Cricket
21 November, 2025
Eagles, Donald-Jeffcott victorious in round five
While just five rounds into the Horsham Cricket Association A grade competition, several teams are pushing the finals case after recording dominant wins.
One such team was Donald Jeffcott, who comfortably defeated the Colts by 124 runs at Dudley Cornell Park.
The home side elected to send the visitors in, with opening bowler Logan Millar capitalising with two early wickets.
But Dylan Ruurds continued his strong start to the season to steady Donald Jeffcott's innings, hitting 64 off 83 balls.
A 42 not out off 44 balls from William Burke helped Donald Jeffcott finish at 7/179 off 40 overs.
Along with Millar (2/19), Alex Baker (2/23) and Josh Colbert (2/38) also had two wickets each for the Colts.
Donald Jeffcott, skipper Eddie Landwehr, and fellow opening bowler Cooper Anderson produced momentous opening spells to have the home side reeling at 7/26 in response.
Joey Nagorcka (15) and Beau Purshase (11) offered some resistance before the visitors bowled the Colts out for 55 in the 19th over.
Anderson and Eddie Landwehr finished with figures of 3/6 and 5/19, respectively, as Donald Jeffcott won by 124 runs.
Landwehr was proud of the all-round team performance on a tricky wicket.
“Just a real good team effort,” Landwehr said.
“That's what I was trying to get across to the boys with that.
“We had Dylan Ruurds and Will Burke, who really contributed well with the bat, and it was quite a tricky wicket to bat on; it was moving around a little bit.
“A few of the bowlers were definitely keen to get our chance and were just really focused on hitting those areas.”
At Horsham City Oval, Brim Kellalac Sheep Hills (Brim KSH) defeated the Horsham Tigers by six wickets.
Electing to bat, Marty Knight (21) and Ricci Marks (20) made some top and middle order contributions, but constant wickets saw them at 6/87 after 26 overs.
But a 55-run partnership between Joel Plazzer (37) and Dale Dridan (30) helped the side to 8/152 from the 40 overs.
The Eagles’ bowling effort was led by Lachlan McGinniss, with figures of 3/24, while Chris McPherson had 2/34.
In response, openers Leigh Dovaston (64) and Sandon Schultz (43) laid the foundation of the Brim KSH run chase, as the team reached 4/154 in the 34th over.
For the Tigers, Ricci Marks (1/27) and Anderson Brown (1/29) were the pick of the bowlers.
Speaking after the game, McGinniss admitted he was nervous after the Tigers’ lower order rallied late, but credited his team’s strong start with the bat.
“Internally, I was a bit worried,” McGinniss said.
“I would have liked to keep them to 110, but they did pretty well after drinks.
“The ball got a bit older, the wicket started to play a bit truer, and credit to them, they batted pretty deep, even the youngster that came in, he was fantastic.
“We were quietly confident we’d get the job done as long as we got a good start, and we got the good start.”
McGinniss praised his team’s young players, who stepped up amid numerous absences.
“With a few blokes away, we were getting a bit worried about how we were going to front up, especially in seniors, let alone the B grade,” McGinniss said.
“So we threw through a couple young ones in the deep end to see what they could do, and they swung pretty well, which is good.
“We've got some young ones coming through to actually put pressure on our older players going forward, so I’m really impressed.”
Laharum recorded their third straight win with a 172-run victory over St Mary’s at Sunnyside Recreation Reserve.
The Warracknabeal side sent Laharum into bat, with an impressive opening spell from Brodie Dennes, leaving the Demons in trouble at 3/21 in the seventh over.
Opener Daniel Griffiths (36) helped steady the ship before Jason Kannar (72 off 60) and Jackson Hoffman (69 not out off 66 balls) swung the momentum as the Demons finished the 40 overs at 7/223.
Dennes finished with 3/36, while Nick Toscano had figures of 2/48.
Besides a 13-run effort from co-captain Daniel Westerland, St Mary’s never troubled the Laharum bowlers and were quickly bowled out for 51 in the 16th over.
Joel Pymer ripped through the top and middle order to finish with 5/29, while skipper Josh Mahoney helped finish off the tail with 3/6.
In other games, West Wimmera (5/133) chased down Swifts-Great Western (9/131) to win by five wickets, while Bullants (9/245) defeated Lubeck-Murtoa (58) by 187 runs.
In B Grade, Will Noble (39) and David Letts (23) helped Donald Jeffcott make 125 against Horsham Saints.
Despite regular wickets early in the Saints' innings, an unbeaten 66-run partnership between Hassaan Masood (35 not out) and Zachary Hamerston (27 not out) ensured a six-wicket victory for the home side.
Niluka Nanayakkara led Donald Jeffcott with the ball, taking 2/12 off five overs.
At Anzac Park, St Mary’s sent Rup-Minyip Panthers in to bat and bowled the visitors out for 153.
However, the Panthers proved too strong with the ball for the home side, bowling the hosts out for 42.
Finally, an unbeaten century from Drew Carmody led the Colts to a 95-run victory against Brim KSH.
