Sat 2nd 2012

Sat 12th May

On Saturday, Paul Norman scored his maiden century as Swan’s newest side – The Saturday 2nd XI, recorded their first victory against Britannia. Norman smashed 16 boundaries and carried his bat making 103. He shared an opening partnership of 177 with ‘skipper’ David Haines who struck a majestic 79. Young star Jem Warner also batted fluently making 65 not out as Swans’ amassed a formidable 288-1 from their 45 overs. Britannia were soon under pressure due to an exceptional spell of bowling by ‘vice-captain’ Andy Tillman who claimed 4 quick wickets to leave Britannia struggling at 40-5. The pressure was kept-up by Pete Barker and Warner who both claimed a brace of wickets as Britannia were finally dismissed for 119.

Saturday 19th May vs Ferndown & Wayfarers 4ths

Another toss won,Mike Hernandez and the skipper put on 43 but batting became more difficult as the bounce got lower. Todd Stephens made 23.Maximum batting points were secured by the last pair Dave Morton [26*]and Andy Tillman. 177 for 9 was a challenging total and with Elliott Baczala working up a good pace he and Mike Hernandez [3-9] removed the openers cheaply. Andy Tillman then swung out the middle order with 4-13. Ferndown being all out for 49 with all but one of the batsmen clean bowled. Another 20 points secured for the home side.

Saturday 26th May vs Witchampton 2nds away

Andy Tilllman skippered the side to another 20 point maximum. Winning the toss he opened with Mike Hernandez and Pete Barker who put on 41, there was then a partnership of 81 runs between Mike and Jem Warner who made 45. Liam Blake fired a quick 55 and Hernandez was eventually out for 67, his first half century for the club. The innings closed on 236.

Witchampton were soon in trouble with Elliot Baczala getting rewards for his consistently accurate bowling, hitting the stumps 4 times. His 4 for 18 compensated for ill luck earlier in the season. Mike and Jem also hit the target to have the opposition beaten on 59 for 7 .The innings eventually closing on 129. A 107 run margin for Swans.

Saturday 2nd June Home to Parkstone

Inserted by the opposition Swans established a good platform with Pete Barker run out by his skipper for 27 and Jem Warner posting another half-century. At 136 for 2 and having plenty of overs in hand,a big score seemed probable. However Parkstone bowled tightly and pinned us back eventually taking the last wicket with 1 ball remaining. Yet another father/son combination batted for Swans with Jon and Rufus seeing us to maximum batting points.Jon struck 3 boundaries at a critical time in the innings.

We needed to bowl well to defend 189 but started loosely. Without the normal opening attack to make inroads the bowlers struggled and when the drizzle arrived all control deserted. Parkstone’s opening pair Fletcher amd Brown plundered their way to victory. A disappointing end to the game for our inexperienced team beaten by a well organised outfit.

Saturday 9th June Vs Poole 4ths at Canford Arena

We choose to bat on an underprepared wicket Pete Barker began well and forged an excellent 4th wicket partnership with debutant Nick Pestana of 60 runs.Nick was the only batsman who looked comfortable before he was run out for 45. Pete fell for 33 and we needed a very sensible innings from Todd Stephens of 38 not out to take the total to 182 for 8.

Elliot Baczala was in sparkling form and removed their experienced upper order . However they recovered from 13 for 3 and until Jem Warner had Hales held at slip were threatening. 2 further quick wickets were taken and at 81 for 6 Swans were back in the ascendency.However 2 of the Poole youngsters then put on 64 putting us under pressure again. The return of Baczala and Mike Hernandez broke the partnership and the eventual margin of victory was 25.

This was the second eleven’s tightest finish and to pull out a 20 point victory against an experienced side was extremely encouraging.

Saturday 16th June vs Winton 3rds at home

Despite the wet week and windy conditions we suffered only one interrruption to play. Winton inserted Swanage who started poorly. The innings was held together by a battling Mike Hernandez who made 51. Todd Stephens continued hisrecent improvement and made 36 working the ball around nicely in the last few overs. 150 was probably about par with their being some indifferent bounce.

The ball was wet as we struggled to contain their opening pair. Dave Morton made the break through having Winton’s skipper well caught by Liam Blake. At 80-2 we were staring down the barrel with Blythe going well on 53. Jem Warner spun one wide of off and Paul Norman pouched the thin edge , Blythe showed great sportsmanship in walking.

Thereafter Nick Pestana bowling with venom and Warner with guile cleaned Winton up. taking 4 for 10 and 4 for 14 respectively. Another exciting win against a competitive team.

