Bees take flight from Dogs

Premier Grade Publicity Report: Round 8 Week 2 First Grade The Bankstown Sports Bulldogs caused the Uni of NSW Bumble Bees to take flight last Saturday at David Phillips. It was a conclusive victory for Bankstown with Uni scoring just 72 in reply to the Doggies overwhelming 372. The home side resumed with 1-6 but never looked like threatening against a fired-up attack. Jarred Lysaught made the early inroads with a magnificent spell to take 3-17. He was far too quick for the stumbling Bumble Bees who took flight with great rapidity. Lysaught stung the home side with the ferocity of his bowling as they slumped to a diabolical 3-25. The paceman shattered the stumps of two top Bees and the Bulldogs were barking vociferously. This was the turning point and the catalyst for an easy Bulldogs win. Liam Hewitt swarmed all over the Bees and hammered home the advantage with 3-15 in his lively spell. Mitch Brown gave the home side no respite and finished with 2-23 to complete the rout. The home side was invited to follow on and fared much better to be 3-125 at stumps At the halfway point in the competition the Bulldogs are having their best season ever with the Club leading the Club Championship and placed in the top qualifying spots for all grades. The Bulldogs are well placed to make a run at the finals in all grades, whilst the P-G under 21 side is on top and the A.W. Green Shield side are performing strongly. Could well be the year of the Bulldogs!! Kingsgrove Sports T20 Thunder Conference Final It was a thriller at Bankstown Memorial on Sunday when Bankstown played Hawkesbury in the 20-20 final. The Bulldogs batted first and scored a handy 142 in much cooler conditions than recent weeks. The mainstay for Bankstown was Daniel Nicotra who is having a super season. He plundered 66 with 3 enormous sixes in an exciting 48 minutes of domination. Aaron Bird was unluckily run out for 23 whilst Ben Taylor chimed in with 21. The best figures for Bankstown were by Liam Marshall who claimed 2-28 with Brad Simpson, Ben Le Bas, Ben Taylor, Mitch Brown and Daniel Nicotra claiming a wicket each. A classic final but the Hawks just got over the line. Second Grade The Bumble Bees looked to have the Bulldogs in dire straits at Memorial last Saturday in heatwave conditions. However, due to the mindset and determination of Daniel Nicotra and Matt Simpson, the defiant Bulldogs fought back. The pair added 121 for the fifth wicket after the home side was reeling at 4-25. Nicotra is having a stellar season and has really blossomed in the Bulldogs kennel. He was adjudged LBW, a decision which could have easily gone the other way. He pounded 10 sparkling boundaries and was especially strong in the area behind point. Simpson continued to his century and beyond with flowing off drives and timely shots through midwicket. He hammered the bowling relentlessly and punished the numerous short balls. Eventually the heat got the better of him and he retired for 123 match winning runs. It was an intelligent and gutsy knock from a classy player in the extremely challenging conditions. He swarmed all over the Bees with 17 boundaries and a mighty six. Ethan Debono kept the Bulldogs barking with a stylish 46 whilst skipper Tony Clark guided his men home with a fighting 38 not out. Scoring 7-325 in the prevailing weather conditions really was a magnificent effort from the Bulldogs unit. Third grade The thirds bundled out the Bumble Bees for 174 and in reply Bankstown grabbed the first innings points with 9/189. It was a true team bowling effort by Bankstown with four getting 2 wickets each. They were Blake Pearson, Ryan Freeman. Koby Layton and Basit Ali. The Bulldogs batting effort featured a determined 45 from skipper Matt Dedes with the ever improving young all-rounder Blake Pearson compiled a steady 41 before Justin Felsch (25) and Chris Stefanish (12 not out) guided the visitors home. Fourth grade Bankstown rallied to score 253 at Grahame Thomas but the Bumble Bees just scraped home in a thriller with 8-254. The loss prevented another clean sweep by the Bulldogs. The Bankstown bowling was steady with Anthony Melnyk 2-30 in his incisive 13 over spell. Rahid Alam was on target in his marathon 17 over spell and a return of 1-36 was most economical. Brad Polkinghorne claimed 1-40 and gave very little away in a useful 15 over effort. Fifth grade The fifths battled hard for victory scoring 5-254 in reply to the Bumble Bees 9-253. James Cheetham was the pick of the bowlers with 4-59 from 19 wholehearted overs. It was a justifiable reward for a menacing fast bowler. Johann Perera top scored for the Bulldogs with a fighting 54. His was a delightful knock that contained 10 boundaries and two awesome sixes to help get Bankstown home. Ethan Prideaux was in great touch until he was run out for a top class 49. Bryan Handunneththi was as solid as a rock with a defiant 34. Manoj Weerasingham chimed in with a handy 26 not out. Subtain Shahid hit 5 boundaries in his delightful little cameo of 28 whilst Tom Ramage was in fine touch with a useful 29 AW Green Shield The Chris Ridley coached under 16 team has joined in with the Bulldogs success story winning their first two games. Arnav Raina was the star of the first match vs Sutherland with a magnificent 106 not out. The youngster could not have been more impressive with 15 superbly struck boundaries. He certainly looks a magnificent prospect. In the second game the Bulldogs prevailed again. Sydney were restricted to 142. In reply the Bankstown Sports Bulldogs finished with 5-143 and the points. The wickets were shared around among the bowlers in a great team effort. Manoj Weerasingham was run out for a very stylish 39 whilst Ryan Freeman hammered 5 boundaries in his 39. Lachlan Malcolm chimed in with a useful 27 and once again it was a fine team effort.