EARLY PLATFORM SETS UP WIN AND SPARKS JOEYS
TOM Smith’s late innings heroics may have had the St Joseph’s faithful in raptures, but it was the experience and composure of stalwart Troy Nolan that set the platform to the Joeys finally getting their season away with a thrilling one-wicket win over Highton.
Coming to the crease at 9195, Smith struck three boundaries in four balls to carry the Collegians past Highton’s 203, a position that was only possible due to the aggressive batting of Jackson Bye (50) and Andrew Casey (37), and poise of Nolan (45).
Highton had its tail up with the Joeys precariously placed at 4-108 when the composed Nolan strode to the crease with spinners Jack Cook (4-37) and Brady Somers (2-38) extracting plenty from the wicket.
“I was hoping to play second fiddle to Hodgey (Andrew Hodgson); he whacked a quick 23 through the middle, but then I lost Hodgey,” Nolan said.
“Their spinners bowled really well through that middle period and the white ball goes dead pretty quickly.
“I knew that time wasn’t a factor, we had overs up our sleeve, but we just needed to avoid losing any wickets.”
Drawing on the support of the latter order, Nolan personified self-control to steer the innings with an 84ball 45 before becoming one of Hayden Murrell’s two victims at 8-195.
Despite losing Austin Humphrey next ball, the Joeys watched from the edge of their seats as Smith took boundaries from the final three balls of the game to lead his team home.
“Tom Smith was our saviour in the end,” Nolan said.
“He’s playing a bit of Country Vic stuff at the moment, so maybe he’s been working on his batting a bit more.”
Earlier Nash Viney (54) and Brady Somers (40) had accounted for the bulk of Highton’s 203, while Austin Humphrey (3-35) and Tom Smith (3-41) were the key wicket takers.
“We’d come off a loss and two draws, so getting this win in an eight-team comp is huge for us,” Nolan said.
“Now we move on to North Geelong which is a massive game.”