Saturday 23rd vs Lytchett 2nds

The second XI travelled to Lytchett without their inspirational leader David Haines, giving Andy Tillman the opportunity to test his captaincy skills. Batting first, Swanage set off in positive fashion thanks to some solid batting from Mike Hernandez (35), Nick Pestana (35) and Pete Barker (26), a 68 run partnership between Paul Norman (35 no) and Elliot Baczala (23 no) then helped Swanage to a 217/5 total after their 45 overs. The Lytchett batting was soon in trouble with Elliot Baczala bowling tightly and dismissing the home side’s top man, and, together with Andy Tillman’s 3 wickets for 41, the Swanage total began to look out of reach. Worse was to follow when Dave Morton’s off spin was unleashed with the Lytchett batsmen bamboozled by the flight and guile. The clubs first 5 wicket haul this season by Dave Morton, aided by 4 stumpings and a catch by Paul Norman, another win, consolidating the sides position at the top of the table.

Saturday 14th July vs Britannia at Days Park

Having lost the Wimborne fixture to rain ,the 2nds were keen to secure a win against Britannia, who won the toss and elected to bat, on a rain affected wicket. Mike Hernandez struck twice in his first over. Terry White and Andy Tillman ran through their line up supported by good out fielding returning figures of 3 for 4 and 3-3 respectively.

Swans knocked off the 36 needed to win with the loss of Todd Stephens bowled around his legs. Mike Haines went aerial in making 25 not out . Tom Salmon looked in touch, punishing the leg stump offerings. 20 more points secured.

Saturday 21st July vs Ferndown/Wayfarers IV away

Another toss lost and we were inserted on a damp wicket.A fine 2nd wicket partnership between Mike Hernandez and Paul Norman of 59 put us in a strong position. However when the bowling slowed scoring became more difficult and we were dismissed for 141 in the 41st over.

This proved a good total in the conditions as Ferndown struggled to score and had managed only 40 runs at the mid-point of their innings. Wickets proved elusive until Dave Morton got to work. Bowling a tight line and extracting slow turn he worked through their line up finishing with 7 for 27. Dan Salmon operated from the other end maintaining pressure but we were unable to take the last wicket, Ferndown finished on 94 for 9.

Saturday 28th July home to Withchampton 2nds

After winning the toss our much changed team, having had 3 promotions to the firsts, batted. Mike Hernandez excelled scoring freely until top edging a full toss to be caught for 42. The rest of our batting struggled and we were bowled out for 122 on a blameless wicket.

Withchampton batted with aggression,Andy Tillman removed their openers but Hopkins rattled a quickfire 47 which won the game. He was bowled by Tom Salmon and an excellent spell for Will Baker who took 4 for 20 gave us an inkling of chance. It was not to be and they reached 124 for 7. A poor performance especially by our batsmen.

Saturday 4th August vs Parkstone at Branksome Rec

Swanage needed to win against a team who had easily chased down a decent total in the corresponding home fixture. We batted first on a challenging track. Mike Hernandez got his off drive flowing and opening stand of 43 should have set us on the path to a reasonable total. Unfortunately we lost momentum mid-innings and it needed a patient 30 from Todd Stephens to enable is to post 141 for 9.

Mike Hernandez and Elliott Baczala used the poor wicket to great effect hitting the stumps regularly to pin Parkstone back. Matt Beard playing his first game then got in on the act taking 3 wickets for no runs. Parkstone were skittled for 43 an excellent win to avenge the earlier defeat. Hernandez ended with 4 for 17 which with his 29 runs was a man of the match effort.

Saturday 11th August Days Park vs Poole IV

Poole elected to bat and were soon in trouble with Elliott Baczala in superb form.Twice he hit the bails with unplayable deliveries and their innings was in tatters at 17 for 3. Andy Tillman bowled 10 economical overs taking 2-26 and Pete Barker removed 2 batsman who threatened to build a score. Baczal then returned to mop up the tail and finished with a well deserved 6 for 17.

Needing 123 to win Haines and Barker made a positive start,putting on 87. The run rate fell as the bowlers pace dropped. Haines fell for 50 but Barker and Paul Norman mastered the spinners and saw us home securing the 20 points. With one game to go promotion is in our hands.

Saturday 18th August vs Winton III at Bournemouth Electric

A good toss to lose on a very underprepared wicket. Haines and Haines opened up and coped with some variable bounce posting a 72 run partnership at a good rate. Mike fell first for 33. When David holed out for 41 Nick Pestana kept the rate high with 29, yet again there was a mid-innings hiatus but Elliot Baczala and Matt Beard batted well putting on 59 in the last 12 overs allowing us to post 222 for 9 which was a very challenging score on a wicket still offering movement.

Winton’s upper order have the potential to score quickly and it was a superb piece of fielding from veteren Simon Dyson that ran out Blythe in the 5th over. Baczala, Beard ,Will Baker, Andy Tillman and Pestana tied their strokemakers down and then Mike Wells provided the coup de grace with 4 for 5 . Winton were all out for 116 denying the team the pleasure of Dyson’s bowling in new boots!

Another 20 pts away from home and the league title secured by a side that blended youth with experience.