By Trevor Jackson
AN impressive effort with the ball delivered West Gambier a comfortable first-innings victory over North Sportsman’s in Saturday’s final minor round of the Hoggies Wines Barber Shield cricket season.
The Roos ripped through the Tigers’ batting lineup with little trouble, despite defending just 126 runs.
Only two Tigers reached double figures on the way to just 72 runs, with opener Jake Schutz and captain Nick McInerney contributing 11 and 13 runs respectively.
Much of the success came on the back of a four-wicket haul from Sam Willis, who finished with 4/32 off 12 overs.
He was well supported by Josh Cornolo with 3/14, while Niall Easterbrook picked up two timely scalps down the order.
The result pits both sides against each other again this weekend in the semi-final round at Frew Park.
The match will run over Saturday and Sunday from 1pm each day.
Meanwhile, Penola is also through to the semi-final with its defeat of South Gambier.
Despite the home-ground advantage the Demons were simply not in the contest.
Chasing 161 runs was always going to be a tough call.
Add Michael Waters to the mix and South was never a chance.
Waters was all-but unplayable as he claimed an impressive 8/43 off 26 overs to ensure the Demons were out of the running.
Only Dave Somerfield (22) and Michael Sims (20) reached double figures with the bat, with four ducks recorded on the scoresheet, three to Waters and one to Lachlan Jones.
Penola will face East Gambier this weekend at Scott Park to chase a grand final berth.
East set up its victory on day one with a strong 225 runs.
Mil Lel had a big task to chase down the total and worked hard to achieve that.
However, in the end they fell well short, with a total of 151 a valiant effort.
Logan Gibbs top scored with 31, while Tim McInerney contributed 30, Daniel Justin 23, Josh Jantosh 16 and Craig Lock 14.
But it was a sustained effort across the board from the Bulldogs’ bowlers which did the damage.
Alex Hentschke, Matty Bennett, Ben Hentschke and Emerson Marks all snared two wickets.
East will look to use its home ground to its advantage this weekend and would start as favourite against Penola.
The game begins at 1pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
