Round 2 - 16 A St Pats vs Engadine

Last Updated (Sunday, 01 November 2009 20:31) Sunday, 04 October 2009 15:49

R2 St Pats 16A 9 (all) / 162 defeated by Engadine 9 / 171

John F Kennedy (1917 – 1963) once said “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men”. So it was with the 16A team, when defeated by Caringbah in Round 1, meeting Engadine in Round 2. It was not a case of lack of talent or insufficient experience, but the 16As needed to be a stronger team - steady of limb and focussed in spirit.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl with 10 players, the St Pats 16As held the opposition back, with several ducks and a dozen maidens (is it Christmas already?), landing at 6 for 59 at tea.

Tea is an interesting time – it allows coaches to mind-merge with their teams, extolling the virtues of good play, sportsmanship and even highlighting the odd deficiency in the morning’s game. Such was the vigour of this cerebral harmonisation that the opposition came back and added another 110 runs in the 30 overs to close at 9 for 171, but needed to fight all the way.

Harry Irvine (3 / 21 in 12) and Nick Sheridan (2 / 16 in 9), back up by some tidy work from the team claimed seven maidens between them. Given the hurricane that swept the Heathcote grounds throughout the match, both teams did well to actually play!