GCA1 Round 14 wrap: North Geelong star Phil Visser hits elusive ton as St Joseph’s fight back against Highton
After hitting two scores in the 90s this season, a South African import made a big century. Plus, Grovedale is on the path to victory and St Joseph’s has fought back. See the full wrap.
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A South African import hit a century for North Geelong, St Joseph’s fought back from a challenging position and Grovedale is just 20 runs shy of victory against East Belmont.
See Wes Cusworth’s full wrap from GCA1 first grade.
North Geelong 7-271 v St Peter’s
A brilliant 140 from South African import Phil Visser has North Geelong in a position of strength against fourth-placed St Peter’s, with the Magpies reaching 7-271 by stumps.
Visser was forced to weather an early storm before unveiling a broad repertoire of strokes on the way to his 189-ball milestone; his first century in Magpies colours after earlier season scores of 93 and 97.
“It’s obviously a good feeling and it’s a bit of a monkey off my shoulders,” Visser commented post-game.
“Everyone knows I’m a more of a team man, I don’t really care about my own performances, but I think that was what the team needed today.”
Former Magpie Tom Webster generated testing pace early, removing Sam Hall (16) with a ball that kept low and followed up with the removal of in-form number three Layton McCann (0).
“Webby and Billy Jones bowled really well; the conditions were obviously tough at the start, but Neddles (Ned Cooper) and I got through, which was good,” Visser said.
“There was a spot on the wicket that had the ball keeping low for the left-handers and it was also doing a little bit off the wicket, cutting around a bit.”
The loss of Cooper (34) at 93, was followed shortly after by the dismissal of Adam Costello (12) to have the Osborne Park tenants 4-122.
Visser then proceeded to partner Xavier Norman (38), in an innings-shaping 123-run union for the fifth wicket, first stabilising the innings before hitting the accelerator in the latter overs.
“We had about 10 or 12 overs to go and Xav and I just said, ‘right, this is it we’ve got to go now’, Visser said.
“We both got going and ran really well between the wickets, which is something that you just have to do at North.
“It’s a really good total and it’s great to have runs on the board, but obviously we’ve still got to get the job done next week.”
Webster was the Saints standout with 4-73 from his 23 overs, while Visser’s innings takes his season’s aggregate to 685 runs at an average of 76.
Highton 0-2 v St Joseph’s 230
Highton’s contest with St Joseph’s is in the balance after the Joeys, invited to bat first by Heat skipper Nathan McCoach, reached the challenging figure of 230 at McDonald Reserve.
McCoach’s decision appeared to have paid dividends early on as he joined with Chris Young (4-27) and Fionn Neeson (1-69) to reduce the visitors to 4-62.
However, just as the Heat looked to be asserting themselves, the Joeys fought back strongly thanks to continued impressive form from Jono Casey who struck seven boundaries in his 137-ball 66.
Casey partnered Andy Vine in a 64-run fifth wicket stand before Vine found an ally in Oliver Metcalfe (34) to add a further 78 for the sixth wicket.
Playing just his third first XI game of the season, Vine hammered three sixes and seven fours in his decisive 100-ball 76.
“We’re obviously happy to take the 10 wickets, it’s what we aimed to do at the start of the day,” Nathan McCoach said moments after stumps.
“We put them in because of the new rules, we thought that it would probably be easier to chase rather than take the 10 wickets in week two.
“They showed a bit of fight in the middle there and we had to fight back to gain the ascendancy, so we’re obviously happy with the performance today.”
While McCoach was the standout performer with the ball, constantly testing the St Joseph’s batsman to capture 5-62 from his 23 overs, he was quick to attribute credit to his new-ball partner, Chris Young.
“It’s fantastic bowling in a partnership with ‘Youngy’, he makes it easy for the guy at the other end, and he bowled superbly today,” McCoach said.
“We know that we’re not going to blow teams out with our bowling, but we feel that we can attack with our fielding positions and bowl a little bit more conservatively; so, it was good to get some reward for that and get the 10 wickets.
“Although we always want 10 wickets, we feel unless it’s a massive score, we back our batters to make whatever score we need to.”
Zac Wills and Brady Somers negotiated two overs to have Highton 0-2 at stumps.
Newtown and Chilwell 248 v South Barwon
Half-centuries to Michael Grohmann and Lachie Sperling headlined ladder-leader Newtown and Chilwell’s 248 at Queen’s Park, albeit the pair’s milestones came in vastly different styles. Grohmann used 140 balls to initially blunt South Barwon’s new ball bowling before grafting his way to 69, while Sperling was his typically electrifying self in hammering 55 at a strike-rate of 90. Tyson Windus (31), Ronnie McKenna (29) and Jorden Lewis (20) all provided a measure of support in the Two Blues’ cause. The home side could have been dismissed for significantly less were it not for a handful of dropped chances, albeit some were especially difficult. Swans’ skipper Nick Butters was the best-rewarded contributor with the ball, using his orthodox spin effectively to take wickets at both ends of the innings, finishing with 5-62 from his 22 overs. Seamer Bryson Nicholls chimed in with 2-37, as the only other multiple wicket taker.
Grovedale 3-88 v East Belmont 107
Grovedale requires just 20 runs for victory after paceman Sam Coutts (5-56) ran through East Belmont on the way to securing his second five-wicket haul of the summer. Coutts removed the Lions’ prolific run-scoring skipper Shane McNamara for 23, although the visitors to Burdoo Reserve consolidated to reach 1-67 on the back of a 41-run union between a patient Danny Hegarty (45) and Luke Inglis (19). The removal of Inglis by medium-pacer Jack Wrigglesworth (2-31) opened the floodgates for the Tigers as East Belmont proceeded to lose their last nine wickets for just 40 runs, dismissed for just 107. Hegarty was the seventh man out, at 99, LBW to the off-spin of South African Rob Smith. Evergreen seamer Clinton Ford took 2-4 from 11 miserly overs. With East seeking retribution, Grovedale’s response was cautious, particularly after losing Smith for just eight. However, teenage sensation Corey Paull steered the Tigers to within reach of victory, soaking up 99 balls on the way to an unbeaten 36. Zak Tribe finished the day with 2-11, while the returning Jake Alsop contributed 21 to the home side’s effort.
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Originally published as GCA1 Round 14 wrap: North Geelong star Phil Visser hits elusive ton as St Joseph’s fight back against Highton
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