Sport
31 October, 2025
Wet weather plagues A reserve
While round two of A reserve was hindered by the weekend’s downpour, causing two games to be called off, Carisbrook and MKM were singing in the rain following tight victories on Saturday.
Colts Phelans 9/181 def by Carisbrook 9/185
In an early contender for match of the season, Carisbrook halted a stampeding Colts Phelans run chase in the nick of time, holding on to a four-run victory.
It was the hosts who were in control early at Hedges Oval, with Daniel McGregor and Ethan Chaplin, who finished with 3/38, causing some early breakthroughs for the Colts.
However, Brad Thompson’s 36 and an unbeaten 61 from captain Jarryd Coghlan rescued Carisbrook to a final total of 185.
After an encouraging opening partnership between Peter Egan and Riley Govan, the Colts’ run chase hit a major stumbling block in Brandyn Eagle, who was on fire for the visitors, taking three of the first four wickets.
With a mountain to climb at 5/65, the Colts’ lower order replicated their impressive showing in their season opener against Maryborough and began to climb their way to the target summit.
It looked like the explosive hitting of Mathew Henderson and Nick Peart would get the hosts over the line until some key wickets late by David Coomber and Matthew Reeves halted the Colts’ momentum, allowing Carisbrook to defend their total.
Laanecoorie Dunolly 116 def by MKM 8/173
Another dominant bowling performance has steered MKM to the top of the A reserve ladder, knocking over Laanecoorie Dunolly 57 runs short of their total.
After opening the season with a half-century against Carisbrook, Sebastian Borg remained in brilliant touch against Laane, making an unbeaten 54 as the linchpin of MKM’s innings.
A late flourish of 28 from Joshua O'Connor brought the visitors’ final total to 173, with Steven Dellavedova causing major problems throughout MKM’s innings, taking 3/13 from six overs.
With Muhammad Haseeb Khan removing both Laane openers rather cheaply, Dellavedova came to the crease after belting 150 against Beaufort Blue.
In a prime showcase of cricket’s cruel complications, Khan caught Laane’s big fish without Dellavedova troubling the scorers, a massive blow the hosts never recovered from.
Despite another strong showing from Benjamin Smith with the bat and an entertaining cameo from Jayden McDonald, MKM’s attack, led by Khan (3/15) and Tristan Tack (3/14), was too powerful for Laane to overcome.
Beaufort Red draw with Beaufort Blue 4/105 via washout
A match with decades of anticipation ended in arguably the most disappointing of fashions as the Battle of Beaufort was abandoned near the conclusion of the first innings.
The shame of the match’s cancellation was that it looked like the contest would go down to the wire with Beaufort Blue at 4/105 with four overs remaining.
After wickets from Thomas Grant and Blake Jantzen put Beaufort Blue on the back foot at 3/57, an unbeaten 50 from Noah Scofield consolidated their position before the game was called off.
Clunes draw with Maryborough 4/146 via washout
Clunes’ premiership defence began rather peculiarly, forced to share points with Maryborough thanks to Saturday’s weather.
These two teams played some explosively entertaining matches last season, but their first meeting in 2025/26 was flooded away before Maryborough could complete their innings.
An outstanding 88-run partners-hip between Ben Robertson and Jaxon Carmody allowed Maryborough to recover from a dominant spell from Brock Twentyman and into the driver’s seat with six overs left, yet they weren’t given the chance to capitalise due to the rain.
Round Three
Following last Saturday’s washouts, teams will be keen to see blue skies tomorrow, with five matches scheduled this weekend.
Top-of-the-table MKM will be keen to keep their undefeated start going when they return to Ron Sinclair Oval to play Beaufort Blue.
After opening their season with back-to-back losses, last season’s runners-up Colts Phelans look to kickstart their season against Laanecoorie Dunolly.
The Colts’ round two opponents, Carisbrook, have a tough test ahead of themselves, hosting Maryborough.
Avoca will make its long-awaited return to senior cricket on Saturday, thrown right into the deep end against the back-to-back premiers Clunes.
While Beaufort Red have been scheduled for the bye in round three, they will make an away trip to Avoca this Sunday, completing round one’s split fixture.