Bulls 1st XI vs St Andrews 1st XI

This round 5 clash was held at North Ringwood Reserve and the Away captain chose to have a bowl after winning the toss. The Bulls got off to a good start with Matt Stoikos (39) again at the centre of things. He was joined by Leigh Jones (55) and they combined for a crucial 54 runsfor the 2nd wicket. A minor blip in the middle order but then Ev Jones (20) Tom Robinson (32) and ‘Deano’ Xantidis (28) all made positive contributions taking the score to an imposing total of 8/204.

In reply St Andrews were steady reaching at 1/66 but then Jones (2-66) and Matt Reyment (1-13) removed 3 top order bats in quick succession to swing the momentum back towards the Bulls at 4/73. Enter Luke Ridgwell to crush any hopes of the St Andrews lower order showing some resistance. He had his fingers tweaking their magic to rip through and take 4/22. Big Sammy Ridgewell also grabbed 2 poles and together rolled them well short for 146. A great win boys.

Just to further assert dominance on the comp we had another bat where Stoik, Benny Lannen and Leigh Jones all collected more runs infront of the fired up Bully Army.

Bulls 2nd XI vs Heathmont Baptist 1st XI

This round the 2nd XI travelled to Heathmont and Dan Tucker chose to set a total. The top order made starts but perhaps failed to capitalse. Mark Razdan the pick with 29 before falling LBW. Like the 1s the 2s suffered a bit of a blip, but then Brendan Leis (16), Leigh Rigby (38*) and Liam Sweeny (15) proved there was plenty of sting in the tail and bravely took the score from 8/84 up to 154 before finally succumbing to a strong bowling side.

In order to defend 154 the boys would have to give it their all, and that’s exactly what they did. Jay Stoikos lead the charge collecting another ‘Michelle’ (5/47) leaving him with 13 wickets from 3 weeks… don’t worry about Mitchell Johnson, we’ve got Jay Stoikos! Rigby, Sweeney and Leis combined for the other 5. Brendan Leis is boasting the very impressive strike rate of about 1 wicket every 21 balls this year. A great performance in the field and the twos worthy winners. Well done.

Bulls 3rd XI vs East Ringwood 3rd XI

Matt Hepburn won the toss and thought he’d let the bats have first crack at this game. Matt Nuthall started very impressively, making 40 at the top before being given LBW to the chief destroyer who ended up claiming 7fa. Aaron Leis and Jase Grase both made 16 but there was little other help in the middle order. Hepp himself clawed some respectability back into the total to guide the 3s to 124 when they were bowled out in the 52nd over.

Having a bowl that evening Banger Harvey managed to get 2 wickets, coming back the next week needing to take about 8/80. The boys gave it a crack but ultimately they had too few to defend. Special mentions to Al Simmons who took 2 wickets in his 2 overs (for 19) and Aaron Leis – what cant he do 2/6 from his 2 overs. The 3rds still sit second and can bounce back against South Croydon this round.

Bulls 4th XI vs Kilsyth 4th XI

Norwood Secondary played host to this round 8 clash between the 4s and Kilsyth 4th XI. Batting first Flavio Xantidis continued his fine spell of form peeling off 46. At the other end Bryan Carrucan was using all his years of experience to compile a very impressive 75. He was joined by Brian I’Anson who went wackity wack to fire of 65 quick runs. The ‘mature’ batting display was finally given a much needed injection of youth with a very impressive 36* to Matt Mullan. Together they managed to put on 7/261 off their 70 overs – a big score.

In response Kilsyth offered little resistance, finding themselves at 3/13 before they could even blink. The constant pressure from the 4s in the field paid dividends. Pete Ridgwell getting the job done taking 3/32, Flavio chipped in with 2 and Matt Mullan finished with 3/10 from his 10 overs. Bowled out for 128, a convincing win for the 4s – great job.

Bulls 5th XI vs South Warrandyte 4th XI

A very youthful looking 5th XI travelled to table topping South Warrandyte and under the guidance of Papa Smeed knew they would have their work cut out this round. After being sent in the 5s were up against it straight away. Young Ryan Peter Budge managed 20 and Lachlan Harvey stepping up from the 7s made 14 and we were dismissed for 69 in the 36th Over.

In response they batted the rest of the day putting on 8/171. Jordan McMaster took 2/32 and Lachy Gray spun his way to an impressive 4/44. After being sent back in the 5s stuck around for 52 overs but could only manage 58 runs. Jackson Clarke, Dave Smeed and Aaron Rodrigues all managed to get starts. A rough week, but the boys will bounce back we can have no doubt.

Bulls 6th XI vs Scoresby / Ferndale 3rd XI

Hosting the dual suburbs of Scoresby and Ferndale captain Dale Gaskell decided to have a bowl to unleash what might be the shortest opening bowler partnership in the RDCA but he and Nathan Browne were unable to make he breakthrough. Rod Stuart was the man for the job and took 3 quick wickets to have them at 3/42. Dan Whitty was the pick of the bowlers taking 3/25. They ended up posting 168, possibly escaping from a tricky situation they found themselves in with too many late order runs.

In response the 6s were unable to find that key partnership to build the innings around. Whitty top scored with 22, but the pick of the bats was probably the underated Jamie Dickman who backfoot drove his way to 16*. The 6s lack of match practice showing as they were rolled for 114. Get to training lads!

Bulls 7th XI vs South Croydon 5th

Whenever there are lots of outs its always going to be hard for the 7s to round up players, but a team was formed and ready to give it a crack. Batting first the 7s could only manage 94 with young David Maddox making 22 and Adrian Gray making 20. South Croydon had a bat made 5/179 declared. Gray and Damien Reyment taking 2 wickets a piece.

The following week the 7s had another crack at batting and managed to make 163 from 47 overs. Ian Stone (62) and Mick Bellizia (39) showing the kids how to do it incuding a handy 15 from Nick Jane. Having another bowl Damien Reyment picked up another 3 wickets.