Ruane’s ‘mature’ innings is hailed
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RUNCORN Cricket Club first XI skipper James Wells praised the contribution of batsman Joe Ruane for his “mature” innings in helping the team record another victory last Saturday that keeps their title quest well on track.
Wells and his team made the trip to local rivals Lymm Oughtrington Park and registered a very comprehensive win by the margin of 102 runs.
“I lost the toss and Lymm’s captain Travis Scholes decided to bowl on a green but hard deck,” Wells said.
“I was quite happy with this as it is what I would have done anyway if I had won the toss.
“Jordan Grobbelaar opened up with a new partner this week in Joe Ruane.
“Both batted very well as Jordan hit yet another 50-plus score keeping him at the top of the League averages.
“Joe also needs a special mention. He has not opened for the first-team before but he played a very mature innings and hit his maiden first-team 50 – big congratulations from everyone at the club!
“With David McNamara chip- ping in with a quick 53 we managed to reach a competitive total of 229-5 off our 45 overs.
“We knew we had a lot of work to do in order to get their top order out of the way.
“We know Lymm can bat well and can easily chase that score down so we had to keep things tight.
“Jordan and Matty Drury started well with Drury taking the first wicket.
“They kept things tight and never let the batsman get much room.”
Some smart bowling followed from both Dan Booth (1-27) and McNamara (3-19) while Matty Tyrrell also claimed a couple of Lymm wickets as Runcorn sensed success.
Added Wells: “We were getting towards the end knowing that Lymm were playing for a draw and we needed two wickets to take the win.
“Jordan bowled what the batsman (Scholes) called ‘the best ball he has had all season’ to take the wicket of the last recognised batsman and their captain.
“With Matty Drury tking the last wicket, we bowled them out within 41 overs and took a 25 point win which keeps us in first in the League.
“On Saturday we are at home to Stockport Georgians CC and we are hopeful for another big win.” WIDNES boss Denis Betts knows it is not solely in his side’s hands, but he insists they will continue pushing for 10th spot in the Betfred Super League.
The 40-0 drubbing the Vikings suffered at Huddersfield last Friday left them in 11th place, four points adrift of 10th-placed Catalans.
To leapfrog over the French side, Widnes will have to win their last two regular season fixtures and hope the Dragons lose theirs with 10th spot earning an extra home game in The Qualifiers.
Stranger things have happened and Betts wants to see his side respond positively in their final regular season home game against Wakefield Trinity tomorrow night.
He said: “Where we are is where we are, and I know it’s a cliche but we have to look at one game at a time from here on. We want to finish the regular season on a positive note on our home ground. We’ve done well here the last few games and we want to perform again.
“We can only go out and win our games and Catalans will do what they do. Hopefully we can win our two remaining games and push ourselves into 10th spot.”
After stringing together a decent run of performances, the Vikings’ display at Huddersfield was way below par. Widnes’s handling was woeful and they gifted the Giants so much possession and field-position it made it an easy night at the office for Rick Stone’s men.
Betts and his coaching staff will be working hard to fix things up this week knowing full well that any more showings like last Friday’s could see them putting their Super League future on the line.
He added: “You can’t win a game at this level with a 45 per cent completion rate. Even that number flatters us a bit because on a couple of occasions we got penalties to double up our sets.
“And on the back of dropping the ball we gave penalties away through frustration with ourselves and some of the calls. We picked a strong side and went there with a really positive few weeks behind us, but we just failed to perform. It was a bit like a training session where you deliberately put yourselves under pressure defensively to see how you do.”
Lloyd White’s injury-hit season took another downward turn against the Giants when he suffered a pectoral injury that looks set to keep him out for several weeks.
However, the return of half-back Rangi Chase after suspension will allow Aaron Heremaia to slot into his more usual role of hooker where he will dovetail with Jordan Johnstone, one of the few to emerge from the Huddersfield game with credit.
Prop-forward Eamon O’Carroll is also back in contention after missing the trip to the John Smith’s Stadium. Full-back Rhys Hanbury remains on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Tomorrow’s match at the Select Security Stadium kicks-off at 8pm.