 Campaign falters...............13 runs prove a major hurdle WANGARATTA stumbled in its quest to win the division 3 crown of Country Week yesterday with an agonising 13-run loss to Yarra Valley at the Gardens Oval, Benalla. The host association couldn’t reproduce its opening day heroics when a final wicket partnership set it on the path to a successful campaign. Last pairing Rod Lane and Paul Smithwick came together with the score at 7-179 and Wangaratta still needing 28 runs to achieve victory after Yarra Valley was dismissed for 206. Seasoned campaigner Lane and competition newcomer Smithwick, who returned brilliant figures of 6-16 earlier in the week, inched their way to the victory target before the Rovers United all-rounder edged a ball through to keeper Kevin Bomford to hand Yarra Valley a tense victory. Earlier, Lane and Tim Wood provided Wangaratta with a chance of victory by snaring two wickets each in the Yarra Valley innings highlighted by a knock of 39 from the blade of Mark Stolarcyk. Lane bowled tightly to return 2-23 off 10 overs for Wangaratta in his first outing of the campaign. The Wangaratta run chase started poorly when it slipped to 2-14 with Mick Walker the early destroyer before finishing with 3-46 from 10 overs. Wangaratta was in further trouble at 4-49, but Brenton Surrey and Justin Solimo began a fightback. They pieced together a 71-run partnership with Surrey leading the charge with six fours and a towering six over the square leg boundary. Surrey departed for a hard-hitting half-century when he was caught on the long on boundary and in a double blow for Wangaratta, Solimo was on his way two runs later. Solimo was caught out of his crease as Bomford whipped the bails off from the bowling of Cam Darwall (2-23). Darwall also claimed the wicket of Aydan Ryan for 22 after he and captain Wayne Ashton resurrected Wangaratta’s chances again. They took the score to 145 before Ashton and Tim Wood lifted Wangaratta to 179. But the pair fell on the same score, leaving Lane and Smithwick with the job of keeping Wangaratta alive. Wangaratta will remain in division 3 next season. By - DAVID JOHNSTON. 24th Feb, 2007. | 
