Shellharbour fall at final hurdle of State title
August 29, 2007
Section: Sport
SHELLHARBOUR fell at the final hurdle in their attempt to secure the centre's first Sydney first grade indoor cricket championship on Saturday.
The Sharks sustained a 24-run loss against minor premiers Penrith in the decider.
Batting first, the Sharks made a bad start with openers Craig Wills and Scott Ulcigrai (13) losing nine wickets in four overs to be -1 after the first pair.
The young Sharks bounced back, with the remaining in pairs methodically increasing the score.
Second pair Brendan Cartledge (18) and Ryan Smith (12) posted 40 without losing a wicket, followed by John Puckeridge (20) and Andrew Vickery (16) combining for 42.
Mark Ulcigrai (20) and Nik Biracoski (26) scored 50 to complete an amazing recovery, and a final score of 131.
Only three wickets were lost in the final 12 overs, a credit to the Sharks' disciplined batting.
The Sharks managed to restrict the Storm's opening pair to just 25.
Shellharbour then put the clamps on Penrith's middle two pairs, leaving them needing 75 with six overs to go.
However Penrith unleashed some lusty hitting, taking 23 runs taken from one over which translated to a skin of 49 for the third pair.
This left Penrith's final pair needing only 22 to win.
They achieved the target with no fuss, finishing with 155.
Sharks' coach David Norman was justifiably proud of his young team.
"To fight back from such a poor start showed enormous ticker from the boys," Norman said.
"They're a young team, playing in the strongest league in the state, and to push a team like Penrith, with all their superstars, was for me a very proud day".
Some consolation for the team was qualification for the National Club Championships to be played in Brisbane from September 6-9.
The team are scrambling to get the time off work and raise the funds to get themselves to the tournament, the inaugural club champion of champions event played in Australia.
Any businesses who can assist the players with tour costs are asked to contact the centre on 4295 4444.