Promotion Next Year?

Hillend vs Marress (01/09)

Marress managed to finish their season on a high by defeating bottom-of-the-league Hillend in a game that will be remembered for many years to come.

Leaving Irvine at 11am, we were concerned that this titanic game may not have taken place. All the team were keen for the game to go head, and with the 1sts only playing on Sunday, Irvine were able to call upon two stalwarts of the club, in the shape of Robbie Stewart, and according to previous reports, the idolised Stewart McCallum.

Capt. Birds Eye, Mike Ingram lost the toss, and the Hillend captain elected to bat first. Mike decided to open the bowling with Tony the Tiger, David Ingram, and the Dwain Leverock of Irvine, Josh Conway.

Marress knew that they were in for a game, as they had a closely-fought battle with the same side earlier in the season. The Hillend openers looked as if they were ready for business, when David, having had his Frosties in the morning, removed one of the openers, thanks to a great catch from Gary McMeeking. This catch was probably in the top 5 of Marress catches this season, but was not in the same league as the "Double D" Catch at Hillhead, or the "Sprint" catch against Bees. Tony would go on to remove another of Hillends batsman.

Unfortunately, Dwain did not bowl to his usual standard. At times, it appeared as if he'd had one or two bottles of tonic, as his bowling was as dangerous as Dr.Mudunuris on Sunday. He, if I recall, did not take any wickets.

At the first change, Sgt.Bilko elected to go with the new Mark Hudson, Josh Taylor, and elected to do a spot of bowling. At this point, Hillend had lost 2 wickets, but were still looking to put on a healthy score. Batsman number 3 was beginning to look dangerous, until he thought it was appropriate to enter into conversation with the new 2nd team player, Stewart McCallum. Stewart, as all the club should know, as hit many centuries in his career, and is one of Irvines' top all-time run scorers. Alternatively, Stewart has been referred to as the "Mighty Duck" (source Gary McMeeking). After having entered into a debate with Stewart, the 3rd batsman for Hillend felt he could take on the Mighty Marress. That was until, the Athletic Ally Mitchell, ran for the ball at world-record pace, and took a catch that even the Squirrel would have been proud of. This game was still in the balance, and Marress knew that they needed to remain focussed.

Mike removed two of Hillends players, and then elected to change Josh for the infamous Chaitanya. At this point, Dwain decided that he would do some wicket-keeping. Chatty began to use his spin to immediate effect, by bowling the Hillend batsman at the crease. Subsequently after this, Dwain managed to stump one of the Hillend players from Chattys bowling, which left Hillend with 7 down, for roughly 13o runs.

Mike then decided to change his bowling attack, and elected to go with the usually reliable Gary. Sadly, Gary bowled one of the most expensive overs ever seen at our level, almost as expensive as Chatty on the Sunday. His one-over spell was so bad, that Mike elected to change Gary with Ally. Mike also felt that he needed a new dimension to his attack, and elected to go with the Irvine express, the Squirrel. Sadly, the Squirrel had forgot to take his shredded wheat, which with the bowling showed by Gary and others, left Hillend with a total of 239-7.

After a tea which was second-rate, when compared with the culinary skills of Susan, Mike elected to go with David Ingram, and the Kevin Pietersen of Irvine, Stewart McCallum.

Marress, thanks to some asssistance from Hillend, were making inroads into the home teams total, when around the 30-run mark, Stewart was bowled for 6 runs, which was close to his best-score for the 1sts this year. Robbie Stewart then came in to replace the "Mighty Duck", and promptly showed him what he should have been doing. Robbie started to build-up a match-winning innings, and was hitting shots out of the ground that even the ODM would have been proud of. Robbie and David built up a partnership of over 100 runs, before David was out for 36 runs. David showed some great composure with his batting, and looks one for the future. There was great hilarity amongst the Marress ranks, when David was dropped by the wicket-keeper, having been told by the aforementioned keeper that he didn't have much in his locker.

David was then replaced by Captain.Birds Eye. Sadly, Mike could only score 9, before he was out, and replaced by Josh Conway. Josh batted very well, and worked with Robbie to help Marress towards the target of 240. Marress duly met their target, with Robbie finishing on 140 not out, and Josh ending on 24 not out. Credit must be given to Robbie for his performance, with some of the shots played being nothing short of outstanding. Robbie was to continue his stats with his performance on Sunday, and recognition should be given to him for the role that he played in this as well.

This was the last game of the 2nds season. Under Mikes' stewardship, Marress managed to finish 3rd bottom, an improvement on previous years. There were good batting displays shown by David and Gary against Alps and Crow Road respectively. In terms of bowling, everyone will remember Chattys performance against Crow Road, with his own "Seventh Heaven". If Marress can keep the nucleus of this years squad, then there should be no reason why we can't look at pushing for promotion, or at the very least, improving our league position.