Well i was spot on with the 3 winners in A&EHCA, Creeks, Woodside and Strath.
Only thing i was slightly off with was the margin of the Strath win. Predicted 150+ but was only 139
Strath Flogged Wistow as expected on the back of a 133 by Mark Abbott
Strath 5/222 Def Wistow 83
Ashbourne have seemingly blown any chance of playing Finals by faltering to Woodside, just not being able to put a competitive score on the board batting 1st. Not batting out the 40 overs (Only 36.5) generally doesn't get the job done and this was no exception.
Woodside 5/191 def Ashbourne 157
Creeks at last showing the potential they have by defeating Top of the table team Lobethal in the battle of the Tigers on the Creeks home turf.
Some wayward bowling by Johnson and again some shoddy fielding in the catching department allowed Lobey to eek out 9/136 off their 40 overs. Weeks top scoring with 33 after being put down on 0.
Losing early wickets never allowed Lobey the luxury of taking too many risks to up the anti against a tight Creek bowling attack.
Johnson for the Creek cruised to his usual run a ball 50 to set the Creeks on the winning path and despite a few hiccups along the way that kept Lobey in with a sniff, the Creeks finally limped past their score 7 wickets down with 5 overs to spare.
Creeks 148 Def Lobey 9/136
The wash up of those results has pretty much set the Final 4 in stone with just the order to be determined.
Lobeys consecutive losses to 2 "Out of the 4 " sides shows how even the A Grade comp is bar Wistow and as a result has seem them lose top spot to Strath who i expect to stay there for the rest of the season. Lobey back down to 2nd and i expect them to fall to 3rd by seasons end. Woodside im tipping to stay in 4th spot. Ive heard Nairne have upped the Anti with their training as they havent been happy with their recent performances and also heard that Shaun Tait will be doing as he did last year and belatedly qualifying for Finals by playing the last 5 weeks.
Ive got no problem with that as the system enables it to happen although some may not see it as 'morally' right? With these factors in mind, i expect them to finish strongly and grab 2nd spot which would again set up for a potential repeat of last years Grand Final played on the Strath turf.
Of the other 3 teams outside the 4, Wistow wont win another game and will finish bottom.
Ashbourne have had their chance to make an impression on the top 4. Would seem to be a team with ability but probably similar to the Creeks in that they just cant maintain the intensity required for the full days play and small lapses here and there cost them vital wins.
Creeks with consecutive wins are within touch but realistically would need a small miracle to make it with games against Strath and Nairne still to come whilst they are now without Johnson for the rest of the season and Warren only available for a match or two. An inexplicable loss to Wistow earlier in the season along with many crucial dropped straight forward catches in other games have cost them dearly as they could have been sitting as high as 2nd or 3rd had they taken their chances. Still from where they have come from the last 2 seasons, they'd have to be mildly satisfied with their return to being a competitive unit at A Grade level again and winning the T20 comp was a good achievement that few saw coming.
Big week coming up next weekend with the A Grade playing one dayers on Sat & Sunday.
Saturday
Strath v Woodside Tip - Strath to avenge their earlier loss to them
Creeks v Nairne Tip - Nairne to avenge their T20 loss to the Creeks. Creeks with no Johnson or Warren to give the Nairne attack headaches this time.
Wistow v Lobethal Tip - Lobethal. Surely couldnt lose to the 3 bottom teams 3 weeks running ????
Sunday
Nairne v Strath Tip - Toss of the coin this one. Will S. Tait play??? Go for Nairne on home ground.
Wistow v Woodside - Tip - Woodside in a Sunday stroll
Ashbourne v Creeks Tip - Creeks will make more than 41 as they did last year in the one dayer there. Very hard to have any idea what sort of side the Creeks may come up with for this match. When in doubt, go for the home team but happy to be wrong. Tip - Ashbourne