TALLANGATTA knocked reigning premier Wodonga out of the Cricket Albury-Wodonga Provincial finals with a hard-fought four-wicket win at Rowen Park on Saturday.
Chasing a testing 246 for victory, the Bushies reeled in the target with five overs to spare to end any chance Robbie Jackson’s charges had of making the semi-finals.
Stand-in skipper Vincent Moran led the way with 61, while Andrew Lade (69), Ned McCormack (38), James Weighell (33) and Steve Wood (29 not out) also played vital knocks in the run chase.
Moran, who was filling for the unavailable Matt Armstrong, said yesterday Tallangatta had set itself to bat out the 80 overs.
“They have a very disciplined bowling attack and set good fields so it was tough to score, but at the end of the day if we batted 80 overs we were going to be a good chance of making the runs,” he said.
“Everyone did their job.
“It wasn’t about hitting boundaries, it was about working the ball around and putting the bad balls away.
“It’s nice to be hitting form at the right time of the season for a change.”
Tallangatta has won its last four matches to jump to second spot on the ladder, while Wodonga is languishing 14 points outside the top four after failing to come to terms with the pressure of being reigning premier.
Jack Craig and Beau Kennedy were the pick of the bowlers with two wickets each.
Ladder leader St Patrick’s fought its way to trouble to defeat Belvoir by two wickets at Xavier High School.
Defending only 166 runs, the Eagles were in the box seat when the home team crashed to 7-98 before Braedon Hensel (56) and Wayne Hawking (24) rallied.
Belvoir was in trouble at 7-64 in its second dig.
North Albury edged out Albury by 14 runs at Billson Oval.
The Hoppers looked in trouble when Joel and Jonathon Morris put on 91 for the opening wicket but the wickets tumbled from that point and Craig Mannagh’s line-up fell just short of the 245 target.
All-rounder Greg Daniel was the saviour with 6-68 off 32 overs.
