Upper Great Southern junior teams reach two finals at junior country week cricket but fall short of titles

Upper Great Southern Cricket Association reached two finals at junior country week but fell short of title glory in Perth on January 6-10. Uppers made the grand finals of the 16B Gold division and the 14B Gold division and lost both, while their third team finished fourth in the 14C competition. The 16s team couldn’t chase the big score Busselton-Margaret River put on the board in the decider at Scott Reserve on Friday, January 10. Uppers were set 224 to win but only Mitchell Johnstone (26 not out) and Xavier Ballard (21) reached double figures as they made 8-112 in reply. In the semifinals the previous day, Uppers were dominant four-wicket winners over Northam. Chase Parsons made two crucial early breakthroughs and Alby Stanton returned figures of 3-2 as Northam made only 89 batting first. Uppers slumped to 6-29 in reply before Robert Forman (38no) and Lucas Whitaker (28no) saved the day, reaching the target in 26 overs. On Wednesday, Uppers tied with Bunbury and Districts, the latter bowled out for 100 needing 101 to win. Whitaker top scored with 37 and then was the hero with the ball as he snared 3-7 from five overs, including the final two wickets with scores level. Uppers went down by 47 runs to Busselton-Margaret River in their round robin match on Tuesday despite three wickets each from Whitaker and Parsons. On the first day they won both their T20s, Parsons taking 5-13 and Forman making 63 as they beat Northam by four wickets before Whitaker (44) and Jax Moffatt (41) led the way in a 38-run win over the same opponents. Whitaker (156 runs) and Forman (127) had a big week with the bat and Parsons led the competition for wickets taken with 18 at an average of 5.94. The Uppers side competing in 14B Gold division faced up against Northam in Friday’s final at Morris Buzzacott Reserve. Uppers batted first and were dismissed for 102 as Dylan Kellow top scored with 20 and despite 2-10 from Xavier Turton, Northam reached the victory target in 38 overs with six wickets in hand. They finished with three wins and two losses to qualify for the final, those wins coming over Albany and Districts, Broome and Mortlock. Lucas Nottle made 50 in their big 213-run win over Albany and Districts on Thursday and Turton returned 3-3 with the ball. Tyson Ford was the star on Wednesday, with a brilliant 5-0 from 2.3 overs as he ripped through Broome’s middle order in Uppers’ 96-run triumph. Matthew George took 2-3 and made 21 in Uppers’ 41-run loss to Northam on Tuesday. In Monday’s T20 games, Uppers beat Mortlock by five wickets and then were defeated by three wickets by Geraldton. Tyson Ford was the leading wicket-taker in the competition with nine scalps. Uppers third team lost the third and fourth play-off in 14C division, going down to Wellington Blue by 72 runs. Wellington Blue set Uppers 155 to win but they finished 8-82 in reply to finish fourth for the tournament. On Thursday they lost by 117 runs to Peel Country, Bryce Carruthers top-scoring with 18. Sam Stanton snared 3-10 to go with contributions from Darby Ball (21no) and Bodie Bryant-Smith (21) with the bat as they beat Wellington Blue by five wickets on Wednesday. Uppers easily accounted for rivals Bunbury and Districts on Tuesday, making 8-142 in pursuit of 97 to win. Brandon Gooding (3-4) and Ball (57 runs from 34 balls) did the damage for Uppers. In T20s on Monday, Uppers claimed an eight-run win over Eastern Goldfields thanks to 4-8 from Bailey Cronin but went down by 39 runs to Wellington Maroon. Ball finished the week with 101 runs and Darcey Pelham took six wickets.