Titans make their mark on competition debut
ARMSTRONG CK 8-143 NEWCOMB 142
OFF the mark in their first attempt, the Titans are still searching for their killer instinct.
Armstrong Creek twice let Newcomb back into the contest in its win on A-grade debut, but the signs were there that the newest side in BPCA A2 won’t be pushovers.
“We’ve got to work on that killer instinct and putting teams away when you get on top, it’s something we lacked with the bat and ball,” coach Nic Johnson said after Saturday’s two-wicket win.
“We were cruising to get there and lost a bunch of wickets, so finishing off is something we need to work on. And with the ball we probably should have bowled them out earlier. We certainly made hard work of it.”
A fiery early spell from David Fazakerley (4-33) helped reduce Newcomb to 8-61, but lower-order contributions from Frank Canadillas (35 not out), Brendan Sheedy (23) and Scott Evans (nine) helped the Bulls set Armstrong Creek a target of 143.
Sitting pretty at 5-112, Armstrong Creek appeared to be cruising but wickets tumbled to bring tailenders Leigh Axford (15 not out) and Fazakerley (2 not out) to the crease with six runs to get.
“(Fazakerley is) new to the club. It was the first time he’d had a hit, so we hadn’t seen him play before,” Johnson said.
“The bloke behind him (Ryan Boyer) only made one run last year, so we thought if he had to go out there we would be in trouble.
“The boys were up and about when we got there.
“We had a good contingent of supporters there for the first game. It was good to have them there.”