Sport
27 January, 2022
Goats lose ground in battle for finals berth
TERANG missed an opportunity to keep pace with Pomborneit and Noorat on Saturday, losing to the Bulls at home.
TERANG missed an opportunity to keep pace with Pomborneit and Noorat on Saturday, losing to the Bulls at home.
Pomborneit chased down the Goats’ total of 156 runs with three wickets and five overs to spare on a turning wicket.
Terang skipper Tyson Hay (54) was the lynchpin in the first half of his side’s innings, with Brett Hunger (23), Tim Keane (19), and Bailey Kemp (16) also contributing.
However, despite good performances by medium-pacer Charlie Scanlon (2/18) and off-spinner Billie Baxter (2/23), the home side couldn’t contain the Bulls’ batting lineup.
Hay said missed opportunities in the field let his side down.
“The boys put in a very good all-round performance with the bat and ball, but our fielding let us down,” he said.
“We dropped a fair few catches and just didn’t take the opportunities that came our way.”
Where a win would have put Terang in a three-way tie for fourth spot on wins with Pomborneit and Noorat, the loss sees them drop to sixth a game behind the Steamrollers, while the Bulls go clear in third.
Hay said his team knew what was on the line and were disappointed with the result.
“We had a big chat after the game, and I think all the boys were pretty devastated,” he said.
“We knew it was a very important game to win, with finals on the line.”
Hay said his side felt it had set a defendable total given the way the pitch rewarded spinners.
“It was a spinning wicket, and Pombo’s two spinners bowled fantastically,” he said.
“They just really outplayed us, getting a bit of turn on the wicket.”
The pitch rewarded the Goats’ young spin bowler as well.
“That’s probably the best I’ve seen Billie (Baxter) bowl this year,” said Hay.
“He’s only a young fella, he’s just getting started, but his game on the weekend was a fantastic performance with the ball.”
The next three weeks will be crucial for Terang’s hopes of making the finals as they play second-placed Heytesbury, bottom side Woorndoo and ladder leaders Mortlake.
“We’ll try to focus on our fielding over the next couple of weeks,” said Hay.
“We’ve got a tough run home, so we’ll work at training on what we need to practise on and see how we go from there.
“I set a goal for the year to make finals, but now we’ve got to focus on Heytesbury, and we’ll just see how the season pans out.”