From the first team meeting, I knew this team was going to be successful. Their attitude, enthusiasm and commitment to being the best was clearly evident. Of course, the carrot of playing at the SCG was very helpful.

We were fortunate, thanks to Trevor Wholohan, the Grounds Manager for Penrith DCC, we were able to get a couple of practices on turf during non-daylight saving time as some of the boys had not had a lot of experience on turf. When daylight saving did come in and the turf wickets were not available the boys decided to continue training at Howell Oval but fielding practice only. This proved to be decisive as we were without doubt the best fielding team in the competition. The catching was fantastic and I think we only dropped two catches in the whole seven matches. Our bowling and fielding was so good that in the six completed games we took 59 wickets of the 60 available, which was the best of any side in the competition. This included seven run outs –Congratulations Guys!

Nathan Hodges, as captain, really set the tone for the season with a magnificent 150 against Manly at Graham Reserve and the team followed his leadership with us finishing with 7/311. We then dismissed Manly for 163. Elliot 3/24, Andrew 2/17 and Karl 2/18 did the demolition work.

We then played Hornsby at Howell Oval and dismissed them for 177. Peter 4/30 and Elliot 2/28 with the main wicket takers. With a storm brewing Royston raced to 83 with the help of Brett 21 and Elliot 24, we passed their score five down and in 48 overs.

If our season had a turning point, it was the third game against Camden. Over the previous years Camden have managed to bluff our team by any means possible, but this time our guys stood tall and totally outplayed Camden. We batted first and struggled our way to 9/176, with Elliot leading the way with a gutsy 54, including a six, which nearly hit his father’s car. Brett was the only other batsman to look secure – he made 25. Our bowling and fielding was superb and we bowled them out for 156. Andrew 2/22, Elliot 2/52, Glen 1/19 and Karl 1/18.

The confidence and sense of achievement these guys took from the victory was significant. The unfortunate Blacktown took the full brunt of their confidence as we dismissed them for 100. Karl 3/17 off 9 overs, Peter 3/14 off 10, David 1/19 off 7 and Andrew 1/6 off 6 overs did the damage. We easily passed their score 3 down for 110, Brett 35 and Nathan 40 not out.

The last round was against Parramatta at Kings Langley. The synthetic surface suited their batsman and they got off to a bright start, but Elliot 2/41 off 9 overs, David 1/27 off 10 overs and Andrew 1/27 off 10 overs, reeled their scoring in and they finished with 9/210. We batted brilliantly to score 5/211 off 54 overs. Royston 55 (4x6’s), Brett 64 (2x6’s), Nathan 51 (1x6’s) and Elliot 25 not out (2x6’s) did their job and we were in the semis for the first time in many years.

Our semi final opponents were Illawarra and after winning the toss, set about our attack with great gusto, but again we fielded well and our bowlers started to get wickets on a regular basis and finally dismissed them for 212. David with 3/32 off 10 overs, and Peter 3/37 off 12 overs did the most damage and were well backed up by Andrew 2/28 and Karl 2/41. Royston and Scott got us a quick start before Scott was out for 16 and the score 1/37 off 7 overs. Royston finished with a fine 47. Nathan and Andrew then put on 64 for the 6^th wicket and got us home. We finished 7/216. We were off to the SCG – our season goal achieved.

The final at the SCG was unfortunately washed out at lunch, after we had posted a very good score of 9/217. Royston was the star and the winner of the batsman of the Game Award. He scored 62, he was ably supported by Brett with 33. Joint Premiers was not a bad result.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Manager, Miles Lalor, for all he has done for the boys both on match day and at training. Without Miles, life would be very dull and boring (Go the Bulldogs).

I would also like to thank all the parents for their support in scoring, afternoon teas and for taking their sons to cricket.

I would also like to thank Barry Clarence and all his Committee for giving me the pleasure of coaching this side and for providing such wonderful opportunities to play cricket for Penrith to such a large number of cricketers.

Tim Curran – coach