An amazing spell from Simon Roberts has led Willunga to their third consecutive win to begin the 2020/21 season during round three action in the Great Southern Cricket Association (GSCA). Willunga and Noarlunga faced off in a top-of-the table clash played over Saturday and Sunday due to the unavailability of Willunga Oval next Saturday (21/11). Former Bradman medallist Roberts took four wickets in five balls, including a hattrick on his way to figures of 7/31 from 15 overs. Noarlunga were 0/65 around 45 minutes before Tea on day two in pursuit of Willunga’s day one total of 7/188 before Roberts struck and at the tea break he had the barely believable figures of 6/2 (6)! On day one, Willunga were sent in to bat and compiled a competitive score of 7/188 from their 70 overs. Noarlunga did well to fight back after the Demons had reached 1/125 through a patient half century from opener Joel Docking (56 from 190 balls) and solid contributions from skipper Luke Harding (27) and Scott Brown (22). Roberts (22) and Sean McIvor (17 not out) helped guide Willunga to their final total. Matthew Ray (4/45) and Jason Scarff (2/45) were the pick of the bowlers for the Shoes with Scarff bowling 24 overs on the trot. Anthony Burgess (31) and Jason Scarff (32) put on 65 for the opening wicket before Roberts struck. Michael Smith (22) also batted well for Noarlunga as the Shoes were bowled out for 124 in the 54th over to go down by 64 runs. 

“We set the foundation early but to Noarlunga’s credit, they never gave in and the spell of ‘Junior’ (Jason Scarff) and ‘Lamzy’ (Peter Lamz) after tea on the first day was crucial to their comeback,” said Willunga skipper Luke Harding. “No doubt we left some runs out there but we bat deep so I was always confident of getting 180+ and with wickets in hand, it's a luxury to have the experience of Roberts and Rhys Allard, along with Sean McIvor’s fire power to make sure the hard work of the top order wasn’t undone.” The second day was always going to be hard and all bowlers bowled well early and we knew we just needed to get one wicket to put the pressure on. Simon Roberts is an incredible weapon to turn to and he proved he’s a class above and his amazing spell is one we won’t forget quickly.”

Port Elliot are in a strong position to win their first game of the 2020/21 season after posting 6/251 on day one of their clash with McLaren Districts at McLaren Vale. It was a real team effort from the Bloods with seven batsmen reaching double figures and three partnerships worth more than 50 runs. Hayden Gordge made his fourth career ‘A’ grade half century as he top scored with 60. He was ably supported by Ben Griffiths (34), Ethan Spriggs (32), Joel Harris (31 not out) and Andrew Steele (29). Five Crushers bowlers took wickets with Stephen Nairn (2/58) the only multiple wicket taker. The game will conclude next Saturday (21/11) with the Crushers also looking for their first win of the season.

The match between Encounter Bay and Goolwa is evenly poised at stumps on day one with the Bays sitting at 1/2 in reply to the Magpies first innings of 162. Goolwa got off to a shaky start on the Encounter Bay turf as they fell to 2/11 early before Goolwa skipper Josh Jones was joined by Shaun Burger with this pair adding a valuable 35 runs for the third wicket before Burger was dismissed for 26. Three more wickets fell and at 6/82, Goolwa were in danger of not reaching 100. Jones continued his long vigil and received great support from Tyron Rigney, playing in just his fifth ‘A’ grade game, to add 51 runs for the seventh wicket. Rigney made 26 while Jones continued on to notch his second career half century before being dismissed for 54. Simon Acheson (4/24) took his best ‘A’ grade figures for the Bays while Chris Butler (4/43) bowled well in his first game of the season. Encounter Bay had a difficult six overs to negotiate before stumps and lost opener Josh Hutchesson (0) with Jones finishing his excellent day with a wicket.