Saint Michaels v Wagga City
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
WAGGA City head into the Christmas break on a high following a 118-run thumping of Saint Michaels on Saturday.
Batting first on a good Robertson Oval wicket, the Cats set an imposing target of 215 and the result never looked in doubt as early Saints wickets fell.
The premiers responded to its first loss of the season last week, with the returning Alex Coetzur and captain-coach Jon Nicoll doing the damage.
Losing Rob Nicoll (12) and Aaron Maxwell (8) the pair combined for a 130-run third wicket partnership.
Coetzur (65) and Jon Nicoll (81) both hit their biggest totals for the season, as they took the game away from their rivals.
The skipper went into the match looking for his batsmen to step after a disappointing effort against Kooringal last match, and that's exactly what happened.
"It was good for our top order to finally make some runs and then we were able to finish it off with the ball," Nicoll said.
"The key was to have a big partnership at the top of the order, but I thought at the end Josh Thompson and young Jack Harper were outstanding as well.
"They finished it off, scored really quickly at the end as well, so it was a really good day for out batting."
Dean Crane then pounced on the Saints batting line up, taking home figures of 4-9 off eight overs.
Saints Michaels stumbled to 5-23 before Chase Grintell (17) and Mitch Black (34) offered some resistance.
However when Crane removed Grintell things soured again as the Saints were bowled out for 97 despite the efforts of Rhys Lloyd who finished unbeaten on 17.
Nicoll couldn't have been more impressed with Crane's efforts.
"It's the best I've seen him bowl in a long time," he said.
"To take 4-9 which probably should have been 5-9 with a drop catch on that wicket with that outfield is just outstanding."
With the cricket season breaking for four weeks, Nicoll was happy to end the year with a win.
"It's always good to bounce back after a loss and it was great our leaders back," Nicoll said.
"Our leaders played really well and it's good going into the break with a win."
Wagga City will tackle South Wagga in a second rematch of last season's grand final on January 17 while Saint Michaels will face Lake Albert.