losses and two washouts from the first five rounds, while the Colts sit one place higher in sixth.

Give the tight nature of the competition, Sutton is confident his team can use the win as a springboard and make a charge up the ladder.

“Honestly, I think everyone wrote us off at the start but I really think we can shake up the comp,” he said.

“We’ve definitely got the ability there and we’re starting to get to know each other a lot better, knowing what everyone does and starting to click. So I think we’ll shake it up and hopefully sneak into the four.”

The victory was particularly sweet for the stand-in captain, a former president of the club and currently the team’s leading runscorer, who himself has been in excellent touch this season.

“I love the club so much, I’m just trying to dig in every week. If you get the chance early you’ve got to take it, but I’m just trying to fight as hard as I can every week.

“I’m 10 years back at this club now, I’m driving down from the Sunny Coast to play so I’ve got to try and take every chance I can.”

TINTENBAR SINKS MARIST

Tintenbar East Ballina has continued its excellent rebound after a tough start to the season by hammering previously undefeated Marist Brothers by seven wickets at Kingsford Smith Oval.

A blistering opening with the ball helped bowl last year’s grand finalists out for 162 before a century stand between Pierce Bull and Ross Yelseth saw Tintenbar cruise home after the loss of just three wickets and with more than six overs to go.

“We were stoked with that. It probably couldn’t have gone any better for us,” said Tintenbar captain Abe Gibson.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl, the home side quite literally got off to the perfect start as Steve Leahy dismissed Marist opener Andrew Munroe with the very first ball of the game.

Leahy’s opening partner Mitch Niland got in on the action by trapping Joe Parsons in front LBW for nine before danger man Cooper Williams was run out for 14.

Then when first-change bowlers Harry Bull and Joseph Elphick both made breakthroughs of their own, Marist had been reduced to 5-57 after 15 overs.

And while there was some lower-order resistance, most notably from Patrick Martin (33) and Sean Walters (29 not out), Tintenbar managed to nevertheless bowl its rivals out for a very chaseable total of 162.

In a strong bowling performance across the board, Leahy, Elphick and Pierce Bull all took two wickets each while Niland, Harry Bull and Gibson contributed one each.

“We wanted early wickets and the guys bowled pretty well up top to do that,” said Gibson.

“We fielded well to back that up. We caught well, our ground fielding was good and we bowled a lot of dots to build pressure.”

Going into the change of innings with their tails up, Tintenbar got off to a wobbly start with the bat and was reduced to 3-33 early on.

The target suddenly looked a lot more difficult, however Pierce Bull and Ross Yelseth combined at the crease to ease any concerns.

The pair made it look easy as they put on an unbeaten 131-run stand to cruise past the total with 6.2 overs remaining.

“Ross and Pierce just steadied things after we were three down and just took it home from there,” said Gibson.

“They looked really good and batted really positively. Our plan was to score, minimise the amount of dot balls we faced and put pressure back on the bowlers – and that’s what those two did. So I couldn’t be any happier with the result.”

The win takes Tintenbar to third on the table. Now with a record of three wins, one loss and one washout, the side has bounced back well after the round one thrashing to Goonellabah, which saw the side bowled out for 91 before Jack Cooper helped blast past the total inside six overs.

“We didn’t dwell too much on round one but in the senior group we were a bit worried about what that meant,” said Gibson.

“But we’ve bounced back really well, our batters are starting to get into gear and things are starting to click for them. I don’t think there are too many concerns around our bowling; we bowled really well in the Casino game and bowled really well against Lennox too, so we were feeling really comfortable about where our bowling was at,” he added.

“We’re really happy with the win but are also very aware of how tight it will be for spots. Especially with one-day cricket, there will be heaps more results. It’s a good win to get but with how close it is we move onto the next assignment, which is Tweed.”

MONKEY OFF THE BACK FOR POTTSVILLE

Pottsville has broken through for its first win of the season after defeating Lennox Head by 29 runs in another low-scoring clash at Seabreeze Oval.

After initially struggling with the bat and being bowled out for 114, the Pelicans really turned it on with the ball and rolled the Pirates for just 85 to secure an impressive victory.

“It was really good to get the win,” said Pottsville captain Nathan Wilson.

“We’ve been in a bit of a tough building period the last couple of years and we’ve got a young team, so to be able to chalk up a win means the world to the boys.”

In a game between two sides both looking for their first wins of the campaign, Pottsville actually got off to a strong start after being sent in to bat, with openers Kai Allan (30) and Kagisho Pedi (35) putting on 66 for the opening wicket.

However once Lennox Head got the initial breakthrough it led to an almighty collapse as the home side lost a remarkable 10-48 to be bowled out for 114.

Henry Rose and brothers Ryan and Brayden Kernaghan had a day out with three wickets each.

“We felt like we were under par, that’s for sure, thinking that we’d left quite a few runs out there,” said Wilson.

“But being a greentop we thought we were still a chance at holding them at bay and it worked out quite well. We bowled our tight lines at the stumps and it all worked out for us.”

Indeed, despite being disappointed with their efforts at the change of innings, the Pelicans produced an outstanding bowling performance to skittle their opponents for just 85.

It started in the second over when Justin Mathewson dismissed Lennox opener Pete Johnston.

Under plenty of pressure from the Pottsville attack, the Pirates slumped to 4-22 early on.

While opener Lucas Pevy showed plenty of resistance with a fighting 36, wickets kept falling around him and the team was bowled out for just 85, some 29 runs short of the target.

In an excellent display from the entire attack, Mathewson, Quinn Dobell and Wilson himself all picked up two wickets each, Samuel Acret was almost unplayable with the new ball, finishing with figures of 1-7 from four overs, while Jacob Lanyon also chimed in with a wicket.

“It worked out well,” said the captain. “The outfield was still a little bit soft under foot, so you really had to work hard for your runs. We were able to set fields that worked in our favour for our bowlers and it all went to plan.”

The win moves Pottsville up into eighth place on the ladder and comes as a huge boost of confidence for the young team, which has struggled at times over the first five rounds of the season.

“It has been tough. The young guys not having heaps of experience, that plays a role in the overall scheme of things,” said Wilson.

“But we’re taking every game as it comes and are continuing to build. I think from the start of the season to now, we’re building that momentum, we’re building confidence, the young guys who are opening the batting are starting to get the confidence behind them and are seeing what we need to do to win games and bat out the 40 overs.”

After chalking up their first win of the season, Wilson is hopeful the team can build on its success in the weeks to come.

“Just to see the smiles on their faces was great,” he said.

“You could sort of see from their body language that they were a bit more relaxed having got that monkey off the back. You could see their shoulders drop that little bit, their bodies relax back in the change rooms – it was good for them, absolutely.”

In the other round five fixtures, Goonellabah kept its unbeaten run alive with a seven-wicket thrashing of Casino.

Originally published as LJ Hooker League cricket: Wrap, results, standouts from round five