Reigning premier Willunga maintained their unbeaten start to the Great Southern Cricket Association (GSCA) season with a thrilling four-run win at home against Noarlunga on Saturday. Noarlunga skipper Jason Scarff won the toss and decided to bowl first as Willunga got off to a good start with Luke Harding and Dane McPhail adding 46 for the first wicket before McPhail was dismissed for 18. Two more quick wickets fell to leave the home side at 3/60. Ben Stewart Tonkin bowled a fine spell for the Shoes to finish with figures of 3/21 from his eight overs. Simon Roberts joined Harding and the experienced pair added a crucial 76 runs for the fourth wicket to help lift the Demons to 7/160 from their 40 overs. Roberts finished on 33 not out (45 balls), while Harding went on to top score with 82 from 132 balls (10 x 4’s). Matty Ray (2/39) and Cam Bullard (1/29) were the other wicket takers for the Shoes. Noarlunga also got off to a good start through Bullard and Mason Parry as this pair put on 44 for the first wicket before Parry was dismissed for 15. Anthony Burgess went without scoring to bring Jason Scarff to the crease to join Bullard. These two were a big key for the Shoes and they put on 57 runs for the third wicket as Noarlunga reached 2/108 before Scarff went for 31 from 34 balls (5 x 4’s). Bullard was next to go for 53 from 101 balls (5 x 4’s) and Willunga were back on top as the required run rate went up and wickets began to fall. Jeff Colo was providing solid resistance and along with Ray, they got their side within sight of victory with eight runs required from the final over to be bowled by Harding. Ray was dismissed leaving Colo to try and hit a six off the last ball of the match but he was bowled by Harding to bring the game to an end. Colo made a gallant 34 from 31 balls (3 x 4’s, 1 x 6). Willunga shared the wickets around with Roberts (3/18), Daniel Hockham (2/13), Serge Minot (2/26) and Harding (2/33) the best with the ball. 

Port Elliot are on the board with their first win of the season following their 35-run win at Encounter Bay. Port Elliot batted first and were in early trouble at 4/53 before Joel Harris and Liam Harris got together. The brothers added 69 runs for the fifth wicket with Joel scoring 44 (38 balls) and Liam 38 (43 balls), to lift the Bloods to 7/140 from their 40 overs. In his first ‘A’ grade game, Zac Thompson took 3/27 (7) and he was well supported by Riley Williams who was very economical with 2/9 (6). The Bays were never really in the hunt in the run chase as they slipped to 3/21 with Liam Harris continuing his good day with figures of 2/8 (6). Thompson (27), Jacob Grenfell (21) and Dennis Rice (18) all made handy contributions but it wasn’t enough as the home side finished on 7/105. Other wicket takers for Port Elliot were Scott Hannam (2/20), Ben Martin (1/18) and Andy Hayden (1/21). 

Goolwa made it two wins from as many starts to go top of the ladder with a convincing seven-wicket victory over McLaren Districts at Goolwa Oval. McLaren Districts batted first and got off to a reasonable start as Daniel Petrucci (13) and Ben Wilcox (9) put on 23 for the first wicket. From then on however, it was all Goolwa as they claimed 10/59 to bowl the Crushers out for just 82 in the 36th over. Lachlan Cooper (21 from 29 balls) was the only batsman to pass 20 for the visitors. All five Magpies bowlers claimed wickets with Andy Evans (3/16) the leading light. He was well supported by Jayden Crees (2/13), Josh Jones (2/13) and James Lawrence (2/11). Goolwa lost three early wickets in their run chase to sit at 3/37 to give McLaren Districts some hope but this was snuffed out with Jones (46 not out) and Jesse Consalvo (19 not out) putting on 47 runs for the fourth wicket to see the winning runs come up in the 25th over. Jett Holberton was the pick of the Crushers bowlers with 2/22 (8). 

Round 3 fixtures (home team named first/two-day games)

McLaren Districts v Port Elliot

Goolwa v Noarlunga

Willunga v Encounter Bay

Ladder (after round 2)

Goolwa 12, Willunga 12, Port Elliot 6, Noarlunga 6, Encounter Bay 0, McLaren Districts 0.