A late stand from Nathan Finlay helped RSL-Colts to a 23-run win over Souths at Victoria Park No 3 Oval on Saturday.
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Finlay came to the crease at 4/97 and combined with Nathan Jones (8) and Jarryd Samuelson (21) in partnerships worth 23 and 49 respectively.
The win cements Colts’ position, three points clear at the top of the Pinnington Cup ladder.
“It’s pretty big for us,” Finlay admitted.
“Traditionally we’re slow starters and over the last four or five years, going into Christmas, we’ve found ourselves sitting in the bottom half of the table.
“So it’s nice for us, coming into Christmas, to be sitting in the top half of the table and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Finlay also claimed 3/22 in Saturday’s convincing win, putting an end to Michael McCarthy’s stand (67) and knocking over both Ram Haridharan (30) and Edward Murray (7).
But he’s a “reluctant bowler”.
“If someone can have a chat to the captain [Josh Smith] and tell him I don’t want to bowl, that would be good!” he laughed.
“I’m the guy that’s trying to make way for the younger blokes going down the order.
“We recognise, as a club, that a lot of guys are getting older, so we’ve made an effort to get younger guys into the team and so far they’ve been stepping up and doing a good job, so it’s good to see.”
Anthony Atlee has been especially impressive. The 14-year-old recorded bowling figures of 1/29 on Saturday, just a week after scoring 34 not out alongside Aaron Morris (51) to snatch victory from Rugby’s grasp.
In the day’s other matches, CYMS and Newtown secured bonus point wins over Rugby and Macquarie respectively.