Fielding three old boys in the home side, The Willows welcomed Otago Boys’ High to Jaguar Oval on a beautiful spring morning in October.

The Willows took the field and put the screws on the Otago batting from the outset with tidy spells of bowling from Chris Mugford and Robert Dunne. Ben Blair also put in a solid spell as did Paul Miller. The three Otago old boys then rounded off The Willows bowling performance with Lance Taylor taking 2/20, Andrew Haig 2/24 and Richard McCaw 2/41. Max Chu batted nicely and anchored the visitors’ innings with a well compiled 55 before Ben Lockrose hit a brisk 48 not out to see Otago through to 211 off their 50 overs.

The Willows got the run chase off to a poor start with the early loss of Dunne who was clean bowled and regrettably wickets continued to fall at regular intervals throughout the innings. The only exception being a good partnership between Taylor (36) and Miller (49) before the final wicket fell with the score at a mere 156. Some poor weather in the lead up to the fixture meant the home team couldn’t have their two scheduled net practice sessions, however the reality was that Otago Boys’ were the better side. They were a good bunch of young lads and we wish them well for the remainder of the season.