Broadford’s bowling and fielding prowess shone through on day one of Johnstone Shield round seven action in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association, GDCA.
The home side bowled out Aintree for 130 in 47 overs in the two-day matchup.
Broadford coach Gareth Sharp said Saturday was ‘a pretty good day overall’.
“Bowling [Aintree] out for 130 is always a pretty good result in a two-day match,” he said.
“It was just some pretty all-round good bowling from the side to bowl them out in 47 overs and restrict them to 130.”
Leading the way were Nathan Woods with 5/45 and captain Jack Connell with 3/31, backed up by a wicket each from Mitchell Collier and Riley Nolan and a spate of catches out on the field.
Broadford made a start to its batting innings later on in the afternoon and are currently 4/51 off 19 overs.
“It was probably not the best start. We just struggled to get off the mark early and lost a few cheap wickets, but I think with the players we still have to bat, we’re in a pretty strong position looking into next week,” Sharp said.
“We’re starting to get on the right track and we’ve got a few young blokes playing in the ones at the moment trying to find their feet, so it’s a bit of a process.
“We’ve got some older blokes in there at the moment who are really steadying the ship for us, so hopefully they’ll be able to get the job done for us next week.”
Connor Stute, Joshua Nolan, Declan Teohaere and Riley Nolan were all dismissed, however returning to bat this weekend will be Connell and Ash Wood – the pair sitting on 13 and 11 respectively.
Sharp said he expected the remaining batsmen to carry the team over the line.
“I think [Wood] will play a big part in this run chase and also Mitch Collier probably next to come in,” he said.
“It’ll be really on those two to take us past 100 and then look for a few other blokes to chip in and get us over the line like Kyle Hopkins and Jeremy Bradshaw.”
Broadford currently sits second on the ladder with three wins and two losses, however Sharp said ladder-leader Wallan was still the ultimate target for the remainder of the season.
“We’re trying to find ways to improve to get to their level, and then when we play next in the last round before finals, we’re hoping that we’ll be able to be pretty level with them and really test them,” he said.
“The rest of the competition are all pretty even and I think Wallan’s definitely the standout, but I think we’re probably the next team trying to push them.
“Going into Christmas with the two losses really puts us in a strong position to push for second on the ladder come finals time.”
Elsewhere, Kilmore was scheduled to host Wallan but wet weather late last week meant the match was declared a washout.
The pair will instead play a one-day match this weekend.
In the Johnstone Shield seconds, Kilmore dismissed the Wallan side in 63 overs, leaving itself a run chase of 159 this weekend.
Brent Proctor and Lachlan Partridge each took three wickets on the day, restricting Wallan’s run count with Zac Bell on 44 and captain Alex Potocnik on 36.
Broadford’s seconds face a challenge after scoring only 114 before being bowled out by Aintree, who then went on to make 2/50.
McIntyre Cup
The clash between the McIntyre Cup titans Romsey and Gisborne has swung in favour of Gisborne in the early stages.
Playing at home, Gisborne was able to bowl out the Romsey side for 190 in 61 overs.
Heavy hitters Matthew Milne and Taylor Stevenson were sent out after only having made a total of 22 runs, with Romsey’s highest count recorded by captain Ben Way on 59 followed by Chris Burkett on 30.
Picking up the bat early, Gisborne has racked up 58 runs and lost only Warren Kelly – the batsman bowled out by Jamie Taylor in the 13th over.
Romsey’s seconds had better luck in its match, as Jed Richardson managed a massive 135 runs before stumps at the end of the 75th over.
The team sits at 8/300 with Gisborne to bat this weekend.