Kiama Cavalier’s Greg Rodgers and Associates third grade side enlisted the services of Pete Laughton and his three sons Jacob, Matt and Isaac, to play Lake Illawarra on Saturday at Morley Park.
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After losing a tense top of the table encounter against Kookas last week, Alan Stafford's defending premiers were short of a few troops to take on second placed Lake, so out went the call for help and it was answered by the Laughtons.
Since Christmas the side had used 23 different players and the changes were making it difficult to maintain consistent results.
Batting first, Kiama amassed 249 from their 50 overs with the main contributers being evergreen Jason Horley 59 who was well supported by Luke "The Pom" Francis with 39, Ben Mulcahy 33, new recruit Bryce Koop 23 and 14-year-old Matt Laughton 22 not out.
The Lake team consistent of a number of former first graders who have come out of "retirement" to play with their mates, but still possess the skills and competitive edge of former seasons.
They passed the Kiama score in the 47th over, but were made to earn their win by a keen Cavaliers side that never gave up. Bryce Koop and veteran Pete Laughton both took two wickets, while Alan Stafford, Ben Mulcahy and Mick Ward each took a wicket.
Cavaliers have now dropped to third place and need to string together some wins to gain momentum towards the semi finals so that they can give themselves the best chance to defend their title.
The CommBank second grade side played a local derby at Cavalier Park against Jamberoo.
Jamberoo batted first and were dismissed for 84 off only 30 overs.
Despite making life very hard for themselves, Kiama bowled some tight lines with the main wicket taker being Rocket Reilly who snared three. Luke Day, Tom Norris and Steve Piper each took two wickets while Zac Parker came off a long run to take a lone wicket.
Kiama’s chase got off to a bad start losing an early wicket before Captain Ben Jones and Zac Parker supported Nathan Barr in consolidating the innings.
Nathan then combined with 16-year-old Hugo Ikeda to bring home the victory and maintain the side at the top of the competition table.
The young Cavaliers are also doing very well.
In the Under 11s, Pacific Furniture Gold 3 - 99 defeated RMB Lawyers White 5 - 79, while Bilkey Reilly Blue 5 - 101 defeated The Rail Black 6 - 92.
Under 12 Bell View Park Stud White 7 - 110 continued their good season with a win over Gerringong 6 - 102 and Surman Building Blue 7 - 85 defeated Kooka Park 8 - 84.
The Cavaliers will celebrate this win at our upcoming Legends Dinner. Cricket and Rugby League will come together on Friday, February 9 when Cricket larrikin, Doug Walters and League great, Paul Sironen join the Cavaliers at Kiama Leagues Club for a night of stories from years gone by and some great insights into their respective modern day games.
Tickets for the night are available from www.kiamacavaliers.bigcartel.com