SEMI_FINALS ON THIS DAY - 12th March
Armidale Waratahs (The Tahs) | March 12, 2025
The 12th of March has not been a happy day for semi-finals for Waratahs, losing five of them on that date.
In 1989, Waratahs lost three of them: 1st & 2nd grade to Easts and 5th grade to Ex Services. In the top two grades, they faced mammoth scores beyond 300, thanks to Rick Porter's 151 in 1st grade and Allan Donges somewhat lucky 156 in 2nds.
1st grade struck Easts tyro Rick Porter on one of "days", as he smashed the bowling to all parts in his 151. Andrew McNeill and Phil Melville both went for bowling hundreds, bowling 68 of Waratahs 85 overs, as Easts ran up 7-310. Remarkably, two younger quicks, Roach and Murphy, saw hardly any work in a very long afternoon. On the Sunday, Tony Sheen and Michael Jones gave Waratahs an 84 run start before Nobby Baillie parted them and then on 112, chaos took over and the wickets of Sheen, Tim Muldoon and Melville were all lost. Daniel Ryan and Peter Evans restored order and a glimmer of hope, adding 64 for the 5th wicket but when Ryan was caught and bowled by the persistent Baillie, Waratahs long tail failed to wag and the last three wicket added only six.
Waratahs v Easts - 1st grade, 11th & 12th March 1989
Like 1sts, 2nds were plucky in defeat, with six players making starts. Bill Johnson, Michael Muldoon and Graham Johnson had Waratahs 1-89 before Warlters struck to removed Muldoon and Foster to remove Martin Campbell. From 3-90, Guiley and Bede Ryan added 52 but when Warlters snared the vastly experienced Johnson, despite Ryan, Martin Hadfield and Paul Melville resisting, wickets fell too regularly for a recovery. With Easts going hard on the Saturday, especially during Donges chance-ridden onslaught, its hard to understand why leg spinner Mark Charter, 2nd in the wicket taking aggregates for the season, didn't get one over of the 83 bowled, Bedey racked up 5-98, bowling 47 overs in tandem with Graham Johnson.
Waratahs v Easts - 2nd grade, 11th & 12th March 1989
5th grade were never going to chase Ex Services first day 9-296. They had their chances when Ex Services were 5-31 but Mark Haydon's 112 batting at #7 took the game away from them. Skipper Bob Hughes bowled his usual tidy lines with 3-27 off 16 and Simon Bennett gave a lion-hearted 32 over effort, racking up the third bowlers century for the weekend. Ian Munday's run out in the first over was a bad way to start the reply but the 79 run 2nd wicket partnership between Laurie Hagan and James Taylor was curtailed by that old stager Bruce Sewell and the remaining eight batsman could only double it.
Waratahs v Ex Services - 5th grade, 11th & 12th March 1989
1995 was another hard weekend in the semis for Waratahs, losing both 4th and 5th grade.
4th grade the Minor Premiers, got an absolute towelling from Norths, having previous beaten them on the two occasions they met in the regular season. The Saturday was a disaster, with five players getting ducks in their first innings 106 and only Matt Griffiths 57 saving them from complete ignominy. Sunil Reddy and Joe Cairns made a good start with the ball on the Sunday, having Norths 3-18, but with very experienced Brian Gream dropping anchor and partnerships building around him, Norths made a million and Waratahs were thrashed by 249. Their only saving grace was a second chance the following week in the preliminary final, afforded them by dint of the Minor Premiership.
Waratahs v Norths - 4th grade, 11th & 12th March 1995
5th grade chased 223 in the major semi against Minor Premiers YCW/Centrals, failing by just 16 runs but again would have a second chance to make the Final if they could beat Ex Services the following week. Unfortunately, no scores are available from the game.
