Gallant Redbacks remaining ‘positive’ despite defeat
LITTLE River coach Nic Fairchild insists Saturday’s 12-run loss to St Leonards has failed to dent the belief of his side heading into the business end of the season.
The Redbacks were gallant in the run chase of 172 at Little River Reserve, before being bowled out with eight balls to spare for 160.
“It came down to the second last over and they took the final wicket, but we always felt that we could take the game deep and we were right in it,” Fairchild said.
“I actually felt we were in control of the game for most of the day. It was on our terms, but we lost constant wickets.
“We weren’t able to put that big partnership together or have that one person go on and get a big score.
“There were a lot of 30s but no one took that step. We’d have partnerships of 20, 30 or 40 but then lose two wickets in a row.”
Heath Bewley kept Little River in the contest with a neat 34 from 32 balls at No.7, while Fairchild made 25 at No.6.
“He (Bewley) batted well, really aggressively, and Brayden Barnett (22 not out at No. 8) anchored the innings and he took it deep,” Fairchild said.
Sitting fourth on the ladder behind Drysdale, the Redbacks now face a acid test against the Hawks in Round 11, but Fairchild is confident his side’s best is good enough.
“We’re really looking at the positives,” Fairchild said.
“We know they are a really good side in the competition, and for us to get so close knowing we can perform better with bat and ball, we know we’re there or thereabouts, so we look at this result really positively.
“To lose by 12 runs against the second best team in the competition, we know that if we can get to March we’re a really good shot of going all the way. It will be a crunch match (against Drysdale) to get six points against them to try and keep up with that top four.”