In last weekends Grand Final matches in the Huon Channel Cricket Association we saw the Kingston Crows win two flags and get beaten in two matches.

In A Grade at Ranelagh North Huon batted first and at the end of their 50 overs were 9/189. We had them in a real spot of bother when they were 5/73 but a 66 run partnership for the 6^th wicket put them back in the game. Trent Pearce took 3/45, Dale Punshon 2/27 and Dan Elliott 2/27.

In the Crows’ innings we also were in trouble at 3/49 before Marc Owen 43 and Brett Stevenson 41 added 59 for the 4^th wicket. Both batsmen were dismissed and another wicket fell to leave us 6/124 when Nick Townsend and Jamie Knott came together. After 40 overs we required 36 for victory but our batsmen got bogged down and Knott was dismissed in the 49^th over for 22 after a 54 run partnership. 7 runs were required of the final over and 3 off the last ball. Townsend drove to long off and Mal Godfrey was run out going back for a second run to give victory to North Huon by 1 solitary run. Townsend remained 37no.

In B1 we batted first on our home ground but were reeling at 3/10 and 4/29. David Bain 49 and Adam Hinkley 28 added 58 for the 5^th wicket and with Andrew Henley 20 enabled us to reach 156 when we were dismissed in the 45^th over.

Low scores often prove difficult in Grand Finals and this was the case on Saturday with Scott Sward 5/25 and Shannon Woolley 4/39 tearing the heart out of Slab Road’s innings as they crashed to 3/13 and then 6/44 before being all out for 66 in the 22^nd over. A fantastic fighting victory for our guys.

In B2 at Kettering Huonville got off to a terrific start and looked like posting a huge total when they reached 161 with only 2 wickets down. They then lost 4 wickets for only 6 runs and when they reached 8/195 we were right in the game. However a 56 run partnership for the 9^th wicket enabled them to reach 9/252 after their allotted overs. Chris Honner took 3/22, Chris Tomlin 2/52 and Ash Woodhead 2/54.

Our innings got off to a terrible start and we were reeling at 6/49. Chris Honner 40 and Andrew Denton 36 added 48 for the 7^th wicket and Ash Woodhead 26 shared in partnerships of 41 for the 8^th wicket and 27 for the 9^th but the damage had been done and we were dismissed in the 41^st over for 172.

In C2 at Huonville we batted first and despite the loss of a wicket early in the day we raced to 197 when we lost our 3^rd wicket in the 30^th over. Despite somewhat of a slow down in our run rate we still ended our innings at 9/306. John Ioannou was the star of the day scoring 108 with 11 4s and 4 6s. He got great support from Matthew Creek 56, Dale Hayers 38, Richard McInnes 22, Manning Parkinson 21 and Jonathon Cashion 21.

Any chance Kettering had of chasing our total quickly vanished as they were left reeling at 5/11. They put up a bit of a fight but were dismissed in the 44^th over for 108. Cashion took 3/23 and Brendan Norris 2/17. This was a terrific result for our young group of guys.

On Sunday we held our Best and Fairest counts where the winners were Daniel Woodhead in C2, Andrew Denton in B2, Shannon Woolley in B1 and Jamie Knott in A Grade.