Rochester can lock in a top-two finish in Goulburn Murray Cricket’s Under-16 competition with a final-round win against second-bottom Cooma on Saturday.
The team is ranked second, behind Moama, on the eight-team ladder and a win will pit it against either Bamawm-Lockington United, Echuca or Kyabram Fire Brigade in the semi-finals on Sunday, February 19.
After scoring 8-192 on week one of its two-day format match with Echuca South the second Friday night was a washout.
This Friday is the first day of another two-day match and the semi-final will be contested only two days after the end of the home and away season.
Rochester’s final-round opponent, Cooma, has won just one of its six matches this season and sits seventh on the ladder. Five teams remain in the hunt for the finals, with Rochester 12 points ahead of BLU, Echuca and Fire Brigade.
Moama is a runaway leader in the competition and will enter the finals series as favourite after beating Rochester in round three by 25 runs.
Liam Edge’s outstanding season for the Rochester team will make him a vital cog in the finals series. He has taken 15 wickets at 19.87 (in all competitions) this season, made his A-grade debut with Rochester and also represented Northern Rivers in the Under-16 Youth Premier League.
He has also scored more than 200 runs, including a pair of 40-plus scores in GMC Under-16 competition.
Matt Harrington, Hamish Stewart and Ollie Williams form a strong top-end batting line up with Edge, while Jordy Rasmussen has taken 10 wickets at Under-16 level this season.
Rochester has three wins against its potential semi-final opponents, including a four-wicket win against Echuca, a comfortable win against Fire Brigade and an opening-round victory against BLU — when Rasmussen took 3-11 in a five-over spell that included two maidens.
— Thursday’s downpour in the region forced Rochester’s Under 14 match with Fire Brigade White to be abandoned after the home team had lost three wickets at Rochester Secondary College.
Rochester was 3-9 after 6.3 overs when stumps were pulled, leaving the team sitting in third position with two rounds of matches remaining. Both of those rounds are on the two-day format, this weekend against ninth-ranked Cohuna Nondies.
– Rochester’s final John McMahon A grade Shield match is scheduled for February 18, another two-day format contest that will be against Echuca.
Top of the ladder Moama and second ranked Echuca are currently involved in a two-day match, with Moama posting 196 on day one last weekend.
Echuca’s run chase will heavily rely on one of the district’s leading run scorers, Matt Hinks, who has 583 runs at 64.78 from his 10 matches in all competitions this season.
Hinks is marginally ahead of Kyabram pair Paul Newman (574 runs) and Kyle Mueller (544 runs), who have had marginally more cricket with their involvement in Kyabram’s Hurley’s Hound Hotels team.
The Hounds will contest the final of the Goulburn Valley Big Bash competition on Sunday, February 19 at Deakin Reserve.