ON THIS DAY - 26th March
Armidale Waratahs (The Tahs) | March 26, 2024
In 1955, H FORBES (#51) made a pair for A grade v Uralla. His second innings was off the last ball of the season!
In 1972, A grade won one of the most talked about Finals in Waratahs history, probably because it was such a long time between drinks. Having won the A grade Premiership in only their third year, it was 19 years and several bad losses in the last five that fueled discussion which led to the establishment of the club Yearbook. With no semi-finals being the new norm, it was a straight top of the table class with Unicorns (UNE) at the Sportsground, a side whose bowling had dominated Waratahs during regular play (111 & 9-78). Spinner Roy Smith was the bogeyman. Batting first, the top six all made runs and although the last five wickets fell for just 20, the damage was already done. Smith bowled 29 overs for a huge bag but he never captured the dominion Unicorns needed from him. With an all-star first four bowling lineup, one of the best to play for Waratahs, Unicorns succumbed to an early onslaught from Mackenzie and Cooke and never had the chance to recover against Joice and Donnelly. Connolly got the key wicket of Longmire but Unicorns were long gone before then. It was batting which had cost Waratahs so many finals and it was batting that won this one.
Waratahs v Unicorns (Final) - A grade, 25th & 26th March 1972
In 1995, Waratahs won an epic 4th grade Final v Norths, a side who had only two weeks earlier demoralised them in the major semi, winning by 249. The win was based on two heroic performances. On the Saturday, JOE CAIRNS (#726) took a career best 7-48 rolling Norths well short of their semi-final total. Waratahs collapsed before stumps to be 5-52 and the Sunday looked like being a disappointing day ... then up stepped SCOTT MURPHY (#725), with one of the greatest finals hundreds. He blasted the Norths bowlers to all parts and wasn't out until the win had been secured. His eventual 61% of the total was a true indicator of the power and influence of his innings on the victory.
