Fathers narrowly avoid victory

Last week the Fathers faced up against the Happy Salmons, a fellow team competing with shirts that some may consider dangerous to wear in the Weston and Charnwood areas, however they proved to be more than just a mob of "try-hard metros".

Batting first, the Fathers found themselves in a strong position after the opening pair of Mad Man and Nads built a steady partnership of 40, with Nads playing some cavalier shots to notch up 2 maximums to bring up a solid score of 24. Unfortunately Mad Man was the victim of the first of a series of poor judgements from our official, Blind Freddy. The following pair of Snorky and Gladdy threatened to cut loose, but were unable to continue the flow of runs and managed 14 together. Their progress restrained by the regular unwelcome interjections of Freddy.

In third was the somehow prolific pairing of Norris and Harmie, producing a majestically dour 49, as they proceeded to send the fielding side to sleep with their consolidation of the innings. Norris grafting a textbook 23 and Harmie milking a painful 26. With the Fathers sitting on 103, the fourth pair of Itchy and Gilly were looking to build a formidable total. At this point the court lights turned off and when they came back on again, the Fathers were 107 from their 16 overs. Some believe this was the work of Blind Freddy, however the claims cannot be substantiated. Gilly apparently managed to acquire 18 runs in the darkness.

Despite some setbacks with the bat, the Fathers appeared upbeat in the field, only to the see the Salmon's opening pair nick their way to 49. Nads the only shinning light with the ball in the first 4 overs, bagging 1/5. The Fathers then hit their straps in the next 4 overs to restrict the Salmons to a total of 66. Gladdy (1/0), Mad Man (2/1) and Itchy (1/3), dragging the Fathers back into the match.

The Salmons next pair managed to rack up 28, however Snorky (1/3) and most notably Norris with a huge over of 4 for -8, still managed to give the Fathers a sniff of victory. With the Salmons needing 14 off the last 4 overs, Gilly (2/1) and Harmie (2/0) left them with some work to do in the last 2. However just when the Fathers were gaining momentum, Blind Freddy stepped in to give the Salmons a helping hand, missing some clear stumpings and run outs to push to Salmons over the line by only 2 runs.

Overall, some promising moments splattered with some "special" ones, which were mostly forgotten when the Fathers gathered in the Weston car park to witness Mad Man revealing his esky on wheels filled with amber sports drinks. At some point late in the evening some wild and crazy stories were told of hoards of mad men riding around a mountain for 24 hours non-stop. When some members of the Fathers signalled their intention to join this wacky cult, it was determined that the "Weston Freeze" was taking affect and that all should escape to the safety of their homes.